Five Oakland Raiders Greats Missing from the Hall of Fame

Aug 31, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish former Heisman trophy winner Tim Brown speaks at the Heisman House prior to the LSU Tigers playing against Texas Christian at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

5. Tim Brown

One of the most memorable moments from Saturday’s induction ceremony was when former Bills receiver Andre Reed – the only receiver enshrined this year – caught one more pass from fellow Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, with whom he played during the Bills historic (and tragic) run of the early 1990’s.  Reed is part of a rich group of wide receivers who started their careers in the late 1980’s and early 90’s who are still waiting for their turn to be enshrined in Canton, a group that includes Mister Raider himself: Tim Brown.

Tim Brown, after winning the Heisman trophy, was drafted out of Notre Dame in 1988 as the #6 overall pick in the draft.  He made an impact immediately, leading the league in kickoff returns as a rookie and also catching 43 passes for 5 touchdowns.  He would go on to have the greatest career of any Raider receiver and one of the greatest careers of any receiver in NFL history.  He made the Pro Bowl nine times, and was named to the 1990’s “all-decade” team.  He is one one only nine players in NFL history with over 1,000 receptions, and is fifth on the all-time receptions list.  He is sixth all-time in receiving yards with 14,934.  He is tied with Steve Largent for seventh on the all-time receiving touchdowns list with 100 and 17th on the all-time total touchdowns list with 105.  He also has 45 receptions for 581 yards and 3 TD’s in his 12 career playoff games.

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Tim Brown was, obviously, not the greatest WR in the league at any point in his career: he played his entire career at the same time as Jerry Rice, the greatest of all time.  But for much of his career, Tim Brown was regarded as the second-best.  In an era where it was Jerry and then everybody else, Tim was widely regarded as the best of everybody else.  Brown even outperformed Rice in Rice’s first year in Oakland, and the two were the best receiving tandem in the league in 2001 and 2002, helping the Raiders get back to the Super Bowl.  Very quietly, Brown amassed more receptions, yards and scores than Reed or Hall of Famer Michael Irvin.  Unlike Reed and Irvin, each of whom went to multiple Super Bowls and played with Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Brown had the misfortune of playing on some bad Raider teams in the mid to late 1990’s.  He caught passes from a parade of quarterbacks named Schroeder, Buerelein, Hostetler, Marinovich, and George.  Still, between 1993 and 2002, Brown caught 80 or more passes in 9 of 10 seasons, including an NFL-best 104 receptions in 1997.

Tim Brown deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and has been a finalist five years in a row, every year in which he has been eligible.  He will undoubtedly get in soon, perhaps as soon as next year, but just the fact that he has had to wait this long is a snub.  He is by far the most deserving eligible player not yet in the Hall of Fame, and every year that he is passed over for another receiver is another year that the selection committee gives more credibility to the Raider Nation’s claims of the anti-Raider Bias.