By John Turney 
"Lester doesn’t have it."
That’s what a Hall-of-Fame voter told me around 20 years ago when former Raiders' cornerback Lester Hayes was a finalist for Canton, and the rest of the committee must have agreed. In four years as one of 15 candidates under consideration (2001-04), Hayes was never elected.
But that was then, and this is now. Then he was a modern-era aspirant. Now he's one of 31 seniors eligible for the Hall's Class of 2025, which begs the question ...
Does Lester Hayes, a.k.a., "the Judge " and self-proclaimed only true "Jedi Knight" in the NFL, have "it?" In other words, is he worthy of Canton?
Let's talk about it.
Over his career with the Raiders (1977-86), he had 39 interceptions, 572 return yards, and four touchdowns -- numbers the anonymous voter cited as deficient. Yet, he led the league with 13 interceptions in 1980, just one shy of Dick "Night Train" Lane’s all-time single-season record.
After that year, opponents avoided him, cementing his reputation as a "shutdown corner" -- even though that term was not yet part of the NFL's lexicon. Only after Mike Haynes joined the Raiders in 1983 did they start challenging Hayes again, simply because they had no other option. But Hayes was still a top-tier bump-and-run corner, and he remained such for the rest of his career.
Then, there’s the "Stickum" issue. Hayes coated his hands and arms with the yellow goop. When Stickum was banned in 1981, some claimed it hindered his interceptions. Hayes countered, saying it helped him "stick" to receivers slightly longer during bump-and-run coverage. He admitted it looked excessive, but he had his reasons.
You can find material that suggests Stickum may be a reason that Hall voters never came around to him; that he was somehow tainted because of it. But if that's true, it's silly. It was Hall-of-Famer and teammate Fred Biletnikoff who introduced Lester to it.
Hopefully, that's not a reason voters voted him down.
Beyond personal stats, Hayes played a key role in the Raiders' Super Bowl XV and XVIII victories. His 1980 playoff performance, with five interceptions in four games, was instrumental in Oakland's win over the Philadelphia Eagles. In 13 playoff games, Hayes had eight interceptions, five of them in 1980 when teams dared to test him.
In total, Hayes played 10 seasons before a foot injury ended his career. His 1980 season earned him AP Defensive Player of the Year, making him one of only six cornerbacks to win that award. Four are in the Hall of Fame; one is still active, and then there’s Lester, on the outside of the Hall, looking in.
But 1980 wasn’t his only standout season. In 1979, with two pick-sixes, he earned second-team All-AFC honors from UPI. In 1981, The Sporting News named him All-NFL, and in 1982, he was second-team All-Pro by the NEA.
Continuing in 1983, Pro Football Weekly named him All-Pro, and he was second-team All-Pro on the AP and NEA squads. Finally, in 1984 the PFWA voted him All-Pro. Hayes was also part of the NFL’s 1980s all-decade team, a recognition awarded by the Hall-of-Fame selection committee.
But there's more.
Proscout, Inc., an independent scouting company that began grading NFL players in the mid-1970s, had Lester pegged as elite from the outset. In the 6-foot, 200-pound Hayes' first season as a starter (1978), he was ranked 13th-best in the NFL. The following season he wasn't chosen for the Pro Bowl, but he didn't go unnoticed by Proscout. It ranked him fourth. He was in the top six in 1983 and 10th in 1984.
When he recorded those 13 interceptions in 1980, Proscout ranked him as one of the game's top cornerbacks. And when he had seasons with two or three interceptions, it put him among the best. That wasn't a grade based on stats; it was based on how well a player does his job.
"The Judge" did his job.
It was quite a journey to the pros for Hayes, a defensive end in high school who moved to linebacker in college, later switched to safety and then became a cornerback in the NFL. And while he initially questioned Al Davis’ decision to put him there, the move was a wise one. Hayes excelled as a cornerback.
"Lester was one of the best at intimidation," said fellow Raiders' cornerback Mike Haynes. “As a cover man and tackler, he was phenomenal.”
Hayes rarely played zone coverage, staying in man-to-man coverage most of the time. If he read a play and knew the ball wasn’t coming his way, he would go "hunting" -- the forerunner to the modern “match” coverage where defenders help nearby teammates if their receiver isn’t targeted.
Hayes was a throwback to the Raiders' bump-and-run glory days, but he was more physical. He'd butt his helmet into the chests of opposing receivers so hard that, according to Hall-of-Fame receiver James Lofton, "It would knock the wind out of you."
But his ability extended far beyond physical play -- so much so that Burgess Owens, another Raiders' safety, extolled Hayes when asked about him.
"Lester," he said, "plays the position better than anyone in the game. He may become the best of all time."
While he may not be the "best of all time," a closer look could reveal that our voter was wrong ... and that Lester Hayes does indeed have "it."
This is a really tough call. 5 straight pro bowls and a DPOY as a CB is really impressive. I loved watching this guy play. Hall of Very Good - Absolutely. It really depends on where you set the bar. IMO he's not a top 10 CB, but probably top 20. But his playoff performance might push him over that bar.
ReplyDeleteit is --- borderline and he's up against Walls and Albert Lewis ... hard to separate them
DeleteBW ...
DeleteThe postseason was the difference for Hayes. Walls was too feast-or-famine for me. Its too bad Grayson--safety as well--or Abe Woodson cant get traction.Bobby Boyd as well. I like the toughness and experience of Pat Fischer but he is a perfect example of the HOVG, IMO ...
yeah, all those things are accurate --- Walls, Hayes and Lewis -- are all part of the 31 ... hard to separate for me. I have my view, but others could pick someone else and not be wrong
DeleteThe Judge belongs in the HOF. No question about it. His omission is wrong. The position is called "cornerback," not "interceptor." For statheads to come along later and measure the position by only that metric is idiocy. To me, there are at least 4 metrics that should be considered for that position and Lester was great at all of them: first, you have to cover your man so that the QB doesn't dare throw your way; second, if he does throw your way you have to deflect or intercept it; third, you need to be able to tackle, especially one-on-one tackling; and fourth, you have to be a smart player to recognize patterns and know when you can peel off your man and help the defense elsewhere. As has been stated, Lester was legendary during his playing time for all four of these.
ReplyDeleteLester gets knocked because he used stickum but players today use sticky gloves that give them a far greater advantage at catching balls than stickum ever did. I have never seen so many one handed catches as you see today with those gloves. Stickum was legal and he used it and got results. No different than players who use those gloves today. Who knows how well they would do without them?
How many players do you know who are a primary reason for their team winning TWO super bowls who aren't in the HOF? In the 1981 win over the Eagles, the Raiders were a wild card and were not even expected to make it to the Super Bowl. In fact, at that time, no wild card team had ever won a Super Bowl before. Those Raiders were the first, and that was Lester's Defensive Player of the Year season where he was intercepting everything (13). During the playoffs, he continued to be an absolute menace all the way to the Super Bowl, adding 5 more interceptions in their 3 playoff games. He was the Defensive Player of the Year on the Super Bowl Champion team. Hard to argue he wasn't one of the most important players on the team.
After that season, the league banned stickum. Lester's interceptions decreased from the record-setting 13 from the prior season and statheads use that fact to conclude that Lester was less effective, but does their logic hold up? As mentioned earlier, covering your man can also result in less interceptions because they don't want to take the risk of throwing your way. And in fact, that is the exact testimony of the Washington Redskins when they lost to the Raiders in the 1984 Super Bowl. It is well known that Lester completely shut down the left side of the field so that Pro Bowl QB Joe Theismann barely threw his way, even when he was guarding Hall of Fame receiver Art Monk. Think about that for a minute: Lester Hayes, who supposedly isn't good enough for the hall of fame, shut down a hall of fame receiver and took away one half of the field, in the Super Bowl, so that the hall of fame coach Joe Gibbs decided it was better to throw at hall of fame cornerback Mike Haynes on the other side of the Raiders defense than to throw at Lester. How is it that Lester outperformed and/or intimidated these other hall of famers (who all deserve to be there) but somehow doesn't belong in the HOF himself?
Furthermore, this totally blows up the stupid argument that Lester's skills must have fallen off after they banned stickum. Yes, his interceptions decreased but that is because he had been so successful in picking off passes, and he was so good at coverage, that they preferred not to throw his way. That would certainly have been the case in the season immediately after his record setting 1980 season, and it clearly was still the case FOUR YEARS LATER in Super Bowl XVIII.
Finally, one further factor must be considered: defensive scheme. Teams build their defenses differently. It is well-known, for example, that the Steelers prioritize linebackers. If you win multiple Super Bowls as a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, you should be considered for the hall of fame because the linebackers are the key to Pittsburgh's whole defense. But that's not the Raiders way. Al Davis prioritized shut down corners. No help. This allowed the safeties to help the linebackers and the linebackers to help the linemen. A shutdown corner who could cover his man all by himself made the defense work. That was Lester Hayes, and later Mike Haynes joined the Raiders to give them the perfect dream of two shutdown corners, one on each side. So the argument again is, if you play the position that your team relies upon the most for its defensive scheme and you play so well that you break interception records on the way to one Super Bowl trophy and you shut down half the field and a hall of fame receiver and scare away a hall of fame opposing coach from throwing your way, such that they prefer to throw to the other cornerback on your team who is himself a hall of famer, how is it that you are not good enough for the hall of fame?
ReplyDeleteDid Lester Hayes lose his coverage skills for four years and then they just magically appeared in SB XVIII? I think we all can see that this is a ridiculous notion. More likely is that he continued to dominate as a cornerback to the extent that opposing QBs took less risks in throwing his way, resulting in less interceptions, but also putting more pressure on those offenses because his defense took away options from them. That's a logical explanation and it is what the Redskins themselves stated after SBXVIII, four years after his DPOY award and first Lombardi trophy, as well as four years after stickum was banned. It is also what my eyes witnessed as I watched him over those four years. There was never any thought during that time that "Lester has fallen off." Far from it. He was always one of the players to watch, and one which the other team had to game plan for.
Many people hold Deion Sanders out as the best ever at the cornerback position. For sure he was exceptional at coverage skills and interceptions and runbacks. But he didn't hold a candle to Lester when it came to tackling. Few CBs did. But do you know who HOFer Deion looked up to before he made it to the NFL? That's right. Lester Hayes. Do you know who HOF CB Mike Haynes said is one of the best cornerbacks he ever saw? Lester Hayes. He would know. He had to compare himself to Lester on a daily basis in practice.
Please please please please let's stop this charade and fix this travesty of justice and send the Judge to the HOF where he belongs. There is more to playing cornerback than counting interceptions.