It’s inevitable that every year there will be snubs from the Pro Football Hall of Fame selections. Cowboys fans know all to well that a deserving resume doesn’t always get a deserving player in. Take Drew Pearson for example. After retiring in 1983, he waited nearly 40 years to hear that he’d been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now with that wrong righted, Darren Woodson becomes the next Dallas Cowboys star that is feeling the burn of being snubbed from being honored with his own bust in Canton.
It becomes especially egregious when you consider that the Hall of Fame committee elected John Lynch on Saturday as well. Not that John Lynch was a bad player or not worthy of the Hall of Fame. It’s simply that Woodson’s production and success were instrumental in the Dallas COwboys dynasty of the 1990s.
Woodson’s play at the back end of the Cowboys defense was a huge reason for their success. Woodson was with the team for each of his three Super Bowls.
His ability to play more traditional safety roles as well as provide man coverage on slot wide receivers. Woodson was an important chess piece because of his versatility. What seems like commonplace now for safeties was a rarity in the 90s. Teams weren’t concerned about position flexibility back then. They just wanted good football players. Woodson would have been a similar player to Tyrann Mathieu.
Looking at how Woodson compares to John Lynch, it isn’t a stretch to argue that Woodson had the better career.
| Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Fumb | Fumb | Def | Def | Def | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | From | To | G | Solo | Ast | QBHits | TFL | Sk | FF | FR | Int | Yds | TD |
| 1 | John Lynch | 1993 | 2007 | 224 | 740 | 319 | 4 | 28 | 13.0 | 16 | 9 | 26 | 204 | 0 |
| 2 | Darren Woodson | 1992 | 2003 | 178 | 827 | 140 | 26 | 11.0 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 271 | 2 |
Lynch might have had more total tackles; however, he also played in 46 more games than Woodson. Woodson collected more tackles and more solo tackles than Lynch despite the disparity in games played. Woodson nearly tied Lynch in interceptions, sacks, and tackles for loss.
It makes no sense that Darren Woodson hasn’t been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame yet. His statistical resume combined with the three Super Bowls with at least a similar career to Lynch, if not better. As Woodson was a semi-finalist, it would indicate he was close to this year being the year. But as more players become eligible, the possibility exists that Darren Woodson could get lost in the shuffle.
Darren Woodson was a tremendous player for the Dallas Cowboys. Simply one of the best. Now, he’s the next great player for the Dallas Cowboys to endure an unjustified wait time on his entrance to the Hall of Fame. Here’s hoping his wait is just a fraction of what Drew Pearson’s was. There is zero reason Darren Woodson should not be in the Hall of Fame other than a Cowboys bias. Hopefully, this time, next year, the voters will have righted that wrong.
