Ed Puskas: Matthews, Gradishar left out again

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Ed Puskas

At this rate, Clay Matthews III might get to Canton before his father does.

Dad, of course, is Clay Matthews Jr., who played 19 seasons and 278 games as an NFL linebacker. He spent 16 of those seasons (1978-93) with the Browns, who drafted him out of Southern Cal in 1978.

Just 16 other players have appeared in more NFL games and none of them were linebackers.

That’s right. Matthews played more games at linebacker than anyone who ever played the position.

And obviously, he was productive. You don’t play 19 seasons at one of the most demanding positions on the field without getting it done year after year. There are but two players in NFL history who made more tackles than Matthews did — the Atlanta Falcons’ Jessie Tuggle and the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Lewis.

Tuggle made 1,640 tackles from 1987-2000. Lewis had 1,562 from 1996-2012. Matthews finished with 1,561.

Of the three, only Lewis is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That is an explicable travesty for Matthews and Tuggle, who was undrafted out of Valdosta (Ga.) State.

Both players should have been enshrined in Canton long ago. I’m not sure what those with Hall of Fame votes are looking at each year when the time comes to make out their ballots.

And while we’re on that subject, here’s a vote for former Champion High School, Ohio State and Denver Broncos star Randy Gradishar.

It is unconscionable that not a single linebacker is among the 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019, especially with Matthews and Tuggle available for consideration. Canton’s modern era includes players whose careers ended after 1994.

Gradishar played from 1974-83, but has been repeatedly ignored by the senior committee and this year was no exception.

Matthews’ daughter Jennifer conducted a persistent Twitter campaign on behalf of her father, but to no avail.

The knock against Matthews is that he never played in a Super Bowl. But he helped the Browns get to the AFC Championship three times and the numbers say he belongs.

But playing in a Super Bowl doesn’t guarantee anything. Tuggle got there with the Falcons and Gradishar with the Broncos and they are still on the outside looking in at Canton.

Gradishar didn’t play as long as some guys, but he among the dominant players at his position. He was the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1977, when the Broncos went to the Super Bowl.

Gradishar was the centerpiece of Denver’s Orange Crush defense and former Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes called him “the best linebacker I ever coached.”

Gradishar has been a finalist for Canton twice, but hasn’t gotten the necessary votes.

Maybe the Hall of Fame voters will get it right one of these years, because some of the best who ever played linebacker in the NFL deserve better.

Write Vindicator Sports Edtor Ed Puskas as epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.