Hall of Fame: AFC South

Part II

Who is ready for Football! I know I am! I know it’s still 5-6 weeks until training camp starts, but who cares. To fill my need of a football fix, over the next 2 weeks I am going to break down team by team who on their current roster could make the hall of fame and which ones might have their number hanging from the rafters. Why? Well why not? I am sure I’m going to forget many and make dumb choices who shouldn’t be there, so feel free to tell me your thoughts on my list or give me your own list.

Couple rules of how I’m doing this.

1. I’ll be starting in the AFC and then going to the NFC going in this order.
a. AFC East
b. AFC South
c. AFC West
d. AFC North
e. NFC East
f. NFC South
g. NFC West
h. NFC North
2. I am going to avoid selecting rookies or second year players since their career could go either way at this point.
3. I will be using my own opinion and not really basing my decisions purely on stats. Super Bowls help but are not required.
4. Players who’s numbers are retired are assumed to make Hall of Fame.
5. Lastly Bonus points if you can tell me where the players I selected went to college. (I know Fodor is excited)

Alright here we go. Part 2 AFC South

Houston Texans
Retired Numbers

# 80 Andre Johnson: The Texans have not had much success to this point, but Andre Johnson is arguably the best WR in football right now. He has been to multiple Pro Bowls even though he has not had a consistent QB throwing him the Ball. He is the type of player a franchise will look back on with pride.

Hall of Fame
DeMeco Ryans and Mario Williams. Both are young and are the core to this Texans Defense. Neither has accomplished enough to be Hall of Fame bound, but if they put up some big years they might be able to make it.

Indianapolis Colts

Retired Numbers:

# 18 Peyton Manning: Do I really have to go into details? Super Bowl Winner.NFL MVP. Former record holder of most TD in a seasons. Record 6 straight 12 win seasons, and counting. Runs one of the most complicated offenses and calls his own plays. I could go on, but we all know he is the last Colt to wear #18.

#63 Jeff Saturday: Super Bowl Winner. Arguably the best center of the 2000s. Made all the line calls after Peyton called the play. Fantastic player.

Hall of Fame

Reggie Wayne: Super Bowl Winner. For a long time he played second chair to Marvin Harrison but when his time came, he knew it and took advantage of it. Seamlessly made the transition to Peyton Mannings #1 target.

Ryan Diem: Super Bowl Winner. He has helped keep Peyton Manning upright for most of the 2000s. He has been a fantastic anchor to the Colts O-Line and has led to much of their success.

Tony Ugoh: Super Bowl Winner. He is still young, but he has played fantastic in his first 3 seasons. When he started as a rookie he was the weak spot, but no one could ever tell. If he continues to play well he can make the Hall of Fame.

Dwight Freeny: Super Bowl Winner. At one point he signed the highest defensive contract in history. I honestly think he has been too one dimensional a player, and when team key on him he can become invisible, but he still requires the attention of the other team no matter where he is on the field. A few more good season out of him should get him in.

Bob Sanders: Super Bowl Winner. Defensive Player of the Year. I would say Bob is a lock, especially after the Super Bowl XLI run where when he came back the defense showed up, but he has been too injury prone and too inconsistent. Since he won Defensive Player of the Year he should make it.

Adam Vinatieri: 4 time Super Bowl Winner and appeared in 1 other. Kickers don’t often make the Hall of Fame, but he has 2 game winning Super Bowl kicks, a game winning kick in the tuck rule playoff game against the Raiders, and 4 Super Bowl rings. Automatic Adam is a lock.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Retired Numbers
None

Hall of Fame

Torry Holt. Big game Torry Holt has won a Super Bowl and appeared in another. He was a prominent member of the greatest show on turf. Even on subpar Rams teams he was a outstanding player.

Tra Thomas: 1 Super Bowl Appearance. 4 straigh times Tra and the Eagles made the NFC Championship game, even if they only made it past that once, that is still an impressive stat. With Runyan, he anchored the Eagles line for most of the 2000s.

Maurice Jones-Drew: Needs a lot of work still, but without Fred Taylor to share some of the load, he might be able excel as the primary back.

Tennessee Titans

Retired Numbers:
None

Hall of Fame

Kevin Mawae: He has been an outstanding Center for a long long long time. He has never had much postseason success which could hurt his chances.

Jevon Kearse: 2 Super Bowl Appearances: The Freak exploded onto the scene his rookie season and has done pretty good since then. Has 73 career sacks. I think he still has work to do before he gets in, and I’m not sure if he can do it with the amount of career he has left.