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He's been the anchor of the Miami defense since about 1875; is he deserving enough when he finally hangs them up?

I don't see why not. He's been a stalwart on that Dolphins defense for a decade now (I was surprised... he really hasn't been playing THAT long) and been a fixture on the Pro Bowl.

As well, being mentioned and included in our top-15 Linebackers ranking merits a Hall of Fame bid, don't you think?

Thomas is a great, if unheralded, linebacker. He shouldn

^What he said. Also, the Dolphins haven't made the playoffs since 2001 so while I don't think the stigma that QBs have with "unsuccessful" teams holds true for other positions, I certainly think that the lack of playoffs leads to lack of exposure for him in the second half of his career so he's going to be forgotten a bit by all the greats that are playing in this era too. Some people may think he just had a great start to his career and then think he sorta just faded away. Hell, I found myself in that hole a year or two back, had forgotten about him a bit. That sort of effect may hurt him a bit but educated minds will prevail and I would expect him to make it at some point. mahalo
~Chach~

The sad thing is a guy like Willie McGinest (i.e. a dynasty defensive player) will probably make it in with less hesitation than Zach Thomas. Not to discredit McGinest, who is a HoFer in his own right, but HoF voters tend to put a lot of stock in team success, which is going to hurt Thomas.

Basketball Jesus wrote:The sad thing is a guy like Willie McGinest (i.e. a dynasty defensive player) will probably make it in with less hesitation than Zach Thomas. Not to discredit McGinest, who is a HoFer in his own right, but HoF voters tend to put a lot of stock in team success, which is going to hurt Thomas.

It didn't help that Miami's good years coincided with one semi-dynasty (the Broncos), and another dynasty a couple of years later (the Patriots)

I personally don't think the HOF voters will hestitate over Zach Thomas' inclusion in the HOF though...
Call it a gut feeling...

[color=green]It

I don't think he makes it. He's a guy people will forget about.

He has absolutely no shot. Please. This isn't the NBA HOF that puts anyone in. There are players much better than Zach Thomas not in the Hall. This era will be defined with Seau, Ray Lewis, and Urlacher. Some might say Derrick Brooks deserve more than Zach Thomas. Zach Thomas is a real good player and even be great sometimes. Still he has little to no shot in making a NFL HOF.

Have you seen Zach's statlines?? Doesn't matter how you spin it, they are tremendous seasons, over a great period of time.

richboy wrote:He has absolutely no shot. Please. This isn't the NBA HOF that puts anyone in. There are players much better than Zach Thomas not in the Hall. This era will be defined with Seau, Ray Lewis, and Urlacher. Some might say Derrick Brooks deserve more than Zach Thomas. Zach Thomas is a real good player and even be great sometimes. Still he has little to no shot in making a NFL HOF.

This is the same HOF that is on the verge of allowing Art Monk into its HOF.
If Art Monk, who was probably not even top-5/10 at his position within his decade, could get considerations for entering the HOF, surely Zach Thomas who was around top-5 at his position within his decade, can get, at the very least, serious considerations.

Remember that Linebackers, considering the importance of their position, are so woefully under-represented in the HOF, mostly because the evolution of the position has happened only in the last 15-20 years or so, we'll only now see the influx of Linebacker talent into the HOF.

richboy wrote:He has absolutely no shot. Please. This isn't the NBA HOF that puts anyone in.

Ha ha ha, what? Are we talking about the same cronyistic Hall of Fame that's been enshrining pet players since inception?

Most of those pet players have championships, which shouldn't matter, but does.

Under the current guidelines, I don't see him making it. A lesser player with championships has a much better chance since the Hall voters don't seem to care about much else. Not to mention that getting into the Hall just keeps getting harder and harder as the number of people elected each year stays the same, but the talent pool grows.

Yes, he is one of the greatest LB of all time.

I have a hard time seeing him make it. Mike Singletary and Lawrence Taylor are the only linebackers drafted in the last 30 years to make it so far - Zach is good, but he's not that good.

deeney0 wrote:I have a hard time seeing him make it. Mike Singletary and Lawrence Taylor are the only linebackers drafted in the last 30 years to make it so far - Zach is good, but he's not that good.

You forgot Harry Carson.

I think Derrick Thomas, Andre Tippett, Greg Lloyd should all get in 1st.

And Urlacher SHOULD not be in any all time discussion. The only sure HOFers at LB right now are Lewis, Brooks, and Seau.

Thomas is a boderline for me and since I like him I will say he should get in....!

deeney0 wrote:I have a hard time seeing him make it. Mike Singletary and Lawrence Taylor are the only linebackers drafted in the last 30 years to make it so far - Zach is good, but he's not that good.

That's because the influx of LBs into the league only happened very recently... So we'll likely see an increase of LBs being voted into the HOF very soon....

One of the problems facing Thomas is that, thanks to the rather arcane voting process, the NFL only allows in six players/coaches/contributors max per year. Thomas generation has been nothing if not an era of offensive explosion meaning you

JohnnyBoy8102 wrote:
I think Derrick Thomas, Andre Tippett, Greg Lloyd should all get in 1st.

I pity Tippett: he was probably one of the three best linebackers of his era (in a very good era of LBs; he's behind LT and Singletary in my slightly-homerish book) but was stuck on some rather crappy teams. Watching him you assumed he'd be a HoFer some day but I guess it's just not meant to be.

Still, him making the finals this year: sweet.