As it stands, the Philadelphia Eagles have only seen seven players (who spent more than half of their careers in Philly) earn their yellow jackets at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Brian Dawkins and Harold Carmichael are the most recent enshrinees, along with former head coach Dick Vermeil. Aside from them, Reggie White, Steven Van Buren, Chuck Bednarik, Tommy McDonald, and Pete Pihos are the only other Eagles to reach the HOF.
Getting into the Hall of Fame is the highest personal achievement any athlete can wish for. Obviously, it’s pretty damn hard to get in there.
Although the Eagles haven’t sent that many players to Canton, there have been some recent Eagles who deserve some serious Hall of Fame consideration in the coming years. Here are three Eagles players since 2000 that should get into the Hall of Fame one day.
CB Asante Samuel
Asante Samuel spent the majority of his career in New England, but he saw his best years as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. From 2008-’11, Samuel recorded 23 interceptions, 2 touchdowns, 2 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries. He earned three straight Pro Bowl nods from 2008-’11 and was named a second-team All-Pro in 2009, where he led the league in interceptions with 9.
Not only was he uber productive in the INT department, Samuel was a great coverage corner overall. During his four years in midnight green, Samuel allowed a completion percentage of 53.7% and a passer rating of 57.8 when targeted. His best year in coverage came in 2010, where Samuel allowed a completion percentage of 46.3 and a passer rating of 31.7 on 41 targets, while giving up just 2 touchdowns.
Over his 11 NFL seasons, Samuel accumulated 51 interceptions — an average of 4.6 per season. That’s a higher per season average than both Champ Bailey and Ty Law (approx. 3.5 INTs per season), two corners who were inducted into the Hall of Fame within the past 10 years.
Samuel’s numbers speak for themself. The longer he keeps getting snubbed, the harder it’ll be for Samuel to get his due. Hopefully, the Hall of Fame voters come to their senses sooner than later.
RB LeSean McCoy
Because LeSean McCoy’s final year was 2020, he won’t be eligible to get into the Hall of Fame until 2025. There’s no doubt that Shady should be a first ballot HOFer. Over his 12-year career, McCoy totaled 11,102 rushing yards, 73 rushing touchdowns, 518 receptions, 3,898 receiving yards, 16 receiving touchdowns, and an astounding 15,000 yards from scrimmage.
McCoy averaged 4.52 yards per carry for the duration of his career, the seventh-highest in NFL history among backs with at least 2,000 carries. It’s higher than 72.5% of the running backs already in the Hall of Fame. His 15,000 scrimmage yards ranks 18th in NFL history by a running back. During the 2010s, Shady had over 1,000 more yards from scrimmage than any other back in the league. During that same decade, McCoy led all running backs in rushing yards with 10,434, 648 more than the second player on that list, Frank Gore, while having 88 less carries. He was also third among running backs in the 2010s in receiving yards with 3,489, trailing only Matt Forte (3,724) and another former Eagle, Darren Sproles (3,960).
Need I say more?
RB Darren Sproles
Darren Sproles may be a bit of a long-shot to get into Canton, but he certainly has a case. As stated earlier, no running back in the league had more receiving yards or receptions during the 2010s than Sproles.
During his first three years with the Eagles, Sproles made the Pro Bowl three straight years as a returner and earned second-team All-Pro honors as a returner in 2014. From 2014-’15, Sproles led the league in punt return yards with 952 while also leading the league in punt return touchdowns with 4. Sproles totaled 11,313 return yards over his 14-year career. That’s 285 more return yards than the player most fans consider the best returner of all time, Devin Hester.
For his career, Sproles accumulated 4,840 receiving yards on 553 receptions. His receiving total ranks ninth all-time among running backs. Sproles also scored 32 receiving touchdowns over the course of his career, coming in third all-time among backs, behind Marshall Faulk and John David Crow.
Was Sproles ever the best running back in the game? No. But he was the best receiving back in the NFL during the 2010s. With the way the game has gone over the past decade, one could argue that a true receiving threat in the backfield is more valuable than a typical workhorse. Sproles’ ability to make plays in the receiving game elevated every offense he ever played in. For that, he deserves some HOF consideration.
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