Who's got next from UGA in Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Good morning. Richard Seymour put on his gold jacket and had his bust unveiled as he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in Canton, Ohio.
Even with all the NFL talent we see being drafted out of Georgia in recent years, the defensive lineman became just the fifth former Bulldog player to be inducted in the hall after Charley Trippi, Fran Tarkenton, Terrell Davis and Champ Bailey.
Which player from UGA will join them in the years to come?
Geno Atkins, A.J. Green, Thomas Davis and Matthew Stafford all would seem to be in the conversation.
Atkins, with 75.5 career sacks, may have the best chance. He was twice an All-Pro defensive tackle and eight times made the Pro Bowl in a career from 2010-2020 with the Bengals. He has a 76.33 Hall of Fame monitor score by Pro Football Reference. That’s above Hall of Famers Buck Buchanan and Bryant Young.
Green was considered a sure-thing Hall of Famer by the Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer last year who cited his six 1,000-yard seasons in Cincinnati. He’s a two-time All Pro pick with seven Pro Bowls from 2011-17. His monitor score is 48.44 which could signal an uphill chance.
Davis, who played safety for Georgia and outside linebacker in the NFL playing mostly for the Panthers, was an All-Pro in 2015 and a three-time Pro Bowler and NFL Man of the Year. He registered 1,046 tackles, 28 sacks and 13 interceptions in 14 NFL seasons, but also may be a longshot.
Stafford is an interesting case. He certainly moved closer to Hall of Fame consideration with his Super Bowl win, but does he need another? His beaucoup passing yards and touchdowns that he put up for a bad Lions team also go on his resume.
Back to Seymour.
Kirby Smart opened up his preseason press conference giving props to him.
“He's been just an incredible representative of our university,” Smart said. “He was a great player here and a teammate.”
Seymour won three Super Bowls with the Patriots.
The two-time All-SEC first team pick and 2000 first-team All-American started 25 games for Georgia, accounting for 233 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.
Seymour referenced “the national championship Bulldogs,” during his speech.
“We got any Dawgs in the house?” he said.
Longtime Bulldogs football staffer Bryant Gantt was on the scene wearing a Georgia cap.
He posted to his Instagram account that he saw former Georgia players Travon Walker and Tyson Campbell of the Jaguars, Zamir White or the Raiders and Jaguars assistant coach Tony Gilbert during the weekend whcatching the Jags-Raiders Hall of Fame game.
Follow me on Twitter @marcweiszer and email me at mweiszer@onlineathens.com
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Who's got next from UGA in Pro Football Hall of Fame?
