Why London Fletcher is Worthy of the Hall of Fame

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July 3, 2024

by David Earl

London Fletcher, the star linebacker with the St. Louis Rams from 1998 – 2001, the Buffalo Bills from 2002 – 2006, and the Washington Redskins from 2007 – 2013, was once again not selected as a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist this year, despite being one of the best overall players of his era.  Therefore, what I thought I’d do today is take a look at Fletcher’s career in comparison to some of his peers in order to show why, exactly, the voting committee is wrong.  To start with, check out this chart:

Stats Compared to Peers

Player Yrs Exp. Games Started Total Tackles Tackles for Loss Sacks Forced Fumbles INT TDs
Derrick Brooks 14 224 221 1703 68 13.5 24 25 7
Ray Lewis 17 228 227 2059 99 41.5 19 31 3
Zach Thomas 13 184 182 1734 74 20.5 16 17 4
Brian Urlacher 13 182 180 1361 138 41.5 11 22 4
London Fletcher 16 256 240 2039 109 39.0 19 23 3

Graded among his Hall of Fame inducted peers, London Fletcher has certainly stood tall in every category.  Outside of the fact Fletcher did not play on very good teams after his time with the Rams, from a statistical perspective, there is no reason not to have Fletcher in the same elite class of his time. Using a per-season average, Fletcher measures up:

  • Total tackles Fletcher (127.4) was second to Zach Thomas (133.4)
  • Tackles for loss Fletcher (6.8)  again second this time to Brian Urlacher (10.6)
  • Sacks ties with Ray Lewis (2.4) and second to Brian Urlacher (3.2)
  • Forced fumbles tied with Zach Thomas (1.2) and second to Derrick Brooks (1.7)
  • Interceptions Fletcher (1.4) finished only ahead of Zach Thomas (1.2)

The popular comparison is between London Fletcher and Ray Lewis, but is that even a proper comparison? Lewis was part of one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history during the 2000 season en route to Baltimore’s first-ever Super Bowl championship. Lewis was not just part of a great defense but a key leader in that unit, which allowed an NFL record-low 10.3 points per game. In that season, Lewis won the Defensive Player of the Year and the MVP award in Super Bowl XXXV. Does this therefore prove to be a ridiculous comparison? To answer that, let’s break these two players’ numbers down further alongside their peers. The following chart will show the first 6 years of each player as a starter then the subsequent 6 years averaging their stats per year. Statistical information is taken from Pro Football Reference.

First 6 Seasons as a Starter
Player Year G GS Int PD FF Sk Solo Ast TFL
London Fletcher 1999-2004 16 15.8 1 4.3 1.5 3.6 92 35.8 9.5
Brian Urlacher 2000-2005 15 14.5 1.2 6 1.2 5.4 90.7 26.7 13
Zach Thomas 1996-2001 15 14.8 1.8 2.3 1.5 1.7 86.7 47.8 4.2
Derrick Brooks 1995-2000 16 15.5 1.5 4 2.2 0.9 103.2 32.5 4.5
Ray Lewis 1996-2001 15 15.2 2 4 0.5 3.3 117.3 29 7.7

 

Subsequent 6 Seasons as a Starter
Player Year G GS Int PD FF Sk Solo Ast TFL
London Fletcher 2005-2010 16 16 1.7 8.2 1 1.8 97.3 43.3 6.3
Brian Urlacher 2006-2011 14 13.5 2.3 7.8 0.3 1.5 74.8 23.3 8.5
Zach Thomas 2002-2007 13 13.2 1 5.2 1.2 1.6 87 51.8 7.5
Derrick Brooks 2001-2006 16 16 2.5 8.7 1.2 1.3 89.8 29.7 5.3
Ray Lewis 2002-2007 12 11.7 2.2 7.2 1.2 1.8 77.7 28.7 4.3

Looking closely you will see that the only stat at which London Fletcher finished at bottom of this group was interception average in his first 6 seasons as a starter. Aside from that, Fletcher ranked second over these two charts 8 times while taking the top spot in solo tackles in the subsequent 6 years. He came in the 4th and 3rd spot twice over these two charts above. In addition, Fletcher is the only one in this group who has never missed a game due to an injury. Outside of Zach Thomas, drafted in the 5th round, the remaining players in the aforementioned group were first-round selections in the NFL draft, while London Fletcher was an undrafted free agent. This Super Bowl Champion and undersized linebacker, who played college at a small school, Carroll University, was able to stand tall among a peer group of higher-rated college players, and was a true iron man among them all. Is there anything left to be said? Still not convinced?

Possible Unreasonable Factors Against Fletcher

Like many debates about players, current or past, there are sides taken to highlight why a player may not deserve a certain honor. As an example, some argued that Dan Marino was notan all-time great quarterback because he had no Super Bowl championships.  Others believe that Gale Sayers shouldn’t be regarded among the best running backs because the last half of his career was riddled with injuries. However, these two greats were rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame regardless of these types of senseless arguments. Fletcher is no different. Here are a few examples:

  • Only made the Pro Bowl twice: John Riggins (1 Pro Bowl) and Ray Nitschke (2 Pro Bowls) made the Pro Bowl less than Fletcher. The Pro Bowl has been an incomplete science over the decades and his numbers above clearly show that he may have been worthy of more Pro Bowl votes.
  • Only one Super Bowl Championship: This one is not used nearly as often, but championships are still come up in debates. Fletcher’s lone championship ring came in his 2nd season, which some believe demonstrated that he had minimal impact. In that 1999 season, Fletcher accounted for 67 solo tackles, 89 combined, 12 tackles for losses, and 3 sacks in 16 games started. It is true that he didn’t lead a dominant defense as did Ray Lewis, and that the Rams’ offense – i.e., the Greatest Show on Turf – was the true factor for that championship. However, how many championships did Zach Thomas and Brian Urlacher win? Many Hall of Fame players not only did not win a championship but never even appeared in one, such as linebacker Dick Butkus, running back Earl Campbell, and quarterback Dan Fouts.
  • Name Recognition: London Fletcher was never truly a household name, while playing among his peer group that also included linebacker Patrick Willis and linebacker Junior Seau. Playing alongside these recognizable greats also kept Fletcher from earning more Pro Bowl honors. Even though Fletcher’s numbers broken down in three distinct ways above show just how good of a player he was, the fact he played for bad teams like Buffalo and Washington most likely had a contributing negative effect as well. He was very much a victim of his surroundings most of his career, especially during the toxic Daniel Snyder ownership era.
  • Washington already has plenty of Hall of Famer Players: This comment certainly caused me to do a double take as Washington is tied with the third most inductees at 32 but a side of me also agreed to a certain extent. I understand that the league wants to ensure they represent each franchise appropriately with Hall of Fame inductions, especially when players are deserving. I certainly get that when discussing Washington greats like Larry Brown, Jerry Smith, Gary Clark, and Brian Mitchell but should that reasoning apply to London Fletcher? I would absolutely say no and his career stands on its own merit.
  • Played for Multiple teams, unlike most others: I have not heard this argument much, but to those who want to mention that, yes you are correct. Of the group laid out above, Fletcher is the only player to have significant time playing with two additional teams. Did that prevent defensive end Julius Peppers (3 teams), linebacker Sam Mills (2 teams), or defensive back Charles Woodson (2 teams) from being inducted? There are many examples of players inducted into the Hall of Fame who played for multiple teams in a significant role.

Final Thought

While the list of reasons for London Fletcher to be inducted into the Hall of Fame is long, these arguments far and away outweigh the reasons against induction. It has been a discussion I’ve often gotten into in group threads and finally wrote it all in a structured way. In my view, Fletcher has been overlooked for too long in the selection of Hall of Fame finalists. As I believe this column has proven, it is worth repeating that from a purely statistical standpoint, that there’s no reason why Fletcher shouldn’t be considered among the elite of his time. The most impressive part of his achievements is that Fletcher was an undrafted free agent, undersized for his position, from a small school, and yet has outperformed many of his peers throughout the years. He should, without a doubt, be inducted into the Hall of Fame, as should Joe Jacoby (read details here).