Will the Hall's Doors Open to Specialists, Pass-rush, Returners and Others?

By John Turney

Coy Bacon

Defensive end Dwight Freeney and return specialist Devin Hester are two of the seven members of a Hall-of-Fame Class of 2024 that tilts heavily to one side of the ball.

And that's defense.

Look who joins them: Defensive tackle Steve McMichael, linebackers Patrick Willis and Randy Gradishar and defensive ends Julius Peppers and Freeney. That means that wide receiver Andre Johnson is the only offensive finalist who will be enshrined in August. 

But it's not Johnson or the others who interest me. It's Hester and Freeney, and here's why: Their elections raise the possibility of other one-dimensional players reaching Canton ... with the key word there being "possibility." If nothing else, their elections offer others hope where there was little before.

With Hester, that's easy to explain. He's the first return specialist ... period ... to be inducted. Until now, there were only three specialists enshrined in Canton. Two were kickers (Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen) and one was a punter (Ray Guy). But now that Hester's in, other dominant returners may get a shot, too, with Billy "White Shoes" Johnson and Rick Upchurch the most obvious. 

Both made all-decade teams in the 1970s and 1980s. Both were also All-Pro and Pro Bowlers multiple times, as well as league leaders in punt returns, and both are still high on all-time lists for punt return yards, touchdowns and yards per return. Plus, there were two return specialists named to the NFL's 100th anniversary team. Hester was one. Johnson was the other.

Before Hester, he and Upchurch were often considered 1A and 1B among all-time punt returners. 

Like Hester, Johnson and Upchuch also started occasionally at wide receiver (Hester played some defensive back, as well), but they are Hall-worthy because they could take punts and kicks to the house better than others in their era. Or any era, for that matter.  And isn't that what the Hall of Fame is about? Finding those who separated themselves from their peers?

Hester did. So did "White Shoes" and Upchurch.

And since we're speaking of specialists, maybe it's time to revive Steve Tasker's candidacy. He was a nine-time semifinalist as a modern-era candidate but never made it to the final 15. However, now that Canton has its first return specialist, a precedent has been set ... and that may make his case a bit stronger.

Now let's look at Freeney.

First-ballot choice Julius Peppers was a pretty complete defensive end. He wasn't the best run-stopper among Hall-of-Fame peers at his position, but he made enough plays vs. the run that no one would suggest he was a one-dimensional player. But Dwight Freeney? Not so much. 

He was always among the best pass rushers of his era ... and of all time ... but he created more than just sacks. He created tons of pressures, knocking down quarterbacks and chasing them out of the pocket. Plus, he did it with a rare skillset, exploding off the ball to make off-balance tackles. With 4.48 40 speed, he could fly around the edge and motor to the quarterback.

But if the tackle overset to the outside, then Freeney really had him with the patented counter-move --- the inside spin. No, he didn't invent the spin move. He perfected it. And his success with it caused a lot of later pass rushers to copy it. You cannot watch football on a Sunday (or Saturday for that matter) without seeing the move multiple times.

But that focus on hitting the quarterback came at a cost: It left the spinmaster vulnerable to the run. He didn't drop many running backs for losses or at the line of scrimmage, as the record book shows. In his career, Freeney was credited with 36 run stuffs -- tackles for loss on running backs. 

For a quick comparison, look at former Baltimore pass rusher Terrell Suggs, who's eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2025. He had 101. Then there's five-time Hall finalist Jared Allen. He had 69.

Freeney was a rush-first guy who performed in a scheme and an era where playing the run was less important than it had been. So what he did ...  and did superbly ... was lauded by his coaches. They let Freeney do what he did best -- namely, rush the passer -- and let others worry about the run.

That ethos was not prevalent in previous generations. Defensive linemen who didn't play the run were criticized by coaches, other players, writers and even fans -- even if it was only partially true or true for occasional seasons. But with Freeney's election, fairness dictates that those rush-first guys now get a second look.

Like who, you ask?:

-- Let's start with Mark Gastineau. In ten seasons he had 107-1/2 sacks, though some are unofficial as they happened prior to 1982. He was All-Pro in 1982-85 and second-team in 1981 and went to the Pro Bowl all five seasons. He often got dogged out in the media for not playing the run, even by other All-Pro defensive ends. But in his era, no one -- no one -- got to the quarterback or hurried him more than Mark "Conan the Barbarian" Gastineau.

Maybe now he has a shot at a Gold Jacket.

-- Then there's Al "Bubba" Baker. He exploded onto the NFL scene with 23 sacks, 16 and then 17-1/2 in his first three seasons and ended his career with 131, though, like Gastineau's some are unofficial.  He didn't have a reputation as a poor run defender but he wasn't a great one, either. He was a prototypical blind-side defensive end who was concerned about getting to the quarterback before all else. If he found a running back on his way there, all the better. And, like Freeney, Baker had a fair spin move of his own.

Baker was All-Everything as a rookie and went to three Pro Bowls. 

-- Another example was Coy Bacon, the pass-rushing gypsy. He played for the Rams, the Chargers, Bengals, Redskins and even had a stint with the USFL Washington Federals. And, at every stop, he harassed quarterbacks. Three times he was voted to the Pro Bowl and three times he was second-team All-Pro. Though he retired before sacks became official, NFL gamebooks reveal he had 130-1/2 in his career, including 21-1/2 in 1976.

Coy could bring the heat but never got a sniff of Canton. Maybe that changes now.

Time will tell.

Regardless, it does seem that the Hall-of-Fame seniors' committee will have more players on its plate in the future because cases previously closed to specialists and one-dimensional players possibly are reopened because similar players -- i.e., Hester and Freeney -- will be enshrined this summer. And what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.