Rodney Harrison is scheduled to make an announcement on his football future this afternoon, but the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald and Dan Patrick, on his Wednesday morning radio show, broke the news early.
The former Charger and Patriot safety will hang up his helmet and shoulder pads and join NBC’s Football Night in America.
I really like the move from a sports media standpoint. For a sport already short on good announcers that is already losing John Madden this season, Harrison can become one of the next generation of analysts. He’s well spoken, he’s a good analyst and I recall him bringing some humor along with his insights. This should be a very good move for him.
As a player he was a huge hitter, possibly the most intimidating safety of his era. He attempted to play one Super Bowl with a broken arm and yes, he was also injury prone through stretches of his career. He missed the last 10 games of his career with a thigh injury suffered last season.
He also had a reputation for being a dirty player and he was suspended at one point for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, after which he admitted to taking human growth hormone to help him recover from injury.
On the Patrick show this morning, he acknowledged the mistake and that he knew what he was doing was wrong. “I put football in front of my family and in front of my life,” he said.
So there’s the long and short of Harrison. That makes Harrison a Hall of Fame candidate starting in 2014. Does he make it?
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He will NEVER make the HOF! His stats are good, but he is only a 2/2. He used HGH. And he had a bad reputation. So, the answer is no. But, he will make the ballot, but thats really all I’m giving him. And plus, look at this list of Safeties and tell me if you think Harrison can compete with this:
SS: John Lynch 2/9 (1 ring)
SS: Ed Reed 4/5
FS: Brian Dawkins 4/7
SS: Troy Polamalu: 2/5 (2 rings)
FS: Darren Sharper: 1/4
FS: Steve Atwater: 2/8 (2 rings)
SS: LeRoy Butler: 3/3 (1 ring)
LeRoy is a 4/4, Sorry about that!
In my mind Harrison was a better all around player than Lynch (sorry, I think he was overrated – a very good player, but not as good as all the accolades he received), Sharper and Butler. I think he would have gone to more pro bowls if he hadn’t had as many injuries as he did – which I guess could be seen as a mark against him.
As for the HGH, I think he’s going to be affected by it, but not eliminated by it. Look at baseball – all the players have been asked to do are admit they did it and apologize for it. Palmeiro, McGwire, Sosa, et al. Pete Rose before that – most everyone says if he had admitted to gambling on the game and apologized for it that he’d have had a pretty good chance of getting into the hall.
Harrison has admitted he did the HGH and said it was one of the stupidest things he ever did.
Now, I’m not saying any of these things make him a sure-fire hall of famer. I put him on the borderline. I lean slightly toward him being a yes – only guy in history with 30 sacks and 30 interceptions – but can see the arguments for him being a no.
I just don’t think the HGH issue should be a strong strike against him. Just my opinion.
It doesn’t matter if he apologizes. He used it. Its over. And I know 30/30 is great. But, he is only a 2/2. John Lynch wasn’t a ball hawk. He was a hard hitter. And when go on pro-football-reference.com, and look up Rodney, I don’t see that many stars and plus, whereas I do for John Lynch, Brian Dawkins,etc.
Also, don’t say that Rodney has more rings than John Lynch. Yes, he does, but, did Lynch have a QB named Tom Brady? I just don’t see Harrison making the HOF at all. And to be honest, if didn’t take the HGH, he still wouldn’t of made the HOF. If they put in Harrison, than they better put in Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko.
*grin* Sounds to me like a Jets fan biased against a Patriot …
In seriousness, I don’t disagree with some of what you’re saying. He’s certainly not a sure-fire HOFer. But you can say what you want about how “Lynch wasn’t a ball hawk. He was a hard hitter.”
Harrison was a hard hitter too. And a ball hawk. And a pass rusher.
As for the HGH, I agree it’s a check mark against him, but I am willing to consider giving a guy who owns up to the mistake a greater degree of leniency than someone who doesn’t. If that makes me soft, so be it. I can live with that.
Personally I think the biggest thing that is going to work against Harrison is his lack of durability. I went to pro football reference and saw a guy who played 16 games in only six of 15 seasons. He missed 54 games in 15 seasons for injury-related or other reasons, or the equivalent of three seasons and six games.
How much better would his stats have been if he had played those games? How many more pro bowls and first-team NFL awards would he have won? There’s no telling, but I’m guessing the 2/2 would have been higher on both fronts and that this HOF debate wouldn’t be about whether he would get in or not but when.
(For the record, I’m kidding about the Jets-fan bias)
I know your kidding about the Jets thing. I just don’t think Harrison’s name should be next to other safeties like Ronnie Lott, Rod Woodson, Paul Krause, etc. You know what im saying? I think he should make the ballot, but not get inducted.
I agree with your statement about his missing games. I think he could have been 4/6 or something like that if he hadn’t missed a lot of games. And plus, imagine if he played for the Pats from 2000-on? Damn! But, honesty, lets be realistic. He is only a 2/2. So…..Well see happens with that. This is really random, but what do you think of these Pat players for the HOF:
QB: Tom Brady(why do I even have bother)
RB: Corey Dillon (probably not)
DE: Richard Seymour (no)
DB: Ty Law (Maybe)
K: Adam Vinatieri (probably)
Brad – I agree with your assessment of Harrison. Let me hear your argument against RB Corey Dillon. :)
Alright Tony! I’m not downing him, but I just don’t think he is HOF material.
Corey Dllion: 0/4, kind of low on PB’s and no AP’s. Not even 2nd team. Lets be honest, if you don’t have a 1st team AP or 2nd team AP, than it will be tough to make the HOF. He has no rushing title.
Look at Ricky Watters. He was a 0/5, but never had a rushing title, IMO should be a 1/5. He has 91 total TD’s. That’s more than Dillon, and keep in mind, Ricky played in 144 games, whereas Dillon played in 150 games. And not to mention, Ricky had probably the most underrated performance in SB history! Ricky has 14,891 yard from scrimmage, whereas Corey has 12,154 yards from scrimmage.
Tony, I want to hear your argument defending him!
Ha,ha,ha. OK. The most important to me is the eyeball test. Dillon had the rare ability to be a tough bruising umbrae who also could routinely bust the long runs. Playing for Cinncy he made holes where there were none. Imagine what his stats would be if he didn’t play for the worst team in the NFL. I suspect he owes his 0/4 to playing in relative anonymity with the Bungles for most of his career. He finished his career with lots of admiration as a winner and was a great NFL story IMO.
Anyone who can set the most rushing yards in a game in the NFL is a PLAYER!
Corey’s 2004 season must rank as one of the best All-time for 30 yr old RB with : 345att 1635yds 12TDS 44 4.7avg 109.0avg game
His total stats are not the highest but are up there and I really like his chances at the HOF. People didn’t Ricky Watters diva attitude.
I think we need to not put so much emphasis on pro bowl, All Pro and ALl Decade Teams. Those are popularity contests. Favre has been to how many Pro Bowls, only about 1/2 of which did he actually have the numbers to go. Bruce Mathews went to abour 4 more Pro Bowls than he should have. I think eyeball ans performance stats are more important i.e. yard, td’s,sacks etc.
A guy like Rodney Harrison was not well liked by peers, opposition and sometimes even teammates and media. But why don’t you ask coach’s and general managers if they would have wanted Harrison. He was hurt a lot and that is a stike against him as well as HGH is a strike. BUt he was a difference makes and a house hold name. Subtract Stece Atwater and tell me all the other safies that made teh Pro Bowl in the AFC during Harrison’s career and tell me who was better!
Hey Billy,
You articulated exactly what I’ve wanted to say about popularity and reputation sticking to certian players which skews their accomplishments. It’s so hard to judge if you haven’t seen the player in games.
Darn, you were doing so well than you picked on my boy Matthews. Lol!! A little Cowboy fan envy or something? :) I’ll give you the last PB as not deserving but that’s it! He was still a stud late in his career when the Titans went to the SB in 1999. I know you can’t be saying he doesn’t deserve the HOF?
As far a Harrison, he’s not HOF to me but that’s totally my opinion and has nothing to do with number of PB’s. I’m not saying he wasn’t one of the better hitters/tacklers for a few year stretch but for most of his career he wasn’t a very complete player. I think if he could of stayed healthy he would of had a good chance to cement his career especially playing for the Pats. Bottom line is every time he got recognition he got injured, 30 career ints is pretty average , and 2/2 is something people look at.
Pains me to say this but I’d pick Cowboys Darren Woodson 5/3, Bucs John Lynch 9/2, and the Eagles Brian Dawkins over Harrison 2/2. Lynch’s big hit game is closer to Harrison’s so we can maybe argue that one for who’s more deserving but Woodson and Dawkins were/are better skilled all-around. I’d take them to cover over Harrison any day.
Harrison does have the most int’s of the group with a paltry like 34. Is the new norm for HOF Safeties now 25 to 35 ints?? It makes me marvel even more at Ronnie Lott’s 63 ints. or Miami’s great hitting Jake Scott’s 5/2, with 49 ints over 9 years and he can’t even get a sniff of the HOF. I never thought Dallas’s Clff Harris 6/3 belonged in the HOF with his 29 ints. in 9 years. I’m starting to think no one from the 90’s belongs in the HOF or has the game changed so much that a Safety can’t get more than 35 picks? 90’s All-Decade Saftey Carnell Lake was a very good player and he only had 16 ints. Shouldn’t there be more ints if there’s more passing?
Whoopee!!! Darren Sharper has 54 ints so I can put him ahead of Harrison. I found another one in LeRoy Butler with 38 ints. All-Decade nd he was really good too. There’s two for the HOF IMO. But based on this little bit of research I’d say the case got stronger for Harrison into the HOF. I still think there are three or four selections I’d like to see before him but Harrison does have the numbers so it would be hard to argue against him.
Opps Billy I missed the AFC part of your Harrison question.
As you know most of HOF caliber PB’s and AP’s Safeties will come from the NFC who were winning most of the Super Bowls or had the best Defenses (in addition the Eagles and Steelers).
You have 49ers with Lott, Cowboys with Woodson, Packers with Butler and Sharper, Bucs with Lynch, Eagles with Dawkins, and in the AFC the Broncos with Atwater , the Steelers with Lake and a mish mash of others like Blaine Bishop a 4-time PBer who we all forget about. Now later we have Ed Reed’s 43 ints and PB’s over the last 6 years and Bob Sanders has a couple when healthy.
I think the AFC will be lucky to get more than one S – Atwater in from the 90’s and Reed is on track from this decade. Sharper has kind of muddied up things being a 90’s guy too.
Does anyone know if the HOF recognizes the difference in what type of Safety ?
Anyone give hard hitting Joey Browner a shot at the HOF? Not much respect for the 80’s All-Decade Safeties yet!!! Basically it looks like a player has to win a SB or in Tippett’s case go to one. Same with Robert Brazile. One of the best LB’s of the time in battles with the Steelers for the Division and they say Robert who? I’m really surprised Elvin Bethea got his due. Curly Culp is still waiting. Brazile was the Defensive star of that team with Earl Campbell of the Offense. It was a great team in Luv U Blue!!! They tore my Dolphin’s heart out and mine on more than one occasion.
One thing you may be overlooking with Harrison compared to Browner, Lake, and Dawkins was that Harrison was awesome inthe playoffs he appeared in with the Patriots. He was a young pup I believe on that Charger roster (not yet a full time safety.) I believe Lynch will be A HOF as well as Atwater eventually. The reason Harrison did not have a ton of interceptions (like Atwater) is because he played so close to the line. If he had played a role like Ed Reed (best I’ve seen since Lott) or Brian Dawkins he would have more INT’s. Also Dawkins has had some great regular seasons and been torched inthe playoffs because he gambles! I believe Harrison and Atwater will procede Sanders who will some day be HOF worthy if he stays healty. Sanders will be lucky to get to 30 INT’s.
Good points. That explains why Harrison has more tackles than most DB’s which is not usually good. I thought it might be because he was on bad San Diego teams and had to make extra tackles. But than I saw he had a ton of tackles with NE too and we know they weren’t bad.
I wasn’t comparing Browning from the 80’s to Harrison but just kind of rambling on about a pretty good Safety being passed over. I thought maybe Tony had a comment.
Look at these Great Safeties being passed over: Jack Butler, Johnny Robinson, , Dick Anderson, Jake Scott, Cliff Harris, Jack Tatum, Donnie Shell, Dennis Smith, Gary Fencik, Deron Cherry, Kenny Easley, Eugene Robinson, LeRoy Butler, and Steve Atwater to name a few. Plus there are a bunch of CB being passed over so far too. The HOF voters don’t value DB’s enough?
I don’t think Bob Sanders will ever stay healthy long enough to make the HOF.