Shaun Alexander was one of the NFL’s best running backs while he was playing for the Seattle Seahawks from 2000 to 2007. But should he be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with other legendary running backs like Barry Sanders, Walter Payton and Gale Sayers? PopCulture.com recently caught up with Alexander, who was asked if he should be honored in Canton, Ohio.
“Oh, definitely. Yeah. I don’t know how it all works, but I know I have to be patient,” Alexander exclusively told PopCulture. “But I think that if you really took my career, I probably played about seven years. So it’s nine on paper.” Alexander went on to explain that he didn’t play much in his rookie season as well as his final year in the NFL with Washington. “So I really did all that 9,000 and 100 touchdowns all in seven years. And so, now you’re comparing my stats to Gale Sayers and Earl Campbell. Those guys played seven, six years. But what happens is you look at my name, and you start comparing it to Emmett Smith and LaDainian [Tomlinson], and Marshall [Faulk]. And all those guys played way longer than I did. They’d almost played two or three or four more years longer than I did.”
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Alexander continued; “And that’s like 12, 13, 15, 16 years. And so, it’s almost double my career. But my stats, they stick for themselves. And I was on a program that was dead ruined. You’d fly to Seattle, get some good seafood and win a football game. To, by the time I left, no one was beating us in Seattle.”
During his NFL career, Alexander rushed for 9,453 yards and 100 touchdowns. He has just as many rushing yards as Campbell and his rushing touchdowns are the eighth-most in NFL history. Alexander won the NFL MVP award in 2005, making him one of four running backs to win the award since 2000. He’s also a member of the 2000s All-Decade Team, so he has the resume to be voted in. But after being eligible for almost a decade, Alexander has not made it past the initial nominee list.ย
“So there’s enough stuff that I was a part of, to make my case,” Alexander said. “And it’s still cool. I get treated by the legends very well. When I come in, Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith, they treat me like I’m one of the gold jacket guys. I’m just not one. And so, hopefully, I could say, yet one day, and then go in with all the guys. But I think my numbers and the career I had and changing the culture of Seattle would be deserving.”
