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Howie Long, HOF worthy?


Geo in Pa

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2 hours ago, Lofton80 said:

He was a tremendous player, a dominant force on many playoff teams. This is the first place I have ever seen his HOF honor questioned. He was driven by his upbringing and played angry. Just a tremendous player in a different era.   

 

And always came up meh against the Bills, in games at the Ralph.     I never understood the hype, personally...

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Yea, Howie Long was one of the best defensive players of his era and belongs in the Hall. That said, I do agree that his stature has been somewhat accentuated by his TV persona.

 

I remember a few years back, shortly after Reggie White passed away, one of the networks had a caller vote-in to identify the two greatest defensive linemen in the HoF. They had Long, Deacon Jones and Bruce Smith all on hand to state their cases. Long even seemed embarrassed to be campaigning against the likes of Deacon Jones (who MAY have been the all time sack leader if the stat had been recorded during his era) and Bruce (the official sack leader for a time, which is even more extraordinary when you realize that he played in a 3-4 defense most of his career). When the voting results came in, the winners were White and ... Howie. Bruce looked like he was going to cry...

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16 minutes ago, 2003Contenders said:

That said, I do agree that his stature has been somewhat accentuated by his TV persona.

 

Yes indeed.  Long's post-career TV career absolutely has elevated his standing.     

 

Same with Jimmy Johnson...

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18 hours ago, Binghamton Beast said:

If you actually watched Howie Long you would say he is a Hall of Famer.

Exactly! I'm guessing that most of the comments are from people that are not old enough to have seen him play or are too old they don't remember how he played. He was an absolute monster on the field in his day. Very disruptive to offensive lines and run games. Absolutely the man is HOF.

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17 minutes ago, BigPappy said:

Exactly! I'm guessing that most of the comments are from people that are not old enough to have seen him play or are too old they don't remember how he played. He was an absolute monster on the field in his day. Very disruptive to offensive lines and run games. Absolutely the man is HOF.

 

Plenty old to have watched Long in person.    And plenty old enough to disagree...

 

 

Howie Long

  Games Def Interceptions Fumbles      
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Sk
Sfty AV
Career       179 151 2 84 0 73   0 0 10 5 0 84.0   119
1983* 23 RAI LDE 75 16 16             0 2 0 0 13.0   14
1984*+ 24 RAI LDE 75 16 16             0 2 4 0 12.0   17
1985*+ 25 RAI LDE 75 16 16                     10.0   18
1992* 32 RAI LDE 75 16 16                     9.0   12
1986* 26 RAI LDE 75 13 12             0 2 0 0 7.5   8
1990 30 RAI LDE 75 12 11             0 1 1 0 6.0   6
1993* 33 RAI LDE 75 16 16                     6.0   10
1982 22 RAI LDE 75 9 5                     5.5   4
1989* 29 RAI LDE 75 14 10             0 1 0 0 5.0   9
1987* 27 RAI LDE 75 14 14             0 2 0 0 4.0   11
1988 28 RAI lde 75 7 6 1 73 0 73             3.0   3
1991 31 RAI LDE 75 14 13 1 11 0 11             3.0   6
1981 21 OAK   75 16 0                     0.0   1

 

Plus 4 sacks in 12 playoff games

 

 

And guess which former Bill this is?

 

  Games Def Interceptions Fumbles   Tackles    
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Sk
Comb Solo Ast TFL QBHits Sfty AV
Career       133 128 3 32 1 26 31 21 0 8 0 0 78.0 483 334 149 98 60   72
2006* 29 BUF DE 94 16 16 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 1 0 0 14.0 53 35 18 12 22   13
2005 28 BUF DE 94 16 16 1 0 0 0 5 2 0 1 0 0 12.0 71 54 17 14     7
2003 26 BUF DE 94 16 16 1 6 0 6 3 1 0 1 0 0 11.5 60 37 23 15     10
2009 32 BUF DE 94 16 16 1 26 1 26 4 3 0 1 0 0 10.0 56 34 22 17 17   9
2002 25 BUF DE 94 16 16 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 8.5 52 34 18 12     7
2004 27 BUF DE 94 16 16 0 0 0 0 4 5 0 3 0 0 8.0 73 46 27 9     9
2001 24 BUF DE 94 16 11 0 0 0 0 2           6.5 42 31 11 7     4
2007* 30 BUF DE 94 16 16 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 1 0 0 6.5 57 45 12 7 15   10
2008 31 BUF de 94 5 5 0 0 0 0 1           1.0 19 18 1 5 6   3
 

 


 

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10 minutes ago, Lurker said:

 

Plenty old to have watched Long in person.    And plenty old enough to disagree...

Well..... I did say most not all. I have absolutely no issue with you disagreeing. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, especially those you actually saw him play.  I just don;t think anyone to young to have actually seen him play is entitled to said opinion. 

 

 

Edit: My guess for your second set of stats is Aaron Schobel. How did I do?

10 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said:

He hates the Bills, and for that reason alone .....  No

 

I think Howie's Longs last game was in a Playoff Loss in 1993 to Buffalo 29-23.  

 

In 1990 also lost to the Bills in the the Conference Championship playoffs 51-3.

 

Your last two sentences are probably why he hates the Bills. LOL!!! By the time of those two losses to the Bills, He was in the twilight of his career. It was a totally different game then. He was considered decrepit by then. His body had taken such a beating like most of the players of that generation.  

Edited by BigPappy
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16 hours ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Sacks weren't even an official stat when he started. In mid80s he was getting over double digits and making All Pro. At the time he was perceived as a great player.

 

Sacks became an official stat in 1982, his second year in the league.       He made All Pro three times, the same number of years he had double digit sacks.     

 

He was a very good player--who should have had to buy a ticket to get the Hall, just like the rest of us...  

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I find some of the comments here amusing. Howie Long was inducted into the HOF in 2000 started as a studio host in 1995. The last 20 years of his tv exposure did not influence anything. Look at some comments about him from respected people.  “He may be the most dominant force in defensive football today,” says Seattle Seahawks coach Chuck Knox. “He’s relentless,” says John Hannah, the New England Patriots’ perennial all-pro guard, now in retirement. “Shoot him in the head is the only way to stop him. If Howie’s alive and still kicking he’s coming.”

 

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1 hour ago, Doc said:

Must have been a weak DE era.

 

Maybe a case could be made that it was a stronger offensive line era.  The spread wasn't the standard in college at that point and it was almost unheard of to draft a lineman that had never been in a 3 point stance in their college career.  That's becoming commonplace today and IMO the NFL's OL quality has somewhat suffered as a result.  

 

This was also around the time that the Giants and Redskins set the standard with 300+ lb linemen across the board that you see today.  

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2 hours ago, Lofton80 said:

I find some of the comments here amusing. Howie Long was inducted into the HOF in 2000 started as a studio host in 1995. The last 20 years of his tv exposure did not influence anything. Look at some comments about him from respected people.  “He may be the most dominant force in defensive football today,” says Seattle Seahawks coach Chuck Knox. “He’s relentless,” says John Hannah, the New England Patriots’ perennial all-pro guard, now in retirement. “Shoot him in the head is the only way to stop him. If Howie’s alive and still kicking he’s coming.”

 

As do I.   That 1995 to 2000 TV stint certainly helped get him a gold jacket.     And of course the last 20 years of TV work since didn't influence anything--he was already in :doh:

 

I had season tix throughout his playing career and never saw him once influence the outcome of a game against the Bills.   Four sacks in 12 playoff games doesn't burnish his Canton creds either, IMO.     Hall of the very good...

 

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2 hours ago, Lofton80 said:

I find some of the comments here amusing. Howie Long was inducted into the HOF in 2000 started as a studio host in 1995. The last 20 years of his tv exposure did not influence anything. Look at some comments about him from respected people.  “He may be the most dominant force in defensive football today,” says Seattle Seahawks coach Chuck Knox. “He’s relentless,” says John Hannah, the New England Patriots’ perennial all-pro guard, now in retirement. “Shoot him in the head is the only way to stop him. If Howie’s alive and still kicking he’s coming.”

 

 

 

 

That's 5 years of being a studio host. He also made movies prior to that, played in LA, and was a celebrity during and after his playing career. If you don't think that playing in LA and being on TV makes any difference then I can't help you. I don't know, maybe look up Joe Namath.

I think he was very good, and a borderline HoF player. 

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11 minutes ago, 32ABBA said:

 

 

That's 5 years of being a studio host. He also made movies prior to that, played in LA, and was a celebrity during and after his playing career. If you don't think that playing in LA and being on TV makes any difference then I can't help you. I don't know, maybe look up Joe Namath.

I think he was very good, and a borderline HoF player. 

 

 

Yes!  YES!  That 13th and final year of his career (100 completions!  3TDs!) in LA and his nonstop TV appearances (The Brady Bunch! The Love Boat! Sonny and Cher!)  are what got "Broadway (should it not be Sunset Blvd???) Joe" his bust in the HOF.

 

The gift that keeps on giving....

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