Which members of the Falcons are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
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Despite only having drafted two players that are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Falcons have had plenty of Hall of Fame talent in their building over the years. According to the HOF's official website, 11 guys who have, at one point or another, put on an Atlanta jersey are now in the Hall. Names like Deion Sanders, Tony Gonazlez, and Brett Favre may be the headliners, but a closer look at the full list reveals some fun names (Morten Anderson!). Here's the full list:
NAME | POSITION/TITLE | YEAR INDUCTED |
---|---|---|
Morten Anderson | K | 2017 |
Bobby Beathard | GM | 2018 |
Eric Dickerson | RB | 1999 |
Chris Doleman | LB/DL | 2012 |
Brett Favre | QB | 2016 |
Dwight Freeney | DL | 2024 |
Tony Gonazlez | TE | 2019 |
Devin Hester | KR/PR | 2024 |
Claude Humphrey | DL/DE | 2014 |
Tommy McDonald | WR | 1998 |
Deion Sanders | DB | 2011 |
As for modern-era Falcons who could see themselves in a gold jacket soon, here are a few guys to keep an eye on. Surely there won't be a 28-3 joke made about any of them in the next few years.
Matt Ryan
Ryan's one of the two very obvious candidates from recent Falcons teams. His candidacy is already causing people to get very defensive on the internet, so you know things will only get better from here. But the stats do kinda speak for themself: over 62,000 passing yards, 381 touchdown passes, two Offensive Player of the Year awards, one MVP, and a bunch of Pro Bowls. He's easily the best Falcons quarterback of all time, and no one will end up remembering that one bummer of a season he spent with the Colts. By Football Reference's Hall of Fame metrics, Ryan's in – but just barely. It may not happen on the first ballot, but the guess here is that he will find his way in eventually.
Julio Jones
The second obvious answer. And frankly, I bet he gets in on less ballots than Ryan does. In 13 years, Jones has seven Pro Bowls, five All-Pro nominations, over 13,000 receiving yards, and 66 touchdowns. He led the league in receiving twice during that time and averaged over 100 yards per game five times. Football Reference thinks he's a lock, and I tend to agree. (Brave, I know.) When Jones was healthy and in his prime, he was one of the most dominant players in the NFL, at any position. He's had a somewhat ... unceremonious ... end to his career with stops in Tennessee, Tampa Bay, and Philly, but that won't stop voters from putting him in.
Calais Campbell
Maybe? Campbell's candidacy is a fun ("fun") rainy-day argument. He certainly won't go in as an all-time Falcons great, but his whole body of work is more compelling than you might think at first. In 16 years across a half-dozen teams, Campbell has six Pro Bowls, three All-Pro nominations, and one second-place Defensive Player of the Year season. He has 105.5 sacks to his name, has played in almost 250 games, and has 865 total tackles. His Hall of Fame monitor isn't that far away from the average HOF defensive lineman, and he clearly intends to continue playing for another season or two. If he ends up playing close to 40 – he's 37 now – and continues to put up above-average production, then things get really interesting.
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