I have yet to figure out a logical argument as to why Richard Dent has been denied entry into the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio on an annual basis for seven years now. 

I'm not quite sure the logic behind his denial or the arguments behind it, the basic arguments I hear are patently absurd.

All it takes to make the case for Richard Dent is some basic fundamental statistical research, followed by stacking Dent's career up against his peers.  Put Dent's career up against other hall of fame caliber defensive ends and the argument against his rejection by hall of fame voters completely falls apart.  Clearly his career stacks up with some of the current and soon to be hall of fame defensive ends, yet the arguments persist.

Arguments along the lines of the following are reasons I've heard for Dent's denial:

He didn't play the run well, which is completely false given that Dent's career tackle numbers completely rebut that argument.  Dent was always solid against the run and never had problems holding up at the point of attack or keeping contain on the edge. 

Dent's career sack totals speak for just how dominant of a pass rusher he was, over a period of a decade Dent had eight out of those 10 years with double digit sack totals including 34.5 sacks over a two year span. 

What boggles the mind is how a player like Howie Long is in the hall of fame and Richard Dent isn't.  Dent's career sack numbers DWARF Long's career numbers.  Dent's career sack totals of 137.5 is 53.5 more sacks than Long's career total of 84.0. 

Dent was easily one of the most dominant pass rushers of his era, which is what players are supposed to be be measured by, how dominant were they amongst their peers over a similar era of time. 

Perhaps the only players more dominant as a pass rushing defensive end were Reggie White and Bruce Smith arguably the two greatest defensive ends to play the game. 

Dent was also one of the best defensive players on a Bears defensive that was dominant for the better part of a decade.  nine out of 10 years Dent played with the Bears the Bears' defense ranked amongst the top-10 defenses in the NFL in total yards.  For five consecutive years that defense ranked amongst the top-three teams in the NFL in total defense. 

Simply put Dent played for one of the greatest defenses of all-time of which there is only two members currently in the hall of fame.  Mike Singletary and Dan Hampton are the two Bears from that dominant defense that struck fear into the opposing offenses for the better part of a decade. 

The next absurd argument I hear is that with two members currently from that dominant defense in the hall of fame adding one more would be too many.  An argument that didn't keep the voters from adding four Pittsburgh Steelers players from the Hall of Fame from their famed Steel Curtain defense.

From there the argument turns stupid as the next person comes up and inevitably points to the Steelers four NFL titles from that era of football that those four hall of famers played.  As if it was  solely the Steeler defense that was responsible for those four Super Bowl titles.  Never mind all the great players the Steelers had on offense that contributed to their team legacy. 

The question should and only be how did the team defense and the individual player perform on that defense during his tenure with that team.  Again the statistics and the level of dominance that defense showed, a defense that is argued as perhaps the greatest defense of all-time easily make Dent's resume for the hall of fame even stronger. 

Even more argument for Dent is just how irreplaceable of a player he was to the Bears defense.  Since Dent retired the Bears haven't had a single defensive come close to his level of dominance or consistency at rushing the passer.  The Bears have been in desperate search of a pass rusher who could not only put up the impressive sack totals but also get consistent pressure on the quarterback. 

Dent is also one of only three defensive linemen to ever win the Super Bowl MVP award when he was named the MVP of Super Bowl XX for what still goes down as the most dominant defensive performance in the history of the Super Bowl.

Not only is that the greatest performance in the Super Bowl, the Bears' defense was a part of the greatest ever playoff domination in the history of the NFL.  Those 1985 Chicago Bears with Dent, Singletary Hampton leading the way shut out their two playoff opponents prior to Super Bowl XX.  No other team in the history of the NFL can proclaim such a feat. 

During that  famed 1985 playoff run to Super Bowl XX Dent amassed 6.0 sacks over those three playoff games, 3.5 sacks against the Giants in the first game, followed by 2.5 over the next two games including his aforementioned Super Bowl performance. 

That playoff performance by Dent easily goes down as one of the most dominant playoff performances by a defensive linemen in the history of the NFL. 

The question now moves to what is it going to take to have Richard Dent elected into the hall of fame?  At what point does he get in because the wait for him has been far too long, the argument against him is far to weak and there is no reason to argue against Dent being in the hall of fame. 

At the end of the day Richard Dent is the third best pass rusher of his era that strictly played the defensive end position.  He was a defensive end first and foremost and was never a linebacker in the mold of other hybrid LB/DEs like Rickey Jackson who was elected into Canton today ahead of Dent. 

There are no more excuses as to why Dent should not be in the hall of fame, his career is more than worthy of enshrinement and it's long past due that Dent receive the honor he deserves.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment