Auburn great Willie Anderson a semifinalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame (again)
Auburn great Willie Anderson is one step closer to enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Hall revealed 28 modern-era semifinalists for the Class of 2023 on Tuesday and Anderson, for the third straight year, made the cut.
Anderson’s numbers might make him a strong contender.
Anderson, 47, made 184 NFL starts. During that time, he was First-team All-Pro three times and Second-team All-Pro once. Additionally he was selected to four Pro Bowls.
This is what Bengals.com said about him in 2017 (He spent many years with that team):
In three of his 13 seasons that were played in a kind of golden age of the pass rusher, where the top 13 all-time sackers worked during Anderson’s run from 1996-2008, he allowed no sacks. While helping Dillon produce two of the greatest single-game rushing efforts ever, Anderson blanked sack artists ranging from the Minister of Defense (Reggie White) in a one-night revival against the Packers to T. Sizzle (Terrell Suggs) in semi-annual division fare against Baltimore.
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Anderson can remember all the sacks allowed. There weren’t that many. He thinks there were maybe something like 10 in 13 years. But after running through the list of the greatest sackers, even Anderson is amazed by this:
During his 181 games for the Bengals, he faced nine of the NFL’s 11 current leading all-time sackers and it’s believed he allowed only one sack. The only ones he missed were DeMarcus Ware and John Randle and that one he gave up was to all-time leader Bruce Smith with 19 seconds left in a game the Bills led by two touchdowns.
Anderson, who played at Auburn from 1993 to 1995, already is a member of the Bengals Ring of Honor.
Per NFL.com, “Fifteen finalists from the 28 will be revealed in January. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 will be inducted during NFL Honors, which will take place in the days leading up to Super Bowl LVII. The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023 will be enshrined next August in Canton, Ohio.”