16 Years After Retirement, Seahawks Star Shaun Alexander Remains Egregious Hall of Fame Snub

One of the most dominant players of his era, the fact Seahawks legend Shaun Alexander continues to have to wait for a Hall call is a stain on the voting process.

Aug 25, 2007; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander (37) rushes against / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Now closing in on 16 years since he last played a snap in the NFL, former Seattle Seahawks star running back Shaun Alexander has unfortunately had plenty of time to ponder about why he has yet to break through as a Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate.

Being on the ballot for more than a decade, Alexander inexplicably has never sniffed being a finalist for Canton. In fact, while he has been a nominee multiple times, including last year, he hasn't advanced to the semi-finalist round as one of the 25 modern candidates in consideration. In other words, he hasn't even been in the same zip code when it comes to receiving a gold jacket.

Last month, via the Up and Adams Podcast with Kay Adams, Alexander weighed in on his candidacy, including delving into the often-used argument that his gaudy numbers simply were a byproduct of having two Hall of Fame blockers in Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson in front of him and not at all representative of his talent.

"My line was good. I would never go against that," Alexander told Adams. "But you see what happened when [Tom] Brady and [Randy] Moss got to play together."

As the past 11 years and counting have confirmed, Alexander's case for the Hall of Fame certainly has been hindered in the minds of voters by the offensive line he ran behind. A first-ballot selection, Jones belongs in the discussion as the best tackle in NFL history, while Hutchinson made seven All-Pro teams and dominated opponents as one of the premier guards of his era. There's no denying those two players factored into the back's immense success.

But for those who keep clinging to that premise as justification for shutting him out of Canton, or even being a semi-finalist as a sign of progress in his candidacy, it's not fair at all to point at Jones and Hutchinson as the only reasons Alexander dominated on the ground with arguably the best five year stretch of production by a back in NFL history. Such an argument makes it sound as if any back could have had the same numbers running behind them and anyone who actually watched No. 37 glide through defenses know that couldn't be further from the truth.

If that's truly what continues to hold Alexander back as a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate for voters, it makes his lingering snub all the more embarrassing for the league.

An artist with the football in his hands, Alexander possessed elite - if not unrivaled - vision out of the backfield. Always seemingly a step ahead of the defense, the 225-pound back had an uncanny knack for knowing when to cut before a crease even opened up, hitting holes with his foot already slamming on the accelerator and rocketing to the second level, where he made defenders look silly breaking arm tackles and leaving them grasping for air with graceful jukes in space.

For much of the 2000s, Alexander and LaDainian Tomlinson captivated football fans as they traded rushing touchdowns at a rate never seen before and likely never to be seen again. Becoming must-see television on Sundays, it was the NFL's equivalent of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa pursuing the home run record in baseball in 1998. And it came without the steroids.

Looking back at his illustrious career, even if his prime may not have lasted as long as some other backs who earned a spot in Canton due to injuries in his final few seasons, few have ever played the position at a higher level than Alexander did at his peak.

From 2001 to 2005, Alexander found the end zone a remarkable 87 times on the ground. He culminated that historic stretch with a then-record 27 rushing touchdowns for the Seahawks in 2005, helping lead the team to the top seed in the NFC and their first-ever Super Bowl berth while winning the first and only MVP in franchise history.

Tomlinson wound up breaking Alexander's record literally the next season, but that shouldn't diminish what the ex-Alabama star accomplished. If anything, it just adds more shine to what may wind up being the last golden age for running backs.

During the aforementioned five-year stretch, Alexander rushed for at least 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns every single season. Per Pro Football Reference, no other player in NFL history has achieved that feat, including Tomlinson, putting him in truly exclusive company.

Further expanding on that remarkable stat line, Alexander and Tomlinson stand out as the only two backs in league history to rush for 1,300 yards and score 14 touchdowns in four or more seasons, and those scintillating runs overlapped as they torched opposing defenses in the mid-2000s. Even all-time greats such as Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Emmitt Smith, and Walter Payton couldn't match those numbers longevity wise.

Of course, critics will point to Alexander's career rushing yardage - he finished with 9,453 yards, which ranks 37th in NFL history - as a counterargument. Sanders, Brown, Smith, Payton, and Tomlinson, among other Hall of Famers, had at least 2,000 yards more in their respective careers and their peak lasted longer. That's a fair point.

But at the same time, rushing yards haven't been the end all, be all when it comes to the Hall of Fame selection process for running backs. Earl Campbell and Terrell Davis both had less yardage in their careers and made it into Canton, so why does Alexander get docked for that?

For those who want to nitpick on rushing yardage as the primary statistic for inclusion in the Hall of Fame, surpassing 9,000 yards with his other notable numbers still puts him in rarified air. He's one of only eight players in league history to eclipse that number while also scoring 100 rushing touchdowns, catching 200 or more passes, and scoring 10 or more receiving touchdowns. Each of the other seven players on that list already has a gold jacket, with many being first-ballot selections.

As one of only nine players ever to score 100 or more rushing touchdowns in the NFL, assuming Adrian Peterson gets elected in the near future once he becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame, Alexander will be the only player from that group that hasn't had his bust placed in Canton.

Again, what gives? What could possibly be deemed a viable reason for Alexander to be kept out of the Hall of Fame when considering his place among the most dominant backs ever to lace up cleats and put on a helmet?

To his credit, Alexander hasn't given up hope. Though he has now waited 11 years without even being a semi-finalist, he knows few players achieved what he did in his NFL career and as he told Adams, he still believes he will make his way into pro football immortality next to other former Seahawks stars such as Jones and Hutchinson someday down the road.

"I am assuming it's going to happen one day and I believe my numbers are great, so I am very thankful for the career I got to have," Alexander said. "But yeah, I am desiring to be in, I do. One day, it should happen."

Already ruled out for this year's class, Alexander's odds of getting in anytime soon seem slim, but that shouldn't be the case at all. One of the best backs from an era where the running game still reigned supreme, he belongs alongside Tomlinson and other all-time greats, and the fact that he continues to be passed over puts an ugly stain on the entire voting process.

Just as he used to leave defenders trailing behind him on the gridiron, hopefully that breakthrough will be coming soon for Alexander and once he makes it through to the semi-final round, he'll see daylight and finally earn the induction he deserves.