The Daily Procrastinator

On Saturday, January 31, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its 2009 inductees. The list includes four defensive players, one offensive player, and a long-time owner. Here’s a glance at the career highlights for this year’s honorees.

Wide receiver Bob Hayes, known as “Bullet” Bob Hayes, was the first athlete to successfully cross over from the world of track and field to the world of the NFL. After winning gold medals in the 1964 Olympics for the 100-meter dash and the 4×100 relay, Hayes entered the NFL draft and was selected in the seventh round by the Dallas Cowboys. As a wide receiver, Hayes led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in each of his first two seasons, and he was an instrumental part Dallas’ first-ever Super Bowl victory in 1971, making him the only athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl championship ring.

Randall McDaniel played offensive guard for the Minnesota Vikings from 1988 until 1999, then spent the final two years of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While offensive linemen don’t often garner much attention from the media or casual fans, McDaniel played so impressively that he was selected to 12 consecutive Pro Bowls, an NFL record. He also started 202 consecutive games, a feat almost unheard of at the brutally physical position of offensive guard.

Probably the most high-profile inductee, defensive end Bruce Smith, was one of the most electrifying defensive players in recent memory. The first overall pick of the 1985 draft, Smith immediately began building his reputation as a quarterback sacking machine. By 1989, he broke the Bills’ all-time sack record when he recorded number 59. Smith was just getting started, though. By the time he retired in 2003, Smith had recorded an all-time best 200 career sacks, surpassing Reggie White’s mark. Although he never won a Super Bowl championship ring, Smith was a vital part of the defense that fought its way to four straight Super Bowl appearances from 1991-1994.

Another defensive standout, Derrick Thomas, spent his entire eleven-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs after the team selected him with the fourth overall pick of the 1989 draft. Selected to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season, Thomas would earn eight more selections in the following ten years. Thomas holds Chiefs career records for sacks, safeties, fumble recoveries, and forced fumbles. He also holds the all-time NFL records with 45 forced fumbles in his career and a single game in which he recorded 7 sacks.

Ralph Wilson is the owner of the Buffalo Bills, one of the founders of the AFL, and one of the most senior owners of an NFL franchise. He has been the owner and president of the Buffalo Bills since the team’s inception in 1959. Wilson’s financial support and outspoken policy-making helped the AFL stay afloat as a challenger to the long-established NFL, and he was one of the pioneers of the merger of the two leagues in 1970.

Rod Woodson’s NFL career spanned fifteen years, four teams, two all-time NFL records: 1483 interception return yards and 12 interceptions returned for touchdowns. Woodson was selected for eleven Pro Bowl appearances, was named 1993 defensive player of the year, and won a Super Bowl championship with the Ravens following the 2000 season.