| Randolph Charlotin. 29th January, 2007 - 9:33 am
 With a Peyton Manning kneel-down, the season came to an end for the New England Patriots. As the players go home, head coach Bill Belichick and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli retreat to their bunker to begin the 2007 off-season. The team has holes Belichick and Pioli must address.
And arguably their biggest weakness is at linebacker. Their depth is hurting. They are aging (Tedy Bruschi 33, Mike Vrabel 31, and Junior Seau 38) And of course there's free agency, as OLB Tully Banta Cain is unrestricted. If he leaves, the Patriots will explore their options.
Do they promote from within? How about sign a free agent? Or will the Pats wait until the draft in April?
Whichever option they use, they know what kind of athlete they need. He gotta be big. Somewhere around 6-3 240 pounds. If they are looking exclusively for an outside linebacker, he better be one hell of a pass rusher.
That player is within the Patriots organization.
Unfortunately, his playing days is behind him. Andre Tippett is currently the football development and promotions director for the Patriots, but during his playing days, he was one of the best at outside linebacker.
Tippett retired after the 1993 season as the Patriots all-time sack leader. Five years later, he was eligible for the NFL Hall of Fame.
Tippett still hasn't received the call, but this could be the year. For the first time, Tippett is one of 15 finalists to be inducted. Between three and six will be honored. Tippett deserves to be one of them.
Usually statistics and accolades are enough to get one inducted. In 1985 he led the AFC in sacks with 16.5 and was named the conference‚s Defensive Player of the Year. Two years later Tippett again led the AFC with 12.5 sacks. Neither was his greatest season, as in 1984 he finished with 18.5 sacks, which is still a team record. He was voted into five straight Pro Bowls and named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the '80s. He finished his career with 100 sacks.
Even with the impressive list of accomplishments above, it still took eight years for Tippett to just be a finalist. To be inducted this year, he'd have to get more votes than the likes of Derrick Thomas, Thurman Thomas, Ray Guy, Andre Reed, Bruce Matthews, and Richard Dent.
Taking votes away from other candidates is hard enough. But maybe his toughest obstacle is history. Tippett and the Patriots reached the playoffs only three times in his career. Lack of success means less attention. And while Tippett was playing great, there was someone else in the Big Apple who was changing how the game was played.
Lawrence Taylor arrived in New York as the second pick overall following a spectacular career at North Carolina. He had seven consecutive seasons with at least 10.5 sacks, voted to 10 Pro Bowls, named All-Pro nine times, and All-NFC 10 times. The Giants reached the playoffs seven times and won two Super Bowls in Taylor's career. Playing under the bright lights of New York only helped keep the spotlight on L.T.
It's natural to compare players against their peers. Taylor was peerless during his playing days. But if the Hall of Fame committee compares Tippett to Taylor, I hope they look closely. Six times Tippett out-sacked Taylor, three times during their prime. Tippett lost the 1989 season due to injury while Taylor racked up 15 sacks. And if consistency is of any value, Tippett finished his career stronger than the flashier Taylor did.
And yes I mean flashier. In the eyes of some style is sometimes valued as much as substance. The ferocity of Taylor‚s game enhanced the numbers he put up. Tippett accumulated near-equal numbers but it didn't look as good as how Taylor did his job, overshadowing the job Tippett did.
I'm not just blowing smoke. Linebacker Harry Carson had to wait eleven years to get inducted even though he was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection. Carson was a dominant inside linebacker, but Taylor, Carson's teammate for much of his career, drew attention away from Carson because sacks are sexier than tackles.
The announcement for the Hall of Fame Class of 2007 is February 3rd. Whether Tippett gets in is anyone's guess. The sooner it happens the better for Tippett as it will end the nervousness that comes with waiting for the call. If it doesn't happen this year, Tippett can at least know he's a step closer to joining the likes of John Hannah and Michael Haynes as former Patriots immortalized in the Hall of Fame. |
