Shaun Alexander scores Seahawks Ring of Honor, deserves the HOF
Seahawks Ring of Honor should lead to HOF for Shaun Alexander
Now we get to the meat of the argument. As so many love to say, scoreboard. And very few players in NFL history lit the scoreboard up more than Shaun Alexander. His 100 touchdowns rank eighth all-time among running backs. Every player ahead of him, with the exception of the not-yet-eligible Adrian Peterson, is in the HOF.
No less than sixteen players that rank behind him are in. That includes not just all the players listed above – yes, they all trail Alexander in scoring, too – but NFL superstars like Barry Sanders, Jerome Bettis, Eric Dickerson, and Tony Dorsett. Seems that a guy who was better at the premium skill – that is, scoring – should be in along with those guys, doesn’t it?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention his incredible 2005 season. Yes, 12s, the Seahawks do have a player that won the league MVP once upon a time. Check out this terrific breakdown by Michael Bumpus and Mike Holmgren of Alexander’s 1,958-yard, 28-touchdown season. Coach Holmgren is looking pretty good!
As the great Bob Condotta summed up in his typically great piece for The Seattle Times, Alexander played a huge role in changing the culture of the Seahawks from perennial also-rans into winners. True, they didn’t capture the ultimate prize in his time, but with him in the backfield, they tripled the number of division titles.
When Alexander arrived the Hawks had two division titles in 24 seasons. He left the team just eight years later with four more titles and a conference championship. As quoted by Condotta, Alexander is humbled by the Seahawks honor, but hungry for more:
"“To be celebrated with all the other guys (in the Ring of Honor), it’s humbling and it’s exciting and it brings back all the great memories of the guys I got to play with,” Alexander said.“To be celebrated with all the other guys (in the Ring of Honor), it’s humbling and it’s exciting and it brings back all the great memories of the guys I got to play with,” Alexander said. “I just busted my tail and we score 100 touchdowns and then for it not to be perceived as Hall of Fame-worthy has always been hard,” Alexander said. “But I hope that this gives me a shot at it.”"
Next. Tracking the Hawks 2023 QB prospects. dark
Unfortunately, the 12s don’t have a vote when it comes to the Hall of Fame. I suppose in the end that’s fair; yes, the game is for the fans, but we really don’t need 3,00 players in the HOF, do we? No, no, we don’t. But we do need one player in particular in the Hall: if any player is qualified for that honor, it’s Shaun Alexander.