Amen!! #54 is my all time favorite as well. Loved watching him on Sundays. Great player had the heart of a warrior
Does Zach Thomas belong in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame?
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Amen!! #54 is my all time favorite as well. Loved watching him on Sundays. Great player had the heart of a warrior
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Looking at the list of NFL Hall of Famers, he is better than many.
russianbear
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I think people are overblowing the defense's performance in big games in regards to disqualifying ZT for HOF status. It's not fair to use an entire unit's collapse as a blemish on one player, even if he is the MLB. I can think of a certain QB who will be going first ballot to HOF and he's played like crap in some of his biggest moments....hint: he just crapped the bed in the Superbowl.
I'm biased as hell because he's my 2nd favorite player of all-time, but ABSOLUTELY he belongs in the hof. Ray Lewis was his contemporary and is now considered something of an all-time benchmark. Well, Zach was in his class when they played. ZT was the living embodiment of a player maximizing heart, toughness, and intelligence to overcome his physical limitations. The dude was basically Rudy except he could player on an extremely high level. We had a dominant run D led by ZT. Awful offense and clown running the team, but as the leader of that D he was spectacular. The pursuit, the anticipation at the line, his astonishing ability to read plays. The level he played was so incredible that it transcends team success or statistics (which are still pretty damn good). Even if you took away the extraordinary ode to courage and guts that his career was all about and judge him purely on his exceptional level of play and performance, he is definitely hall worthy. His legacy to the fans who watched him doesn't need the HoF to justify his greatness, but the HoF would be better for having him in it.
Zach Thomas was every bit the player Ray Lewis was at the LB position, minus the fortune of playing with a few other greats on defense which lead to SBs, the stabbing people, always finding the camera to do some preaching, and the dancing. End of story.
Phinatic8u
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LOL @ the people who dont think Zach belongs.
Ricky Williams took Ray Lewis out of a game once after Lewis ran hours mouth about Ricky before we played them.
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Consider the sourceYou base your whole decision off one play out of thousands in a 13 year career. Smh.
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One thing is for certain. Had the offense been average, did their job and helped win a superbowl, ZT is a shoe in HOFer.
TheJetsBlow
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Except that guy already had a ring. So... Yeah.
EricCartman
Active Roster
yeah, but... in how many years? what kind of talent across the board he had? with how many playoffs blunders (one, for example, againist the chocker D of Miami, with Fieldler making 3-int-3 as a gift to start the game....and still, the Colts couldn't win the game.....)
Not to say Manning is a chocker or anything, but IMO we have to think to the teams, the context, etc etc....
we can't just say "he had a ring" for Manning or " ha has no ring" for ZT as the end of the story that proves who is a chocker and who is not
ps - sorry for my bad English
hoops
Tua time!
zach thomas was not on ray lewis level...ray lewis should have been the mvp of the freaking league for a couple years there...i know ray lewis is a hypocrite etc but he's an all time great lb
and if i was gonna blame anyone on that d for the failures in the clutch it would be the guy paid top money to get your defense off the field who dissappeared and did more talking to the media then he did in the game with his play when the team needed him...jason no show taylor
and if i was gonna blame anyone on that d for the failures in the clutch it would be the guy paid top money to get your defense off the field who dissappeared and did more talking to the media then he did in the game with his play when the team needed him...jason no show taylor
Austin Tatious
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The idea that you need rings for consideration for the HOF is way overblown. The voters are football nerds through and through. They love to sift through players and mine the archives for unsung excellence from non-winners and practically overcompensate in favor of players who didn't win. The Hall is full of the likes of DB's who played for the Cardinals or Vikings or linemen from those teams or the old players who never sniffed champsionships who just hung around. Meanwhile there are pro bowlers from Super Bowl teams who haven't made it. Hence, overcompensation and not a bias to champions.
AFCMiamiEast
Active Roster
That is exactly how it should be...100% based off individual play, how their team performed outside of the player should be COMPLETELY irrelevant if those guys didn't do their part. Thomas has a decent chance to get in based off that formula. Being elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is an individual achievement, and to see the likes of players like Teddy Bruschi get more appreciation from benefiting off a stellar team while ZT is an afterthought, is ludicrous.
dlockz
Hall Of Famer
The reality of it is Players on superbowl teams will always get more consideration.
Your posts regarding Shula and now Jason Taylor just have me wondering how much Miami football you have been around in the past. Tom Brady made a point of praising JT as a great player when the phins were one of the few teams who would upset the Pats fairly regulary. As far as Shula as I have pointed out and the coaches who coached against him pointed out he could outcoach them if given the chance. Bum Phillips said it best he take his em and beat your em and your em and beat his em. While I have been on board and hopeful regarding your opinion of Ryann T. I sure hope your as right on your boy as you appear to be wrong on your opinion of JT and Shula.
GoonBoss
Finheaven Templar
You lionize opponents. That's the QB presser way. But here is the reality; Miami's defense went away and could not get off the field in critical moments, and, that's what
it is. Sorry, it just is. ZT is going to suffer because of it, whereas Ray Lewis won't. (Yes, I know, whatever)
Better to have been a murder or his assistant than to have been a hard worker who's scheme and personnel
break down.