Keyshawn Johnson is Hall of Fame Player

Filed in archive NFL on May 24, 2007

Courtesy Starpulse.com

After being cut by the Carolina Panthers, Keyshawn Johnson decided to hang up his Football helmet, in favor of an ESPN microphone.

Johnson being cut sparked an interesting debate between friends over beers as to Keyshawn Johnson's place among all-time great wide receivers.

I suggested that Johnson is a Hall of Fame player and should be regarded as one of the great possession receivers of all-time. A friend disagreed, saying Johnson was only slightly above average.

Now, without getting too irate, I simply tossed out four numbers to my ignorant friend. Those numbers are 800, 10,000, 13 and 2. These numbers represent Keyshawn Johnson's career catches, yards, average yards-per-catch, and number of seasons that he recorded less than 70 catches, respectively.

Imagine a receiver playing 11 seasons and catching less than 70 balls in only two of those. Some guys play 10 years and never read the 70-catch plateau.

These are very special statistics that place Johnson in the top 15 receivers ever to step on an NFL field.

The fact is when Keyshawn Johnson was at his best, there was no better wide receiver. Only Jerry Rice and Chris Carter rivaled Johnson's remarkable, high-light film catches. If a football was thrown near him, and he could get a fingernail on it, Keyshawn made the catch.

He might be remembered more for his ridiculous book, "Just Throw Me the Damn Ball," but Keysahwn Johnson deserves honor as an NFL Hall of Fame player.