Terrell Owens is a Hall of Famer – And It’s Not a Debate

Last Saturday, the day before the Patriots completed the greatest comeback in NFL history, the league’s 48-person selection committee gathered to vote on who would make up the NFL’s Hall of Fame Class of 2017.  The finalists (announced on January 3rd) included big names like LaDanian Tomlinson, Kurt Warner, and Terrell Davis, among many others.  Terrell Owens was also on this list, for the second consecutive season.  And for the second consecutive season, Terrell Owens was not selected to be a member of the Hall of Fame.

Before I get into the statistical argument (if you can call something so obvious an argument) for why Terrell Owens is a no-brainer Hall of Famer, it’s worth going over the process of how a player becomes a HOFer.  For a detailed view of the process, feel free to visit the NFL’s site on the subject here, but essentially the committee discusses each finalist on a case-by-case basis, and the finalist must receive 80% approval from the committee members in attendance to be selected.

In baseball, beginning next year, the media members who vote for the Hall of Fame must make their votes public.  Unfortunately, the NFL does not have this rule, so the members of the committee are not subject to scrutiny for how in the world they let another year go by without naming Terrell Owens in.  (It should be noted that I have no horse in this race, am a lifelong New England fan, and have always actually found TO to be pretty annoying… but numbers don’t lie).

 

So let’s get to it.  The numbers.  For his career, Terrell Owens put up the following stat-line:

Player	Seasons	GP	GS	Targets	Receptions	Yards	TDs
Terrell Owens	15	219	201	1,867	1,078	15,934	153

On their own, the numbers seem prolific enough to get him in the HOF, but when put into context with the other receivers currently in the Hall, it becomes laughable.

Of the sixteen players in the HOF who primarily played WR, here are way TO’s numbers rank in each of these categories:

Player	Season	GP	GS	Targets	Receptions	Yards	TDs
Terrell Owens	8th	8th	7th	NA	5th	2nd	2nd

(Note: Targets were not tracked until 1992, so the ranking was not included)

Let’s read that again:  When comparing TO to the other WRs currently in the Hall of Fame, he ranks 5th in receptions, 2nd in yards, and 2nd in TDs.  You can probably guess the only player he trails in yards and TDs.

But then again, rankings don’t tell the whole story, especially when comparing players across different eras and players playing for less seasons.  So instead, let’s look at each players’ best 3-year peak of their career.  While still not accounting for the era differences in play-style (which we’ll do later), this accounts for players whose careers were shorten due to injury, and show us who truly was the best at their peak.  Below are the best 3-year stretches of every current HOF WR, with Terrell Owens included.

Player	Seasons	G	GS	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD
Andre Reed	1989-1991	48	48	240	3370	14	27
Art Monk	1984-1986	47	46	270	3666	13.6	13
Bob Hayes	1966-1968	41	41	166	3139	18.9	33
Charley Taylor	1964-1966	41	14	165	2510	15.2	20
Charlie Joiner	1979-1981	48	48	213	3328	15.6	15
Cris Carter	1998-2000	48	48	264	3526	13.4	34
Fred Biletnikoff	1970-1972	42	42	164	2499	15.2	23
James Lofton	1982-1984	41	41	155	3357	21.7	19
Jerry Rice	1993-1995	48	48	332	4850	14.6	43
John Stallworth	1977-1979	46	46	155	2765	17.8	24
Lynn Swann	1976-1978	42	40	139	2185	15.7	21
Marvin Harrison	1999-2001	48	48	326	4600	14.1	41
Michael Irvin	1991-1993	48	46	259	4249	16.4	22
Paul Warfield	1969-1971	39	39	113	2585	22.9	27
Steve Largent	1977-1979	45	45	170	3048	17.9	27
Terrell Owens	2000-2002	44	43	290	4163	14.4	42
Tim Brown	1999-2001	48	48	257	3637	14.2	26

Even at their peaks, here’s where Terrell Owens ranks in each of the major receiving categories:

3rd in Receptions

4th in Yards

2nd in TDs

The most insane note, is that while Terrell Owens best 3-year peak occurred from 2000-2002, there are THREE other HOF WRs whose peak occurred during a similar span.  And when you compare those players to each other, TO fits right in, even playing better than two guys who ARE ALREADY IN THE HOF.

Player	Seasons	G	GS	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD
Cris Carter	1998-2000	48	48	264	3526	13.4	34
Marvin Harrison	1999-2001	48	48	326	4600	14.1	41
Terrell Owens	2000-2002	44	43	290	4163	14.4	42
Tim Brown	1999-2001	48	48	257	3637	14.2	26

Not to be downplayed in this list is that TO played 4 less games than every other guy on this list, and STILL put up his best 3-year peak.  If we normalize TO’s numbers to what he would have done in 48 games, the distance between TO and Carter & Brown becomes even wider:

Player	Seasons	G	GS	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD
Cris Carter	1998-2000	48	48	264	3526	13.4	34
Marvin Harrison	1999-2001	48	48	326	4600	14.1	41
Terrell Owens	2000-2002	48	47	316	4541	14.4	46
Tim Brown	1999-2001	48	48	257	3637	14.2	26

THESE GUYS ALL PLAYED DURING THE SAME ERA.

Now would be a great time to remind you, again, that Terrell Owens has not gotten into the HOF for two straight seasons.  Despite consistently being at the top of the leaderboards when compared against other players who are currently in the Hall.  It’s insanity.

And as if his regular season numbers aren’t good enough to get him in without any playoff excellence, here are Terrell Owens career numbers in the playoffs:

PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE
Player	Games	Receptions	Yards	TDs
Terrell Owens	12	54	751	5

Not outstanding.  Not groundbreaking.  But effective. And they also include this career defining play:

Terrell Owens career numbers are so staggeringly good, it’s a crime that he’s not in the Hall of Fame.  But alas, TO will have to wait at least another year to receive his golden jacket.  Perhaps the third time’s a charm.