10 Best NFL Players Not in the Hall of Fame

Jim Marshall, Defensive End

Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall is most notable as Carl Eller’s opposite, where he devastated NFC offenses as a member of the “Purple People Eaters” defensive line all the way through the 60’s and 70’s.

The big problem with making a case for Marshall’s entry to the Hall is that the NFL wasn’t tracking individual defensive stats for a long while. Sacks were up to individual teams to mark until 1982, and forced fumbles weren’t official until 1993. The most official number for Marshall comes from the Vikings, who credit him with 127 career quarterback takedowns.

If that number is accurate, it would put him in the top-15 of all defensive linemen for career sacks (perhaps somewhere in the top-30, assuming others from the pre-official era are missing from the list). Since sacks became official, 9 of the 14 players to record more than 127 sacks have made it to Canton, while the others (Julius Peppers, DeMarcus Ware, Jared Allen, John Abraham, and Leslie O'Neal) all have strong Hall cases.

What are indisputable facts include Marshall’s 282 consecutive games played (third all-time), 270 consecutive games started (second all-time), his 30 career fumble recoveries (first among defensive linemen), and the fact that his 164 AV ranks 30th among all NFL players and 6th among all defensive linemen. He deserves a bust in Canton.