Patrick Willis

[Wcchaingang]

Glad to see P-Willy finally get inducted into the HOF. Long overdue.

[Bulldogs4]

Unfortunately injuries severed his career a few years before it would have otherwise ended.

He was a great LB and is right up there with Joe Fortunato, Robert Brazile, DD Lewis and Larry Grantham as one of the great MS college linebackers ever in the NFL.

 

I think he would have been elected sooner had been able to play 2-3 more years. 
 

Congratulations on a well earned and deserved honor!!!

[Dawg83]

That guy was an unreal college player on some absolutely terrible Ole Miss teams. And obviously kept it going in the pros, too.

[rebmus]

I think this makes:

3 HOF for Ole Miss- Hickerson, Kinard, and now Willis. 

Jackson State has the lead with 4- Barney, Brazile, Payton, Slater.

USM with 2- Favre and Guy

MS Valley State with 1- Jerry Rice.

 

Willis was special and definitely deserved this honor. 

[Dawg83]

1 hour ago, rebmus said:

I think this makes:

3 HOF for Ole Miss- Hickerson, Kinard, and now Willis. 

Jackson State has the lead with 4- Barney, Brazile, Payton, Slater.

USM with 2- Favre and Guy

MS Valley State with 1- Jerry Rice.

 

Willis was special and definitely deserved this honor. 

I believe State will have their first from this group of active players. Fletcher Cox and Chris Jones have the best chance. Maybe Dak or Simmons if they finish their careers strong.

[Bulldogs4]

Jackson State had some great players particularly in the 1970’s. 
Had Jackie Parker signed with the Giants instead of Edmonton, I think he would have been in NFL HofF. He was a freak of an athlete and is in the college HoF as well as the Canadian HoF. Otherwise State has had a lot of decent/good NFL players but not really any that have quite been NFL HofF players. 
Surprising that DD Lewis was not considered for the HoF. He started 135 straight games at LB for the Cowboys and was an integral part of those great Cowboy teams in the 1970’s. Possibly he was overshadowed by some of the other superstars Staubach, White, Dorsett etc. He was only consistently good but never really was remembered for a great play or performance so I think was possibly why he was overlooked for consideration to the HofF. 
 

But I agree 83, that State has some current players who will be in the NFL HofF at some point in the future. 

[rebmus]

I agree 83, Cox and Jones have a decent chance of getting into the HOF. 

Dak and Simmons certainly have time to work themselves into the conversation. 

 

I'm pretty sure Eli will get in. He's eligible next year... I don't see him making it in immediately, I'm guessing in 2027.

 

AJ and DK still have a lot of time left to get into the conversation also. 

 

The Ole Miss and MSU teams the past ~15 years are far above those OM/MSU teams from the late 70s/early 80s I watched... they were pretty bad. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2024 by rebmus

[Dawg83]

I don’t know if Cox is first ballot but I feel pretty good about him getting in. 2010s All Decade team, 6 pro bowls, 4 All Pro selections, and won a Super Bowl ring. Those kind of guys usually get in.

 

Jones is a little younger but is on a similar if not better pace, and already has two rings (could get a third tomorrow night).