90's Cowboys/ Lineman HOF

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ptownhorn

1,000+ Posts
So many times I have heard "If Barry Sanders had Emmit Smith's line, etc, etc etc"

So who goes to the hall of fame?

Larry Allen is the only "shoe in" I can think of. I'm afraid alot of the Cowboy haters in the hall will block some of the others out.

Eric Williams ?
Mark Stepnoski?
Nate Newton? off the field issues
 
Even if no more of those guys go in the Hall, it doesn't mean they weren't a great line. Everyone of them went to at least 4 Pro Bowls. So the argument you reference about Smith/Sanders regarding their O-lines still stands.

But to your question, I don't think any of them go. Like you said with Newton, too many off the field problems. Stepnoski - who I think would have the best chance in terms of career - is damaged by similar PR problems, with his marijuana and support of the 9/11 Truth movement. And Erik Williams only belongs if they put him in for being the father of illegal hands to the face.
 
If Eric WIlliams hadnt hurt his knee in that car wreck he would have had a HOF type career. He was a dominant tackle before, but not nearly as effective after that car wreck.
 
There is a story on E Williams on DallasCowboys.com. He is in their fellowship program for coaches.

Apparently he has turned his life around and realizes(sp?) that he kind of screwed up his career. Good to see him on the right path. Sounds like he been living pretty clean for a couple of years now.
 
I always figured Stepnoski would get a look. Possibly Tuinei. The rest of them like Gogan and Gesek didn't make a big enough impact other than helping Emmitt break the occasional run.
 
This is funny...

Debating whether the 90s Cowboys should be HOFers vs. Try to name a lineman that Barry Sanders ran behind (without looking it up)

exactly.

on the field, Emmitt had potential HOF'ers. Barry had no-names.

If Emmit played for DET, he'd be average at best. The OL Barry had in DET was worse than the OL Emmitt had in PHX. DET had Herman Moore and Rodney Peete (I think). DAL had Aikman, Irvin, Novacek.

Hell DAL would have given Barry a chance to dodge defenders on the positive side of the LOS. In DET, there were defenders in the backfield before he even got the ball - a lot.

Do people really think this is up for discussion?

It's not a knock on Emmitt. Emmitt was great at his job.

Barry Sanders could have been like Michael Jordan with some help, but they didn't even get him a Paxson or Grant, much less a Pippen. Emmitt was like Kevin McHale as an 80s Celtic. He had a lot of help from his team (and the dumbass Vikings) and he did his job well.
 
erik williams shoudl be in the hall of fame for his repeated rapings of Reggie white alone. If RW is a HOF then what does that say about EW? EW absolutely dominated him on a level that is rather amusing.
 
Difference is that Emmett would have done anything to help his team win - including playing with a separated shoulder. Sanders was a whiny puss that quit.
 
The problems the Lions had in the Sanders era superceded any of his capabilities. They had a horrible passing offense (which is especially dangerous when you're using the Run-and-Shoot as they were) and their defense was far from championship level (their average ranking in both yards and points allowed during the Sanders era was 18th). For Sanders to have won any sort of championship would have involved sending him to another team. That Detroit team was missing a lot of pieces and their front office could never address them.
 
I can't name any Detroit Linemen because I am not a Detroit fan and never followed them. I doubt Detroit Fans could name our linemen (except maybe Larry Allen).
 
For all his greatness, Sanders killed a ton of drives,

4 yards evert time is better than -12 -4, 2 then 60 on the next drive.
 
So wait a minute, I didn't realize or recall that Detroit ran a pro version of the run-and-shoot. If this is so, then Barry Sanders had just as much of an advantage in his system as Emmett had in his. Seems like I remember all kinds of scrubs in the pros and college that had enourmous YPC stats in the run-and-shoot offense. Having the defense spread out is extremely advantageous to a quick/small RB.

Regardless, Emmett was at his best when the opposing defenses knew he was coming right at 'em. Just watch the 2nd Super Bowl victory against the Bills. Yes, he had a great line. The problem with detracting from his accomplishments based on his O-line is that just about everyone in the HOF had great something or others to work with.

And, stating that Sanders retired because his management didn't do all that they could to win a championship is a form of quitting. I'm not saying that I don't blame the guy. I just doubt Emmett would have quit under the same circumstances.

By the way, my son's name is "Emmett" in case you were wondering why I'm obsessing on this thread. (He was actually named after my great-grandfather, Emmett, but most people assume it's the football player.)
 
Barry Sanders had a good line in front of him which is obvious from his rushing results but the Lions didn't have enough help elsewhere such as passing, defense, etc. That is where Mr. Smith had an advantage and was on teams that won super bowls. Sanders just never had the extra help.
The same thing may happen to Vince Young if the Titans don't give him the other overall help.
 
Maybe I'm wrong but, I think every RB and almost every NFL player for that matter gets the **** knocked out of him. It's the nature of the business. If every NFL player decided to retire rather than get the **** knocked out of them well....

Retiring was his prerogative. I'm just comparing his heart to that of Emmett's --- and I see no comparison. He quit because, apparently, he didn't think he was going to win a championship. If his team was competetive, he would have continued playing. Sounds like a quitter to me.
 
Knoxville, of course they all get clobbered. That's way they all HAVE to retire at some point.

And how does Emmitt playing his last 3 years with Arizona show he had heart??? It shows the guy just couldn't let go.

How is emmitt not a quitter? He decided to retire eventually too.
 
Oh and regarding the "quitting" issue, it was Detroit that quit on Sanders, not the other way around.

Emmitt certainly was the kind of player that didn't want to let go. He's right up there with Unitas, Rice, Favre, et al. But I don't consider that a negative.
 
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