Harrison Smith Should Be a Hall of Famer, but Will He Be?
The Minnesota Vikings claim 15 Hall of Famers on their official website. Others who had short stints with the organization, such as Brett Favre or Warren Moon, aren’t counted. Those 15 include legendary head coach Bud Grant and executive Jim Finks. Wide receivers Randy Moss and Cris Carter have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, just like quarterback Fran Tarkenton and offensive linemen Mick Tingelhoff, Gary Zimmerman, Ron Yary, Randall McDaniel, and Steve Hutchinson.
Harrison Smith Should Be a Hall of Famer, but Will He Be?
On the other side of the line of scrimmage, Chris Doleman, Carl Eller, Alan Page, and John Randle could form a defensive line of all-time greats, although they are still waiting for Jim Marshall to join them.
In the secondary, Paul Krause has been enshrined. He is the NFL’s all-time leader in interceptions. A worthy successor nowadays wears his legendary number 22: Harrison Smith.
Smith is, in his own right, a Hall of Fame-caliber player. It’s safe to say now, over 12 years after he was drafted, that general manager Rick Spielman made a fantastic choice with the 29th overall pick he obtained by trading up from 35. The Ravens received pick 98 in exchange. For historians, Baltimore used those draft spots to acquire linebacker Courtney Upshaw and offensive guard Gino Gradkowski.
In his 12 seasons with the Vikings, the safety has played in 176 regular season games, tabulating 34 interceptions (four returned for touchdowns), 1,039 combined tackles, and 19.5 sacks. He is a six-time Pro Bowler and made first-team and second-team All-Pro once each.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell projected the next 50 Hall of Fame inductees. Smith, however, landed in the tier “eligible but not elected.”
Barnwell wrote: “Harrison Smith was excellent on the back end for a long time in Minnesota, including a stretch with five straight Pro Bowls between 2015 and 2019. It might hurt that he never really went on a deep playoff run; in his one trip to the NFC Championship Game, Smith’s Vikings were blown out by Nick Foles and the Eagles, with Ertz famously juking Smith out of his boots on a double-move in the middle of a huge game. Smith should get consideration, but there are other safeties (like Weddle) who might have stronger cases.”
The lack of team success is unfortunate, but it rarely had anything to do with his play, as he was consistently an elite player throughout his long prime. Just as unfortunate is the fact that he was flying under the radar in his best years and certainly was snubbed from some more accolades. Having only one first-team All-Pro nomination on his resume is a farce, and it will bite him when it comes to the Hall of Fame voting.
Bleacher Report‘s Brad Gagnon ranked the top 30 Hall of Fame resumes of active players, and Smith is listed 28th. He refers to those All-Pro nods: “Only one first-team All-Pro honor and limited team success hurt his case, but 34 interceptions and six Pro Bowl nods help. The resume just isn’t there, and he might be running out of time.”
While Skol Nation surely appreciates his greatness, the sad reality is that Smith has never had the attention of fans and media around the country. Hall of Fame voters look at his accolades and see someone ‒ fair or not ‒ who has only been voted once as one of the league’s top two safeties while ignoring his numbers, which rank him among the very best of this generation in interceptions, tackles, and sacks (among defensive backs).
It could very well become another Jim Marshall situation.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt