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Wrote this on my sports blog a few days ago. Thoughts?


Steve Smith a future Hall of Famer?

Sitting around last night I began to think about Carolina Panther players that may eventually merit HOF status. Obviously Julius Peppers came to mind, but him going to Chicago completely destroys that notion. Then you have Mr. Steve Smith. The man who is absolutely fearless, and pound for pound the toughest man in the league. Things were looking fantastic after the 2008 season in which he had 78 catches for 1421 yards, and to a certain degree even after the 2009 season where he had to close to 1,000 yards receiving. But boy oh boy do things, and peoples opinions change in just one season. Thanks in part to a QB duo of Matt Moore, and mostly Jimmy Clausen, Smith plummeted to 46 catches for 554 yards and just 2 TDs last season. With rookie Cam Newton coming aboard in which who according to most, if not all experts (perhaps excluding Jon Gruden) stating that Newton was going to severely struggle with his accuracy, and a disgruntled Smith who cleaned out his locker, demanded a trade, and put his Charlotte home up for sale things began to look rather troubling, but Newton and Smith developed a strong bond in the off season working out together which has apparently paid huge dividends, as Newton has proven most of his critics wrong, and Smith has rejuvenated his career.

Year - Receptions - Yards - TDs -2001 - 10 catches - 154 yards - 0 TDs -2002 - 54 catches - 872 yards - 3 TDs -2003 - 88 catches - 1110 yards - 7 TDs -2004 - 6 catches - 60 yards - 0 TDs - Broke his leg that year 2005 - 103 catches -1563 yards - 12 TDs -2006 - 83 catches - 1166 yards - 8 TDs -2007 - 87 catches - 1002 yards - 7 TDs -2008 - 78 catches - 1421 yards - 6 TDs -2009 - 65 catches - 982 yards - 7 TDs -2010 - 46 catches - 554 yards - 2 TDs -2011 - 8 catches - 675 yards - 3 TDs -

Currently Smith is 38th on the all time receiving yards list with 9,559. Personally I think Smith would have to approach Cris Carter and/or pass him to have a legitimate shot at making the HOF. One of the main reasons I compare him to Carter is because Carter never won a Superbowl (the mere fact Carter isnt in the HOF yet is a travesty in itself, but up for discussion another day). To state just how important winning a Superbowl would be to enhance Smiths chances cannot be stated enough. By comparison Michael Irvin had 351 less receptions in his career, nearly 2,000 less receiving yards, and 65 (yes, 65) less TDs than Carter had, but even with his off the field problems he made it in well before Carter mainly due to the fact he won 3 Superbowls.

Rec: Yards: TD:

Cris Carter: 1,101 13,899 130 Steve Smith: 652 9,559 55

Smith should end this season with around 10,200 - 10,300 yards with 80 or so catches and 8-9 TDs. Taking those numbers that I am guessing he will end the season with he would be around 400 catches, 3600 yards, and 70 TDs behind Carter. If Smith can play 4 more seasons at the level of his 2009 season when he had 65 catches - 982 yards - 7 TD (trying to be realistic as he gets older, could be much higher, or lower) this is where he would be at in comparison to Carter.

Rec: Yards: TD:

Cris Carter: 1,101 13,899 130 Steve Smith: 960 14,178 98

He would still be a good ways behind Carter in TDs, and receptions. You also have to take into the account the way the league is changing into an all out passing league. Tom Brady is on pace to shatter Dan Marinos passing record, and Wes Welker is on pace to break Jerry Rices record for most receiving yards in a season. You also must compare him to his current peers. Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Ochocinco, Hines Ward, and Derrick Mason are all ahead of him currently. I can certainly foresee him passing all of them with the exception of Andre Johnson (they're about neck and neck right now) and Reggie Wayne is a tossup for me, while the others are in the twilight of their careers.

Finally, I do believe if healthy Smith will eventually be a Hall of Famer. A Superbowl or two would help that case ten fold, though. Smith is a fierce competitor, and has had slightly above average/mediocre (Rodney Peete, Delhomme) to absolutely dreadful QB play (Clausen) his entire career. A man like him with his passion and desire for the game of football deserves it at the end of the day.

I agree that Cris Carter belongs in the HOF. I hope he gets there one day soon.

I agree that Smith likely needs to get close to Carter, and maybe surpass him in order to get into the HOF. But with his rebirth playing with Cam, if he plays like this all year, and a few more years, it could happen.

Not sure going to Chicago hurts Peppers. If anything, it helps him because he's on a better team.

Post is fine but the stats need to be formatted better. I assume that's just a function of this forum though.

Yeah the forum didn't exactly help me on that note. As far as Peppers he's going to be a hall of famer, but just wont go.in as a Panther. Or atleast I don't think he will.

It all depends on what the Balloters remember about the player, if they are staring blank minded into stats then Smith will never be a Hall-of Fame candidate, as his existence on a run first offense with a at best average QB hurt his stats. That stated if the case is that the Balloters are sitting there remembering times when Smith was tripple covered because of his impact on the field then that is another situation. Ultimately I feel bad for smith, as had he been playing for the Colts, Patriots, Packers, or a plethora of other pass first teams in his hay day the discussion would not be how his stats match up to other hall-of-famers but rather how some of the all time greats compared to him. Smith is a unique player, there perhaps has never been a reciever of his size to be so respected by any defense in the NFL. To put it in perspective as to how good Smith was Wes Welker is posting incredible numbers this year and has earned the respect of Defenses around the NFL, however when the Patriots played the Jets Tom Brady did not throw to Welker because Revis was matched up against him. A few years ago had Champ Bailey, Revis, Ed Reed, Law, and god knows who else all been stuck on Smith in a game, or even used in a double team against him, Delehome would still confidently throw the ball to steve smith on every pass. I remember when Smith went off against the Bears for 212 yards was it (or 206? it was a while ago) but was held without a TD because the Chicago defense stuck 2 Cornerbacks and brought frequent help from Safeties in order to cover him, yet he still racked up over 200 yards. I remember looking at Smiths recieving yards and Delehomes passing yards and realising that over 1/2 of Jakes yards were thrown to Steve Smith, what is even more amazing about that is that when you think about it that means that during the 16 games of the regular season the average team could not figure out how to stop ONE MAN from igniting an entire passing game that while never the feature of the Carolina Offense still was considered effective.... Smith for his unique skills deserves to be a HOF candidate, but will the balloters see the man behind the stats or not?