Richard Dent: Hall of Famer?
Richard Dent is a name that used to instill fear into opposing teams and especially quarterbacks. His career started at Tennessee State, and after graduation he was selected by the Bears in the 8th round of the draft, 203rd pick overall. He played with the Bears for 12 years, and he spent 3 years playing for the 49ers, Colts, and Eagles. He retired with 137.5 sacks, which put him third behind Reggie White and Bruce Smith. He currently sits tied at 7th, with John Randle.
He finished his career with 137.5 sacks, 8 Interceptions, with 1 returned for a TD, recovered 13 fumbles, with 1 returned for a TD, and a safety. Dent was named to the Pro-Bowl 4 times, and was an All-Pro 5 times. He was the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XX against the New England Patriots. He was one of the main reasons that the Famous Bears 46 Defense was so dominant. For 10 years, he averaged over 11 sacks per year, and usually helped push the Bears to the top of the rankings in the sacks department.
This is the 4th year that Dent is one of the 17 finalists named to the Hall of Fame ballot. Will this be the year that he joins the other NFL-High 26 Bears in the Hall of Fame? A majority seem to believe that Darrell Green will get in as well as Cris Carter. Can Dent survive the cut down to the Final 6? Ray Guy, Ryan Zimmerman, and Paul Tagliabue could also make it to the Final 6, and let’s not forget about Art Monk and Andre Reed. Those are just a few of the top players that are on this years ballot, there are many more.
I honestly don’t like that the NFL has a minimum and maximum number of players they let in per year. That seems a little odd to me. If you deserve to get in, you should be in. But, that’s an argument for another day.
So, is Dent a Hall of Fame type player? Looking at his stats, his dominance for a 10 year period, his performance in the Super Bowl, I say yes.
Hopefully 2008 is a Hall of Fame year for Richard Dent.
