Former defensive end Bruce Smith and former safety and defensive back Rod Woodson were among six people who will be a part of the 2009 Hall of Fame class. Smith is the all-time leader in sacks with 200 career sacks. He passed the late great Reggie White several years ago while with the Washington Redskins. Woodson was and excellent defensive back and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1993. He played both corner and safety in his career.
Smith started his career with the Buffalo Bills after having a stellar college career with Virginia Tech. He was extremely talented at rushing the passer. He helped the Bills get to four straight Super Bowls, in which they all lost. The Bills will be remembered for losing those four Super Bowls. He joined the Redskins after many seasons with the Bills to finish his career.
Woodson played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and the Oakland Raiders. Woodson is the career leader in interceptions returned for a touchdown with 12 of them. Woodson won a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens in 2001 against the New York Giants. He also played in the Super Bowl with the Steelers in 1996 against the Dallas Cowboys and the Super Bowl in 2003 with the Raiders when they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Also inducted in this year's Hall of Fame is the late great Derrick Thomas, Bills owner Ralph Wilson, and Randall McDaniel. They will be inducted on August 8. I believe Smith is a first ballot Hall of Famer and he is very deserving. Woodson wasn't as impactful, as he played for four teams in his career, but was still a very good defensive player. Thomas got it, in my opinion, because of his untimely death. Thomas wasn't anything more than a pass-rushing linebacker, which doesn't qualify as a Hall of Famer. His numbers were very good though.
No comments:
Post a Comment