10 Best NFL Players Not in the Hall of Fame

John Hadl, Quarterback

Ken Anderson’s Hall of Fame credentials require a trip in the “way-back machine” for our minds, but former San Diego Chargers quarterback John Hadl’s era is so far removed from the game today that it almost asks us to entirely suspend our disbelief.

Among quarterbacks prior to 1980, only three people threw more passes in NFL history than Hadl, and two were Hall of Famers Fran Tarkenton and Johnny Unitas. Hadl was a gunslinger of the pre-modern era, tossing the pigskin a whopping 4,704 times in his 16-year, 224-game career. To put that in perspective, Matthew Stafford's career per-game average of 38.8 passing attempts nearly doubles Hadl’s mark of 20.9.

Hadl came out of an NFL era where his 50.74 percent completion rate was considered solid (while Bart Starr’s 57.42 percent was positively assassin-esque), his 5.21 percent touchdown rate ranked 30th among 87 passers to top 1,000 pass attempts prior to 1980, and his 5.72 percent interception rate was 49th among the same.

Hadl was simply solid across the board compared to his peers and six Pro Bowl appearances (including one All-Pro nod with the Los Angeles Rams in 1973) help bump his PFR AV up to 143 – fourth-best among quarterbacks in his era and 20th-best all-time among passers.