New England Patriots
Diggs is actually one of many high huge receivers of his period, however the Patriots star may need a hill to climb to make the Corridor of Fame.
Gamers’ legacies are all the time on the road in a Tremendous Bowl, and Patriots huge receiver Stefon Diggs actually is aware of that.
Diggs was fairly blunt about his want to grow to be a Corridor of Famer forward of the Patriots’ matchup in opposition to the Seahawks in Tremendous Bowl LX.
“I don’t give it some thought an excessive amount of as a result of it’s a person accolade, and I do know it is a crew sport. I simply know that it [would] assist my case slightly bit. I all the time needed that, although,” Diggs instructed reporters this week when requested about his want to grow to be a Corridor of Famer. “I’m by no means gonna shun or run away from desirous to be a Corridor of Famer or desirous to be a man that performed this sport and be revered, so I don’t run from that. However I do know this may assist your case slightly bit.”
A win on Sunday will surely test a significant field for Diggs’s potential Corridor of Fame resume. It might be the 32-year-old’s first Tremendous Bowl win, giving him almost each large accolade doable. After all, there’s additionally the chance that Diggs might win Tremendous Bowl MVP, making Offensive Participant of the Yr the one main award that he hasn’t acquired in his profession.
However even successful Tremendous Bowl MVP may not be sufficient for Diggs to get into the Corridor of Fame. Diggs has been named a Professional Bowler 4 instances in his profession to go together with one first-team All-Professional honor and a second-team All-Professional nod. Whereas that’s actually spectacular, there have solely been seven huge receivers who’ve been named a Professional Bowler seven instances or fewer within the Tremendous Bowl period who’ve made the Corridor of Fame. All of them performed earlier than 1990.
That group of seven consists of the likes of Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, who every received 4 Tremendous Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers within the Nineteen Seventies. Drew Pearson can be on that checklist, however he received a Tremendous Bowl with the Cowboys and had a comparatively shorter profession for a Corridor of Famer.
When it comes to All-Professionals, Diggs’s two whole All-Professional nods are in the identical ballpark as a handful of huge receivers within the Corridor of Fame. Larry Fitzgerald, who might be inducted as a primary poll Corridor of Famer in 2026, solely had three whole All-Professional nods in his profession. However he was an 11-time Professional Bowler as nicely. He’s additionally second all-time in receiving yards.
Diggs is thirty eighth all-time in receiving yards (11,504), however might doubtlessly climb his method into the top-15 if he has a few extra seasons just like the one he simply had with the Patriots. He’s additionally forty third all-time in receiving touchdowns (73), and it isn’t inconceivable to assume he might climb into the highest 15 in that stat earlier than his profession is over, too. He’d want 18 extra touchdowns to try this.
Nonetheless, there are a handful of different lively huge receivers who’re round both round Diggs in these stats or are on tempo to surpass these numbers within the coming years. Diggs appeared to acknowledge that, as he hopes a Tremendous Bowl title would possibly assist him stand out in comparison with a few of his friends.
“I do know a participant like Mike Evans — who has been to [a] Tremendous Bowl, has had quite a lot of success on this league, in my eyes — is a Corridor of Famer,” Diggs mentioned. “Everyone realizes he needs to be a Corridor of Famer. I simply know that I’m chasing quite a lot of nice receivers.”
To Diggs’s level, Evans is a Tremendous Bowl champion, a six-time Professional Bowler, and splits the report for the longest streak of 1,000-yard receiving seasons (11) in NFL historical past. However in Professional Soccer Reference’s Corridor of Fame monitor, Evans has a decrease monitor rating than seven huge receivers who aren’t within the Corridor of Fame who’re eligible for induction. There are additionally 4 huge receivers who aren’t eligible for Corridor of Fame induction who’ve a better monitor rating than Evans.
Diggs’s Corridor of Fame monitor rating is even decrease than Evans’s. He has 22 huge receivers forward of him that aren’t within the Corridor of Fame (together with those that aren’t eligible for induction but) in Professional Soccer Reference’s monitor rating.
Clearly, Diggs nonetheless has time in his profession to make up some floor. And as we talked about earlier, Diggs might win Tremendous Bowl MVP on Sunday. However even that’s not a surefire option to get into the Corridor of Fame. Solely two huge receivers (Jerry Rice, Lynn Swan) who’ve received Tremendous Bowl MVP have made their method into the Corridor of Fame.
So, even when Diggs has a dominant efficiency on Sunday, he possible has some work to do to grow to be a Corridor of Famer. However after what’s transpired with the Corridor of Fame voting in current weeks, Diggs acknowledged it could be powerful to forecast who could be getting a bust in Canton sooner or later.
“I hope this may be slightly enhance,” Diggs mentioned. “Shoot, you by no means know. Corridor of Fame is getting slightly bizarre as of late. You by no means know.”
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