Two weeks in the past, the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame launched an inventory of 167 senior nominees for consideration on their Class of 2025 poll.
Underneath the brand new format, three gamers from the record will nominated for induction.
14 former New York Giants had been on the record, together with operating again Ottis “O.J.” Anderson, who we’ve been advocating for enshrinement for a while now.
Anderson successfully had two careers — one with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1979-86 and one other with the Giants from 1986-92.
With St. Louis, Anderson was a pressure, bursting on the scene with two monster Professional Bowl seasons for the Cardinals en path to changing into their all-time main rusher.
With the Giants, Anderson performed a key function on two Tremendous Bowl championship groups and Invoice Parcells’ smashmouth offense.
It’s been 33 years since Anderson left the sport and lots of of his previous adversaries and teammates are advocating for his induction into Canton.
Former Giants nice Harry Carson, a Corridor of Fame linebacker who performed towards and with Anderson, believes O.J. deserves enshrinement.
“I feel he’s among the best operating backs I’ve ever confronted,” Carson informed Steve Serby of the New York Put up. “You might see him get the ball and he ran counter to the place he was imagined to run, however he obtained yards on his personal as a result of he was operating for his life. . . He deserves to be within the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame.”
One other nice Giants linebacker, Lawrence Taylor, agrees. Gamers with lesser legacies and thinner resumes than Anderson are in Canton.
“I take a look at quite a lot of guys which might be within the Corridor of Fame proper now,” Taylor mentioned, “and I’m saying, ‘This man ain’t pretty much as good as O.J. Anderson.’ Again in that day, his stats spoke for themselves.”
When Anderson retired in 1992, solely seven gamers had amassed extra dashing yards in NFL historical past. He additionally scored touchdowns in each of the Giants’ Tremendous Bowl wins and was named the MVP of Tremendous Bowl XXI.
When gamers akin to Taylor and Carson converse, maybe the Corridor voters ought to pay attention.
“I performed towards him and I performed with him,” Taylor informed Serby. “He’s a helluva participant. After I was taking part in towards him, he was one of many guys I needed to look out for each daggone time we performed him.
“He had that little motion the place he may bounce from one hole to a different hole. … He’s bodily … not as quick as some operating backs, however he’s going to pound it out, 8 yards, 7 yards at a time. And by the point you performed completed 4 quarters, you’re bored with hitting O.J. Anderson.”
Anderson is grateful that his previous teammates are coming to bat for him and likewise the followers of his former workforce, the Cardinals. Serby requested him why he felt he has been neglected.
“I feel as a result of St. Louis left and went to Arizona. I additionally assume that the individuals who had a voice once I was the eighth-leading (all-time) rusher handed away, and there’s nobody there to validate what I completed,” he mentioned.
To this present day, the Cardinals have but to acknowledge Anderson’s contributions to their franchise. Maybe in the event that they stepped up and did that, Anderson’s profile could be raised and extra folks would understand what a particular participant he was.
