Shaun Alexander Remains Seahawks' Most Glaring Hall of Fame Snub
While his formal induction ceremony won't happen in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been postponed until 2021, former NFL guard Steve Hutchinson was officially elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February. The five-time First-Team All-Pro selection will join Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy, Walter Jones, and Kenny Easley as the latest prominent former Seahawk to have his bust in Canton.
After coming up just short as a finalist each of the previous two years, Hutchinson's induction puts two of Seattle's best players in franchise history into football immortality. Now, if only the third member of the franchise's offensive trifecta from that highly successful era could receive a much-deserved Hall call of his own.
Once viewed as one of the premier running backs in the NFL for half a decade, Shaun Alexander hasn't played a snap since 2008, when he unceremoniously carried 11 times for 24 yards in a four-game stint with Washington before retiring. It's been nearly seven years since he became eligible for Canton, and yet, he hasn't even been named a semifinalist at any point.
When considering Alexander's resume and the lasting footprint he left on football in the Pacific Northwest, that's a travesty.
Yes, Alexander's flame didn't burn as long as some other notable Hall of Fame running backs. After winning MVP in 2005, he signed an eight-year contract the Seahawks never should have offered an aging ball carrier and predictably, he hit a wall during his final two years with the franchise.
In a textbook definition of recency bias, many fans best remember those dismal last two seasons as "Alexander the Great" regressed to "Alexander the Mediocre," struggling to stay healthy and failing to run with the same burst and tenacity that made him one of the league's most identifiable stars.
But during his prime, the number of running backs with comparable production to Alexander can be counted on one hand. For a sensational five-year stretch, coinciding with Seattle's rise to NFC contender, he was as dominant, durable, and reliable as any back in league history.
Once Ricky Watters suffered a season-ending ankle injury early in the 2001 season and the keys to the backfield were passed on to Alexander, he immediately emerged as a superstar. Though he started just 12 games, he rushed for 1,318 and led the league with 14 rushing touchdowns, establishing a new team record with 266 rushing yards in a 34-27 win over the Raiders.
He followed up with another outstanding season in 2002, rushing for 1,175 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also displayed improved versatility, catching a career-best 59 receptions for 460 yards out of the backfield. Somehow, for a second straight year, he wasn't selected to the Pro Bowl.
Over the next three years, behind the blocking of Jones, Hutchinson, and a dominant offensive line, Alexander glided, weaved, and powered through opposing defenses. An artist with the football in his hands, he displayed outstanding patience and vision, always knowing when to hit the crease and catching opponents off guard with surprising speed once he accelerated to the second level.
From 2003 to 2005, Alexander averaged nearly 1,700 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns per season. Starring for the best team in Seahawks history at that point, he won his first and only rushing title in 2005, eclipsing 1,800 yards and scoring a league-record 27 rushing touchdowns.
By the time he received his MVP award, Alexander had amassed 7,504 rushing yards and 98 combined touchdowns while playing in all 80 regular season games from 2001 to 2005. In each of those five seasons, he rushed for at least 1,100 yards and scored double-digit rushing touchdowns, making him one of only seven backs to accomplish such a feat in four or more seasons.
In fact, with the exception of LaDainian Tomlinson, one of his main rivals in the mid-2000s, no other back in 100 years of NFL history has surpassed 1,100 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in five or more consecutive seasons. The former Chargers star astoundingly did it eight straight years and was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection in 2016.
By the time Alexander hung up his cleats, even though he narrowly missed out on eclipsing the 10,000 rushing yard mark, he had scored 100 rushing touchdowns, tied for the eighth-most in NFL history. Only he and Adrian Peterson, who still continues to play into his mid-30s and will be a shoo-in for Canton someday, have scored more than 90 career rushing touchdowns and aren't in the Hall of Fame.
Detractors will argue Alexander benefited from having two Hall of Fame linemen blocking in front of him as well as renowned fullback Mack Strong. There's no question the talent around him aided in his phenomenal production, but putting too much stock in this reasoning wrongfully shortchanges his game-changing abilities.
Other critics will cite Alexander's lack of longevity for his exclusion from the Hall of Fame, but that shouldn't outweigh his impressive accomplishments. There are a handful of other running backs who had shorter careers who put up similar or inferior numbers such as Earl Campbell and Terrell Davis.
Considering he's been retired for more than a decade and hasn't advanced past the initial nomination stage in seven tries, Alexander likely faces long odds of ever getting inducted. While it's completely unfair, his rapid descent from MVP to the unemployment line remains on the minds of voters instead of the remarkable numbers that put him in rarified air amongst the best to ever play his position.
But if there's a reason for optimism or hope, Easley waited 25 years before finally getting the call in 2017. If he continues to be snubbed and doesn't receive the respect he deserves, Alexander's day may also come as a senior finalist and he will join Jones and Hutchinson in Canton where he belongs.
