Former All-Pro running back makes Hall of Fame argument after another snub: ‘I think I belong’
Warrick Dunn has been eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for over a decade, yet he’s still waiting for a gold jacket.
The 49-year-old spent his 11 NFL seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons.
Dunn’s 10,967 rushing yards are the 23rd most in NFL history, and that seems to be the cutoff.
Only two players whose careers began after 1970 and have fewer rushing yards than Dunn have a bust in Canton — Earl Campbell and Terrell Davis.
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Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn runs with the ball out of his own end zone in the third quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Georgia Dome. (Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports)
Dunn said the odds were against him early on, and he proved he belongs.
“The era I played in, when I first got drafted, they thought I was just going to be a third-down back,” Dunn told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “I didn’t have the amount of carries that a lot of other guys had because I was always sharing carries with Mike Alstott in Tampa. When I came to Atlanta, it was T.J. Duckett.
“I had to prove myself being a 5-foot-8, 185-pound running back. You can say a lot of guys can do what I did. No, I had that chip on my shoulder that I was going to prove that I could do it. I believed that I could be one of the best if you give me the opportunity to do that. I think over the years, with what I’ve done, the impact that I brought to teams and those things. And I watch highlights, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know I could do that.’
Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn follows a lead block from Falcons guard P.J. Alexander on a run play in the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns at the Georgia Dome. (Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports)
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“Do I think I’m deserving? I think I belong with one of the best. … Do I want to be in the Hall to say I was one of the best to ever play? Yeah, of course. We all play for that. We all play to be the best we can be.”
Dunn said being inducted would send a message to undersized players trying to make a name for themselves.
“I want to be an example for kids who may not be as big as me that you can still do some things even when the odds are against you. I was always going against the grain. My mentality is still like that,” he said.
Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn (28) runs with the ball in the third quarter at LP Field. (Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports)
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Dunn had over 15,000 all-purpose yards, more than several Hall of Famers, like Jerome Bettis, Franco Harris and O.J. Simpson. He had just 105 fewer than Eric Dickerson.
Among eligible players, it’s the third-most all-purpose yards by a full-time running back not in the Hall, behind Herschel Walker and Tiki Barber.
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