These five Cowboys Hall of Fame snubs still deserve Canton’s attention, and their careers compare well or better than players already wearing gold jackets.
The first half of this list had some good Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame arguments.
This half is where I start running out of patience.
Numbers 5 through 1 are the Cowboys I look at and wonder what else Canton needs to see. Some should already be in the Hall of Fame, and others shouldn’t have to wait long once they become eligible.
When I stack their resumes next to players already enshrined, the arguments get pretty tough to dodge.
I’m not trying to put every good Cowboys in Canton. I am looking at the standard the Hall of Fame has already set, and I think Dallas still has a few players who meet it.
5. Tyron Smith, Left Tackle, 2011-2023
Tyron Smith’s Hall of Fame case will come down to how voters handle the injuries.
I get it. His career got choppy near the end, and Cowboys fans spent too many Sundays wondering if he would make it through another season.
I’m not going to let injuries erase what he was in his prime.
Smith made eight Pro Bowls, earned two first-team All-Pro selections, and landed on the NFL’s All-2010s Team. Pro Football Reference has a Hall of Fame Monitor score to measure players’ chances of getting into the Hall of Fame.
Tyron Smith has a score of 77.53. That puts him right behind Orlando Pace at 81.80 and Tony Boselli at 80.68.
Pace had seen Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro selections. Boselli had five Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro selections.
Tyron Smith protected Tony Romo and Dak Prescott, and made elite pass rushers look ordinary when he was right.
This is a man that belongs in Canton.
4. Zack Martin, Right Guard, 2014-2024
Zack Martin isn’t eligible for the Hall of Fame yet, so I’m putting that caveat right up front, but I’m also not going to pretend I don’t see where this could go.
Martin has seven first-team All-Pro selections, nine Pro Bowls, and a spot on the NFL’s All-2010s Team. He came into the league almost elite, immediately. For most of his career, he was either the best guard in football or his name was right next to the best that year.
The comparison to Hall of Fame guards should end any argument.
Alan Faneca has a Hall of Fame Monitor score of 134.33, six first-team All-Pro selections, and none Pro Bowls. Larry Allen has a 129.20 score, six first-team All-Pro selections, and 11 Pro Bowls.
Zack Martin is sitting at 122.48.
I don’t see how this would be seen as even borderline. This is Canton material.
The concern for me isn’t whether Martin was good enough. The concern is that voters may start moving the goalpost because he played guard, played for Dallas, and doesn’t have a Super Bowl.
3. Harvey Martin, Defensive End, 1973-1983
Harvey Martin’s Hall of Fame case bothers me more every time I look at it. He belongs in the Canton conversations.
He was the 1977 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, co-MVP of Super Bowl XII, was one of the best pass rushers of the 70s, and still he’s somehow waiting on that gold jacket.
I would say the problem is when he played because sacks weren’t official for most of his career. So a few may have been missed.
I found he was credited with 114 sacks, but the NFL has him credited with 10 sacks with no sack info from 1973-1978. If those had been official at the time, I don’t think we would be having this conversation.
Claude Humphrey is in the Hall with six Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pro selections, and 122 sacks. Elvin Bethea is in with eight Pro Bowls and 105 sacks. Just make it make sense.
This is exactly the type of mistake the senior committee is supposed to fix.
2. Jason Witten, Tight End, 2003-2017, 2019
Jason Witten not getting in right away annoyed me. I know it was a full class, but I don’t think Canton can drag this out forever. Or can they? I’m looking at you, Darren Woodson.
His numbers are just too great to be ignored, I hope.
Witten finished his career with 1,228 catches, 13,046 receiving yards, 74 touchdowns, 11 Pro Bowls, and two first-team All-Pro selections.
In comparison, I found out that Shannon Sharpe, who’s already in Canton, finished with 815 catches, 10,060 yards, 62 touchdowns, eight Pro Bowls, and four first-team All-Pro selections.
Witten has 413 more catches and almost 3,000 more yards than Sharpe. The three Super Bowls helped Sharpe walk into the Hall.
I think he was so reliable people took him for granted.
1. Darren Woodson, Safety, 1992-2003
Darren Woodson should already be in the Hall of Fame and this is the one that bothers most Cowboys fans.
Woodson was a three-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Pro Bowler, three-time first-team All-Pro, and one of the most complete safeties to ever play the game. He finished his career with 23 interceptions and became the Cowboys’ all-time leading tackler.
If any of you watched Darren Woodson play you know he could do everything on the football field and everything the Cowboys asked him to do.
The comparison that makes this case hard to ignore is John Lynch, who is in the Hall of Fame.
Lynch had nine Pro-Bowls, two first-team All-Pro selections, one Super Bowl ring, and 26 interceptions. If the committee is going off of accolades and interceptions, John Lynch only tops Woodson with three interceptions.
I don’t want to take anything away from Lynch, who was one of my favorite players growing up, but he’s not better than Woodson.
Woodson should hands down, without a doubt, be in Canton.
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