When someone recently posted an item on our website detailing the career of former defensive end Leslie O’Neal, it reminded me that nobody solved a question I asked years ago.

What the heck happened to Leslie O’Neal?

I don’t mean: Where did he go? I’m more interested in his legacy. The guy’s all but vanished from the Hall-of-Fame radar. I simply want to know why.

For those with short memories, Leslie O’Neal was a first-round pick of the San Diego Chargers and one of the league’s premier pass rushers. He was the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, a six-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, member of the Chargers’ 40th and 50th anniversary teams and inductee to the team’s Hall of Fame.

In short, he wasn’t just accomplished. He was elite, with San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa calling O’Neal “the best defender in Chargers’ history.”

That history, of course, includes first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Junior Seau, and no need to remind Canepa. He saw all of Seau’s and O’Neal’s games and is a former Hall-of-Famer voter. Nevertheless, he is firm in his belief.

“Leslie O’Neal,” he said, “was a great player.”

The numbers support him. O’Neal’s 132-1/2 career sacks are tied with Hall-of-Famer Lawrence Taylor for 14th on the NFL's all-time list. Of the 13 individuals eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame who are ahead of him, only John Abraham (133-1/2) is not enshrined – and Abraham was a first-time candidate this year.

Even the two immediately behind him – linebackers Rickey Jackson (128) and Derrick Thomas (126-1/2) – are in Canton, too.

Yet in O'Neal's 16 years of modern-era eligibility he’s never been a finalist and was a semifinalist just once (2018). Worse, in 2015 he wasn’t included among the Hall’s preliminary list of candidates – one that this year included 117 names -- until I asked for him to be included.

So why the indifference? I wish I knew.

He's the Chargers’ all-time leader in sacks, producing an AFC-best 17 in 1992. He had 12-1/2 sacks in 13 games his rookie year (1986) before bowing out with a career-threatening knee injury. Missing a season-and-a-half, he returned to lead the Chargers in sacks six straight seasons (1990-95) and was named to six of seven Pro Bowls from 1989-95, producing double-digit sacks each of those years.

“To come back and play at the level he played was nothing short of a miracle,” said former linebacker Gary Plummer, a teammate of O’Neal in San Diego. “After the injury, he walked with a noticeable limp. He couldn’t straighten his leg out. He definitely didn’t get the credit he deserved.”

Tell that to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Plummer is only too happy to oblige.

“I played with dozens and dozens of defensive ends who couldn’t care less about playing the run,” he said, “but Leslie was as stout as he needed to be. He was quick off the ball, had amazing agility and could get off blocks.

"Plus, he had a very high football IQ. For example: With most defensive ends, how do they get paid? Sacks. So they don’t care if they rush up the field and create vertical seams. They don’t even care down and distance. That was something Leslie was very aware of. I think the guy was spectacular.”

He makes a convincing argument, yet the Hall’s not buying.

And the reason? Championships, said Plummer. O’Neal not only failed to play on a Super Bowl winner; his teams went to the playoffs only three times during his 14-year career. Moreover, when he was at his absolute best from 1989-95, the Chargers were 55-57. So when I asked Plummer why voters haven't warmed up to the guy, his response was immediate.

“It’s simple,” he said. “He played for the San Diego Chargers. I cannot tell you how many times people will come up to me and tell me they remember me. But not one remembers me as a Charger. They think I played 15 years for the 49ers. Why? We won the Super Bowl (XXIX). We went to the playoffs every year. And we were on TV.

“The Chargers were never on TV. We sucked. And, unfortunately, you’re judged by how well your team plays even though the Hall is about individual careers.”

You can look it up. Sixth-eight percent of those enshrined in the Hall won Super Bowls or league championships.

But tell me how many Super Bowls Jason Taylor won. He had seven more sacks than O'Neal and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Or tell me how many championships Claude Humphrey, Elvin Bethea or Chris Doleman had. They’re in the Hall of Fame, too.

There has to be more, and maybe it’s because O’Neal wasn’t an all-decade choice, I don't know. But neither was wide receiver Isaac Bruce, and he was just elected to Canton in his sixth year of eligibility. Safety John Lynch wasn’t an all-decade pick, either, and he’s been a Hall-of-Fame finalist the past seven years.

“No good answer from me,” said Ira Miller, a Hall-of-Fame selector for 28 years. “He sounds like one of those ‘fell-through-the-cracks guys.’ “

That’s because he is.

The Analytics Mafia keeps reminding us that numbers matter. OK, fine. So why don't they matter when it comes to Leslie O'Neal?

Look, I’m not campaigning for O’Neal to be enshrined. I just don’t understand how a guy with his resume fails to gain the attention of voters. I’d think that at least once … just once … selectors might want to argue his case, but I’ve all but given up. He simply doesn’t resonate with anyone but the individual who posted on our website, and I don't get it.

“The Hall moves in mysterious ways,” said Canepa, “but this is very difficult to understand.”

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