Has Stafford clinched a Hall of Fame nod? Wright says no originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
After years of good quarterback play with the Detroit Lions, quarterback Matthew Stafford has won the Super Bowl.
Fortunately it wasn't with the Chicago Bears' NFC North rivals, but with the Los Angeles Rams after a trade last year.
And now that Stafford has added a Vince Lombardi Trophy to his football accolades, is he a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate? Some media pundits and analysts think the former Lions quarterback is now that he's won the Super Bowl.
To be fair, Stafford did put up good numbers in Detroit. He had a 5,038-yeard, 41-touchdown season even.
After big moments everyone can tend to overreact, but First Things First host Nick Wright wasn't having it. He responded to that narrative and suggestion with a thorough undressing of the notion.
"I'm going to I'm going to lose my mind," Wright said. "Folks, folks, listen, I enjoy sports television is quarterback, quarterback, quarterback. I understand the NFL has adjusted the rules to make it quarterback, quarterback, quarterback. I understand all of that.
"The Hall of Fame cannot just be a bunch of quarterbacks and Aaron Donald. And I guess J.J. Watt can come in too, and Randy Moss. Guys, it's the Hall of Fame.
"And while there is not a specific check mark based criteria, I think we can all agree, to be a Hall of Famer can you maybe be consistently one of, I don't know, the five best currently playing at your own position? Matt Stafford has not been that throughout his career.
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Matt Stafford is a very nice player. But Matt Stafford, I want to tell you guys in his career, he has been an All-Pro zero times. He's been a Pro Bowler once, Pro Bowler once. Same as Mac Jones. Unbelievable.
"Do you want to know what categories in a single season Matt Stafford's ever led the league in, major passing categories: touchdowns, never; yards, never; rating, never; completion percentage, never; pick-sixes, four times; interceptions, once - this year. That's all he's ever led the league in.
"Here's a short list of guys who missed out on the Hall of Fame (a week) ago. Patrick Willis, DeMarcus Ware, Andre Johnson, Torry Holt, Devin Hester. Between those five guys, they made 34 Pro Bowls and 24 All-Pros. So the average guy that missed out was a seven-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro.
"Stop it. Matt Stafford is not a Hall of Famer. Everybody knows he's not a Hall of Famer."
As for us as Bears fans? We don't care, just put in Devin Hester. Then Olin Kreutz and Lance Briggs next.
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