Troy Polamalu Retires

[GGGG]

Undoubtedly a great player.  Already being debated whether or not he is deserving of Hall of Fame induction.  And this is going to cause me to beat my drum and ask the question - why aren't we debating about LeRoy Butler in the Hall of Fame?

Now in the end I don't think he is a Hall of Famer, but let's look:

Butler: 12 seasons, 181 games, 38 INTs (one every 4.7 games), 13 Force Fumbles (14 games), 20.5 sacks (8.8 games), 721 tackles (3.9 per game).

Polamalu: 12 seasons, 158 games, 32 INTs (one every 4.9 games), 14 Forced Fumbles (10.8 games), 12 sacks (12.6 games), 581 tackles (3.8 per game).

And no debate whatsoever?

[mu03eng]

Undoubtedly a great player.  Already being debated whether or not he is deserving of Hall of Fame induction.  And this is going to cause me to beat my drum and ask the question - why aren't we debating about LeRoy Butler in the Hall of Fame?

Now in the end I don't think he is a Hall of Famer, but let's look:

Butler: 12 seasons, 181 games, 38 INTs (one every 4.7 games), 13 Force Fumbles (14 games), 20.5 sacks (8.8 games), 721 tackles (3.9 per game).

Polamalu: 12 seasons, 158 games, 32 INTs (one every 4.9 games), 14 Forced Fumbles (10.8 games), 12 sacks (12.6 games), 581 tackles (3.8 per game).

And no debate whatsoever?

Other than hair products, did Troy invent anything like say a touchdown celebration that has been codified into NFL rules?

I don't think either is a hall of famer but it's got to be Butler over Troy.  I'm not sure how to parse the data but I also thought that Troy was a good piece on a great defense(lots of good pieces) where Butler was a great piece on a good defense.  Long way of saying I think Butler was more important to his defense than Troy was to his.

[MerrittsMustache]

Undoubtedly a great player.  Already being debated whether or not he is deserving of Hall of Fame induction.  And this is going to cause me to beat my drum and ask the question - why aren't we debating about LeRoy Butler in the Hall of Fame?

Now in the end I don't think he is a Hall of Famer, but let's look:

Butler: 12 seasons, 181 games, 38 INTs (one every 4.7 games), 13 Force Fumbles (14 games), 20.5 sacks (8.8 games), 721 tackles (3.9 per game).

Polamalu: 12 seasons, 158 games, 32 INTs (one every 4.9 games), 14 Forced Fumbles (10.8 games), 12 sacks (12.6 games), 581 tackles (3.8 per game).

And no debate whatsoever?

It's all about reputation.

Much like Junior Seau before him and Clay Matthews after him, Polamalu earned a reputation as a "big play highlight reel" guy. All 3 players made/make educated guesses on plays, sprinted to a point and hoped they guessed right. When they didn't, oh well. When they did...BOOM! Highlight reel.

Butler was the type of guy who you weren't necessarily going to see him on the highlight reel a whole lot (Lambeau Leap creation aside) but he was one of the best, most consistent safeties in the league for an extended period of time.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Butler isn't even in the Packer HoF

Note: I am a Butler fan

my mistake, guess I'm getting old and forgetful

[MerrittsMustache]

Butler isn't even in the Packer HoF

Note: I am a Butler fan

Yes, he is.

[jsglow]

Not to hijack this into a Butler thread but who might be the benchmark HOF safety to compare him with?  I'd love to see those stats and then opine on LeRoy's worthiness.

[wadesworld]

There was some ridiculous stat I heard in regards to Butler that a safety hasn't been inducted to the HOF in some absurd amount of years, maybe 40 or something.  I could be totally misremembering, though.

[GGGG]

There was some ridiculous stat I heard in regards to Butler that a safety hasn't been inducted to the HOF in some absurd amount of years, maybe 40 or something.  I could be totally misremembering, though.

Ronnie Lott.

The problem is safeties back in the day were usually just bigger, slower cornerbacks and those who made the HoF were usually the hard hitters - Lott and Mel Blount are examples.  For instance of the four safeties on the 1990s all decade team, Lott is the only one in the HoF (Atwater, Butler and Lake are the others).  All four cornerbacks are in. 

But I think today's safeties are different beasts.  They are all around players who cover, hit, rush the passer, etc.  Butler was ahead of that curve a bit (and maybe that's why he isn't getting looked at more seriously.)  Ed Reed and Polamalu are examples of that.  Now a good safety is about as valuable as a good corners.  The Packers drafted Clinton-Dix in the first round and no one questioned it.  A generation ago, no one really drafted them in the first round...or at least not often.

[77ncaachamps]

Tale of the Wiki Tapes:

BUTLER
NFL
Super Bowl champion (XXXI)
4× Pro Bowl (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
4× All-Pro (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
NFC Champion (1996)
NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:   889
Interceptions:   38
Sacks:   20.5
Forced fumbles:   13



POLAMALU
NFL
8× Pro Bowl (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013)
5× All-Pro (2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011)
2× Super Bowl Champion (XL, XLIII)
3× AFC Champion (2005, 2008, 2010)
AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2010)
5× AFC Defensive Player of the Week[1]
AFC Defensive Player of the Year (2010)
NFL Alumni Player of the Year (2010)
NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
Joe Greene Great Performance Award (2003)
Pittsburgh Steelers Rookie of the Year (2003)
Pittsburgh Steelers Team MVP (2010)
Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:   770
Quarterback sacks:   12.0
Interceptions:   32
Forced fumbles:   14
Touchdowns:   3
College (though it doesn't matter for NFL HOF balloting)
Consensus All-American (2002)
2× First-team All-Pac-10 (2001, 2002)
First-team All-American (2002)



Polamalu's reputation and image are much stronger than Butler's.
Numbers never lie but they don't tell the whole story either: Troy was feared far more than Leroy was.

Troy is in on first ballot.
Butler is in on Veteran's vote.

[GGGG]

Numbers never lie but they don't tell the whole story either: Troy was feared far more than Leroy was.

Hmmm....good luck proving that.