Julian Edelman this week retired from professional football after failing his physical with the New England Patriots. Chatter immediately began as to whether or not the former slot receiver was worthy of a spot among the immortals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Edelman presents an interesting case as he seems to fall far short of enshrinement standards, but excelled when it mattered most in the postseason. Let's take a look at some arguments for and against the wideout.
Perhaps the best comparison to Edelman is Lynn Swann. Swann is the only Hall of Famer among Julian Edelman's pro-football-reference comparables. Like Edelman, he has relatively weak regular season statistics that were buoyed by excellent postseason play. In regular season scrimmage yards, Edelman bests Swann by just over 1700, though Swann has a huge leg up when it comes to average yards per touch thanks to a shorter career. Swann led the league in touchdown catches in his sophomore campaign, while Edelman has no black ink on his pro-football-reference page.
The differentials between their postseason numbers are similar to their regular season ones. Edelman leads Swann by nearly 600 in postseason scrimmage yards, despite playing just three more games, but Swann's touchdown and yards-per-touch totals are superior to the former Patriot's. So while Edelman and Swann are close, Swann has a little bit of an edge, so if he's a borderline Hall member, that bodes poorly for Edelman.
Edelman is also 156th all-time in receiving yards, sandwiched between fullback Larry Centers and 1960s wide receiver Charley Hennigan. (Hennigan perhaps isn't the worst Hall candidate himself, leading the league in nine categories over two seasons of AFL action).
So I don't think Julian Edelman is a Hall of Famer. These arguments can be looked at from dozens of viewpoints, so maybe there's something I haven't thought of that would give Edelman a better case. Regardless, I have him on the outside looking in right now, an all-time great who will live on in sports history forever, but who falls a little shy of Canton's standards.
