Hall of Famers By Team

I recently saw this list of Hall of Famers broken down by team. The teams at the top of the list aren’t too surprising. It’s the old teams with a few or several successful to wildly successful stretches in their history. The bottom of the list has some surprises and a few injustices. It’s interesting to see the Hall of Famers broken down by teams. 

Hall of Famers By Team

Chicago Bears - 30

Green Bay Packers - 26

Pittsburgh Steelers - 26

New York Giants - 21

Dallas Cowboys - 20

Washington - 20

Los Angeles Rams - 19

Las Vegas Raiders - 18

Cleveland Browns - 17

Detroit Lions - 17

Indianapolis Colts - 16

San Francisco 49ers - 16

Minnesota Vikings - 15

Arizona Cardinals - 14

Kansas City Chiefs - 13

Philadelphia Eagles - 11

Miami Dolphins - 10

Los Angeles Chargers - 10

Buffalo Bills - 10

Tennessee Titans - 9

Denver Broncos - 8

New York Jets - 7

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 5

New England Patriots - 5

New Orleans Saints - 4

Seattle Seahawks - 4

Atlanta Falcons - 4

Baltimore Ravens - 3

Cincinnati Bengals - 1

Jacksonville Jaguars - 0

Carolina Panthers - 0

Houston Texans - 0

***

Some thoughts:

First of all, the obvious must be mentioned/explained. The Hall of Famers are placed with the teams with whom they spent significant chunks of their career. There are currently 354 Hall of Famers. The above numbers total 379. Some players are with more than one team. Gary Zimmerman for one. Mike Haynes for another. 

I can’t help but be frustrated with the hacked-up history of the Cleveland Browns. When I think of the great history of the Browns I think of the franchise line that leads to today’s Baltimore Ravens. The current Cleveland Browns are an expansion team with only a forced connection to Paul Brown, Otto Graham, Jim Brown and the rest of the great Browns. Along the same hacked-up history lines, it’s ridiculous that the Ravens include Baltimore Colts players Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Art Donovan, Jim Parker, Raymond Berry, Ted Hendricks, John Mackey, and Gino Marchetti in the team’s Ring of Honor. It’d make more sense from a franchise perspective for the Ravens to honor past Browns players than past Colts players. 

It might surprise some passing football fans to learn that the Minnesota Vikings did win an NFL title. They followed that win with a loss in Super Bowl IV so their title is easily forgotten. For a team with no Super Bowl wins and four Super Bowl losses, having 15 Hall of Famers might be the best and simplest explanation of the Vikings history. They’ve had great players. They’ve had great teams. The Vikings simply haven’t taken that big, final step. They have several of the best teams not to win a title. That’s reflected in their strong Hall of Fame representation. The Arizona Cardinals are the oldest team in the league and have won two titles. They have 14 Hall of Famers. The Philadelphia Eagles have been around three decades longer than the Vikings and have won four titles. They have 11 Hall of Famers. If the Vikings had won one or two of their Super Bowls, perhaps Chuck Foreman, Jim Marshall, and Ed White have bronze busts in Canton. If they’d won in 1987, 1998, 2009 maybe great players like Joey Browner, Keith Millard, Carl Lee, Kevin Williams, and Antoine Winfield get some Hall of Fame attention. If any of those great Vikings teams had taken full advantage of their title opportunities they’d probably match or pass the Canton numbers of the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. Winning titles may not be a prerequisite for getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame but it helps. 

The Cincinnati Bengals should have more than one Hall of Famer. Ken Anderson and Ken Riley are two of the biggest snubs of their era. I was surprised that at least one of the Kens wasn’t part of the Centennial Class.  

I’ve been to three Hall of Fame inductions. All have been since 2013. I love the experience. I love the museum. I love Canton. I love the people of Canton. I wish that I’d gone sooner and more often. Anyway, if one were to track my attendance they might guess that I was a Ravens fan. 

2013-Jonathan Ogden

2018-Ray Lewis

2019-Ed Reed

It’s a happy coincidence. It was a blast to watch the football careers of Ogden, Lewis, and Reed. They aren’t the reason I finally got off my ass and trekked to Canton. Cris Carter’s induction in 2013 is what got me there. I returned in 2018 for Randy Moss. In 2019, it was for Cal great Tony Gonzalez. I had tickets and plans to go in 2015 to see Mick Tingelhoff but I sadly couldn’t make it. Ideally, I’d make the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies an annual trip. Starting with this August’s Induction Bonanza. Realistically, I’ll sadly have to be more selective with those trips. Those future Canton visits will hopefully/surely be for the following players:

Chuck Foreman 

Jared Allen

Adrian Peterson

Jim Marshall

Joey Browner

Kevin Williams

Harrison Smith

Aaron Rodgers-for his Cal days

Larry Fitzgerald

And of course for all of the future Vikings that are part of the team’s first great dynasty.