Asante Samuel Says He Deserves HOF Attention. Is He Right?

 By John Turney 

It seems that every few months Deion Sanders is involved with a story involving the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with his suggestion for "an upper room" in Canton to house its upper-echelon inductees the most noteworthy.

That idea was a non-starter.

But now it's not Deion starting a ruckus. It's former All-Pro cornerback Asante Samuel, who took to the social network X to make a Hall-of-Fame case for a defensive back he believes should be enshrined.

Himself.

"Here is your yearly reminder," he wrote. "Now let’s hear the excuses."

Instead, we heard the testimony. In 31 fewer regular-season games, Samuel intercepted just two fewer passes than Deion (53-51). He also picked off seven passes in the playoffs where Sanders had five - meaning each had 58 career picks, counting the postseason. Finally, we were reminded that both players own two Super Bowl rings.

But Samuel didn't stop there. He posted more stats comparable to the first-ballot Hall of Famer some consider the G.O.A.T of cornerbacks, provoking responses from others who suggested Samuel might want to reconsider his argument.

"Asante Samuel," said former All-Pro Ryan Clark on X, "was a very good football player, but there is no Hall of 'Very Good.' He can have all the technique conversations he wants with Deion Sanders, but do not throw rocks at Tanks.

"You can pull up all the stats you want, but who’s the better of these two should not be a conversation. Both men are far better than me, but Deion Sanders is in a different stratosphere from everyone. He’s the reason people wore 21, he manifested the term 'lockdown corner' & shifted the power in the NFL simply by changing jerseys."

Naturally, Samuel (whose X profile description is "Professional Sh*t Talker") fired back at Clark ... then Clark at Samuel ... and so it goes. I guess it could go on ad infinitum, but it won't. Almost all agree that Sanders was better than Asante Samuel. I know I do. But is that the question? I don't think so.

My question is: Why is Samuel "Sh*t Talking" at all? Simple. He must think he's worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So, THAT is the question. Does he  belong? Let's take a look.

A two-time AP All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowler and two-time interceptions leader, Sanders was New England's fourth-round pick (the 120th overall) of the 2003 NFL draft. As a rookie, he was an effective third corner, and by his second season a starter on a Patriots' team that won its second consecutive Super Bowl. But Samuel was more a contributor ... a "do-your-job" kind of guy ... than the star he would later become.

New England didn't win another Super Bowl while Samuel was there, but no fault could be laid at his feet. Over the next four years -- which totaled 11 playoff games (three with the Philadelphia Eagles) -- he excelled, snagging seven enemy passes and returning four for touchdowns. That's right: Four pick-sixes in the playoffs in four years.

Without question, Asante was someone who played big in the biggest games.

But he also played big in the regular season. In 2006, for instance, he led the NFL with 10 interceptions, though he somehow wasn't named All-Pro and didn't earn an invite to the Pro Bowl. The following year the All-Pro voting panel corrected its mistake, not only naming him to its team but making him a first-team All-Pro. So did the Pro Football Writers of America and Sporting News. Players, coaches and fans soon followed, asking him to join them in Hawaii for the first of four consecutive Pro Bowls.

After signing a big-money deal with the Eagles in 2009, he was voted second-team All-Pro and, one year later, was a first-team All-Pro according to the PFWA and Sporting News. And why not? Over that five-year span, Samuel totaled 36 interceptions, leading the NFL twice in that department as well as passes defensed.

Without question, he was a baller.

Few ever had a five-year run of productivity like Samuel. Plus, he did it for yet another team -- the Atlanta Falcons. After his four years with the Eagles, he was traded to the Falcons for a paltry seventh-round pick. But his play was hardly paltry. In his first year there, he intercepted five passes, returning them for 110 yards and a score in another Pro Bowl-level season for the 31-year-old corner.

All told, his 51 interceptions trail only Rod Woodson, Charles Woodson, Ed Reed, Aeneas Williams, Eric Allen, Ty Law and, yes, Deion among players whose careers began in 1987 or later. The common thread? All own Gold Jackets. 

But three of them spent parts of their careers as safeties. Asante Samuel did not. He's also not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nor has he been close. He's never been a finalist or semifinalist, and that should change. No, he's not "Prime Time," but who is? That's like comparing defensive ends to Reggie White. Some individuals are just talented freaks, and Deion Sanders is one of them.

But when you see Samuel in the same conversation with names like Williams, Allen and Law, you begin to think what you might not have before -- that maybe Asante Samuel has a point and should at least be included in a Hall-of-Fame conversation.

So let's start talking.