Undrafted Hall of Fame Players

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Aug 5, 2010

Undrafted Hall of Fame Players

John Randle

When the NFL inducts it's latest Hall of Fame Class on Saturday, one of the players will join a rather small list. Namely, only 14 players have gone into the Hall after not being drafted. Here they are, beginning with 2010 inductee John Randle. From 1993 to 1998 he dominated offensive linemen on his way to six consecutive Pro Bowl and first team All-Pro selections. He retired in 2003 with 137.5 sacks. (Send comments to siwriters@simail.com)

Warren Moon

Moon was 28 when he came to the NFL after five consecutive Grey Cup championships for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. From his rookie year with the Houston Oilers in 1984 to his final days as a 44-year-old back-up in Kansas City, Moon completed nearly 4,000 passes for 49,335 yards and 291 TDs. He is a member of both the CFL and NFL Halls of Fame.

Larry Little

After signing with the San Diego Chargers in 1967 as a free agent out of Bethune-Cookman, Little was traded to the Miami Dolphins. In Miami, Little fashioned a Hall of Fame career at the right guard position, battling through numerous leg injuries to stay on the field and become a first-team All-Pro every season from 1971 to 1975.

Jim Langer

Langer held together the middle of the offensive line for the Miami Dolphins of the 1970s after going undrafted out of South Dakota State. He was a six-time Pro Bowl pick, and in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1977 was named a first-team All-Pro.

Emmitt Thomas

Thomas was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008, 30 years after he retired from the Kansas City Chiefs with 58 career interceptions. Thomas' best year came in 1974, when he intercepted 12 passes and returned two of those for touchdowns, picking up Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors in the process.

Willie Wood

Wood became an eight-time Pro Bowl pick and five-time first-team All-Pro after joining the Green Bay Packers in 1960 as rookie free agent out of USC. Wood finished his Hall of Fame career in 1971 with 48 career interceptions.

Willie Brown

Brown went undrafted out of Grambling and was cut by the Oilers before catching on with the Broncos in 1963. Brown fashioned a Hall of Fame career with the Broncos and Raiders, compiling 54 career interceptions. He was named to nine Pro Bowls and was a first team All-Pro five times.

Joe Perry

Fletcher Joseph Perry went undrafted out of Compton Community College and went on to become a vital cog in the ground game of the San Francisco 49ers of the late 1940's and 1950's.

Bill Willis

Bill Willis joined Motley on the 1946 Browns in breaking down the color barrier in professional football, and helped Cleveland win the 1950 NFL Championship game. His touchdown-saving tackle against the Giants in a playoff game helped seal a victory that propelled the Browns to the NFL title in their first year in the league.

Lou "The Toe" Groza

Lou Groza was a nine-time Pro-Bowl pick and was named a first-team All-Pro every season from 1952 to 1955. At 36, Groza suffered a back injury that forced him to miss the entire 1960 season, but came back the next year...as a kicker. Groza kicked for the Browns until he retired at 43, in 1967.

Dick "Night Train" Lane

Night Train entered pro football with the L.A. Rams in 1952 as a 25-year-old rookie free agent out of Western Nebraska Community College-Scottsbluff. Over the course of the 12-game season, he established the single-season interception record of 14 that still stands, 58 years later.

Frank Gatski

Gatski played center for the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1956, and for one season with the Detroit Lions in 1957. That year Gatski and the Lions beat his former team in the NFL Championship game.

Marion Motley

Motley helped break down the color barrier in professional football in 1946, a year before Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Dodgers. Motley was a ferocious pass blocker and had a career average of 5.7 yards per carry.

Emlen Tunnell

Tunnel broke his neck while playing college ball at Toledo, and the injury was so bad that both the Army and Navy rejected his enlistment during WWII. Undeterrerd, Tunnel joined the Coast Guard instead. After his enlistment was up, he played two years at Iowa and went undrafted, so he signed with the New York Giants in 1948. His career highlights include 79 interceptions, and 10career return touchdowns, including five on punt returns and one on a kickoff return. (Send comments to siwriters@simail.com)