John Lepore | December 24th, 2018

Is this the year Edgerrin James gets in the NFL Hall of Fame? He faces some stiff competition, but he has an impressive resume especially when compared to his contemporaries who are already enshrined in Canton.

Edgerrin Tyree James was born on August 1, 1978. He grew up in Florida and attended Immokalee HS. James attended the University of Miami and after not playing much in his first year there in 1996, he exploded the following two years. In 1997 and 1998, he combined for over 3,000 yards from scrimmage. Edge had 35 TDs (21 games) in those two seasons and averaged a touch under 6 yards per carry. His elusiveness and ability to score convinced the Indianapolis Colts to pick him 4th overall in the 1999 NFL Draft.

Edge’s Impressive Resume

He made an immediate impact in the NFL leading the league in rushing attempts (369), touches (431) and rushing yards (1,553). Not surprisingly, Edge won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He would lead the league in rushing in 2000 also with 1,709 yards. Although injuries would take away 15 games over the next three seasons, James finished his career in some very impressive, and HOF, company.

He is one of six players with 350+ touches six times.

He is one of seven players with three seasons of over 2,000 yards from scrimmage.

He has more seasons (4) with over 1,500 yards rushing than Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Jerome Bettis, and Tony Dorsett combined (3).

There are 16 players with over 12,000 rushing yards. Edgerrin James (13th) is the only one eligible who is not in the HOF (Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson are still active).

Is This the Year?

This year will be tough for James. He faces stiff competition for induction into Canton. A maximum of eight people can get elected in any one year. While he does have a fairly strong case, he may lose out on some of the committee’s votes to the likes of Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, and Zach Thomas along with fan favorites who have been waiting longer like John Lynch and Karl Mecklenburg

Edgerrin James has the accolades and the overall resume to get inducted. A crowded ballot though may keep him out another year or two, but someday, hopefully soon, he will be standing at the podium in Canton in his Gold jacket.

Check out our other NFL HOF articles | Jimmy Johnson | Torry Holt | Ty Law | Tony Gonzalez | John Lynch

Questions and comments?

thescorecrowsports@gmail.com

Follow Us on Twitter @thescorecrow

Follow Us on Reddit at u/TheScorecrow

Follow John Lepore on Twitter @jball0202

Main Credit Image: Embed from Getty Images