Brian Mitchell

[Big Poppa]

Recommendations?

Lining up behind center would be a good start.

[Cajunchuck]

Brian Mitchell was the best pure UL football player I've seen at Cajun Field. He deserves to be in HOF but I have my doubts for sure he will ever get in.

[BrockMeaux]

He deserves it when you combine production and longevity, but no, I don't think he ever makes it in. Special Teams aren't very well represented in the HOF. It took Ray Guy, generally regarded as the best punter to ever play, almost 30 years to get in. MAYBE later on as a Senior Committee nominee. With Guy and now Morten Andersen getting in, maybe we're seeing a softening on the hard stance against special teams guys.

[Hark Mudspeth]

He deserves it when you combine production and longevity, but no, I don't think he ever makes it in. Special Teams aren't very well represented in the HOF. It took Ray Guy, generally regarded as the best punter to ever play, almost 30 years to get in. MAYBE later on as a Senior Committee nominee. With Guy and now Morten Andersen getting in, maybe we're seeing a softening on the hard stance against special teams guys.

Specialist aside, I think the view amongst players is that special teams are guys who "aren't good enough" to start. They are the backups. Probably has a lot to do with it. The perception of being the backups I guess is what I'm trying to say.

[sportsfanatic21]

Specialist aside, I think the view amongst players is that special teams are guys who "aren't good enough" to start. They are the backups. Probably has a lot to do with it. The perception of being the backups I guess is what I'm trying to say.

I agree with this. At least they now recognize a special teamer on the Pro Bowl rosters, but the reality is that most of these guys are back ups on offense or defense. A strong argument could be made that had guys like Barry Sanders or Jerry Rice returned kicks, they would have put total yardage numbers up that would likely never be touched.

And yes, Brian had the most total yards at one time, but return yards are nowhere near the same as yards from scrimmage. Before they moved the kickoff up, like when Mitchell was returning kickoffs, you got 15-20 yards each time before you even had a defender near you.

[Turbine]

... Brian had the most total yards at one time, but return yards are nowhere near the same as yards from scrimmage. Before they moved the kickoff up, like when Mitchell was returning kickoffs, you got 15-20 yards each time before you even had a defender near you.

Brain had a lot of peers over the years, yet the fact that in the history of the NFL Brian is the only return man in the top-20 says it isn't so easy for return men to put up career leading numbers.

[duggie85]

Brain had a lot of peers over the years, yet the fact that in the history of the NFL Brian is the only return man in the top-20 says it isn't so easy for return men to put up career leading numbers.

I agree with you, Turbine.

Special teams may be back-ups, but they're still part of the game. Apparently Brian was better at returning kicks & punts than all of the other back-ups.

[Hark Mudspeth]

I agree with you, Turbine.

Special teams may be back-ups, but they're still part of the game. Apparently Brian was better at returning kicks & punts than all of the other back-ups.

They are very much a part of the game but you and I don't vote...their peers do. I think the overall feeling of a locker room in regards to special teams guys is that you aren't good enough for first or second string so you go get hurt on special teams while we save our "good players" for the game. Those guys doing the voting think "imagine if i played special teams, I'm a hall of fame LB or RB, I was too good to risk playing special teams but if I did, I'd be way better than that guy"

[sportsfanatic21]

Brain had a lot of peers over the years, yet the fact that in the history of the NFL Brian is the only return man in the top-20 says it isn't so easy for return men to put up career leading numbers.

I agree that Brian was great at what he did. And he did it for a long time. I'm just saying that comparing his total yardage numbers to those of guys that didn't return kicks is nonsense.

And again, there are so many guys that were superstar players, who, had they also been kick returners, would have probably blown those total yardage numbers away.

For example, and he's not even in the superstar status that I'm referring to, just that I remember him being good at it, but Dez Bryant returned kicks as a rookie. He returned 15 punts for 215 yards (a whopping 14.3 yard average) and took 2 of the 15 for TDs. He also had 12 kickoff returns for another 293 yards. So in just 27 touches, he added 508 all purpose yards.

I think we can all feel pretty strong in an assumption that guys like Jerry Rice or Barry Sanders would be able to duplicate what Bryant did, if not far exceed, so add another 500-600 total yards per year to those guys career stats and Brian Mitchell (or any other primary return man) isn't in the same stratosphere as far as all time leaders in all purpose yards.

Please don't take this as a knock on Brian Mitchell. He's arguably the best football player to ever wear a Cajun uniform (shout out to Orlando Thomas), and was a fantastic NFL return man. If they ever decide to vote primarily return guys into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he and Devin Hester, and possibly Dante Hall should all be in the first year that they do.

[Turbine]

They are very much a part of the game but you and I don't vote...their peers do. I think the overall feeling of a locker room in regards to special teams guys is that you aren't good enough for first or second string so you go get hurt on special teams while we save our "good players" for the game. Those guys doing the voting think "imagine if i played special teams, I'm a hall of fame LB or RB, I was too good to risk playing special teams but if I did, I'd be way better than that guy"

Sounds kind of like the expectations of every kid signing out of high school.

Experience should make those peers realize that Brian Mitchell was in a league of his own.

[Hark Mudspeth]

Sounds kind of like the expectations of every kid signing out of high school.

Experience should make those peers realize that Brian Mitchell was in a league of his own.

Or maybe they have the experience that says he wasn't...unlike you or I, who don't know what's it's like to be an NFL player or hall of famer. Apparently it's the way the majority feel, otherwise the hall of fame would have a lot more special teams players in it. You hear it constantly, "this guy's only chance to make the team is on special teams" that's a hard perception to get rid of. He isn't good enough to be on the 2 deep but he is just crazy enough to sprint 50-60 yards and crash into people. I actually do think both Mitchell and Hester will get in at some point because their numbers will increasingly look more impressive as time goes by with less and less returns. It will probably take many years.

[Turbine]

I don't know how his 4,303 yards from scrimmage play into this.

He could have played any number of positions in the NFL, he was just out of this world valuable as a return man.