Bettis vs. HOF RBs
If 2015 Finalist Jerome Bettis is elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he would become the 30th running back from the modern era to make it to Canton. He currently ranks sixth all time in rushing with 13,662 yards. Here’s how “The Bus” stacks up against those runners enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
| RUSHING | RECEIVING | HONORS | ||||||||||
| Player | Yrs. | No. | Yds | Avg | TD | No. | Yds | TD | All Pro | Pro Bowls | ||
| JEROME BETTIS | 13 | 3,479 | 13,662 | 3.9 | 91 | 200 | 1,449 | 3 | 2 | 6 | ||
| HOF RBs | ||||||||||||
| Marcus Allen | 16 | 3,022 | 12,243 | 4.1 | 123 | 587 | 5,411 | 21 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Jim Brown | 9 | 2,359 | 12,312 | 5.2 | 106 | 262 | 2,499 | 20 | 8 | 9 | ||
| Earl Campbell | 8 | 2,187 | 9,407 | 4.3 | 74 | 121 | 806 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Larry Csonka | 11 | 1,891 | 8,081 | 4.3 | 64 | 106 | 820 | 4 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Eric Dickerson | 11 | 2,996 | 13,259 | 4.4 | 90 | 281 | 2,137 | 6 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Tony Dorsett | 12 | 2,936 | 12,739 | 4.3 | 77 | 398 | 3,554 | 13 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Marshall Faulk | 12 | 2,836 | 12,279 | 4.3 | 100 | 767 | 6,875 | 36 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Frank Gifford | 12 | 840 | 3,609 | 4.3 | 34 | 367 | 5,434 | 43 | 4 | 7 | ||
| Franco Harris | 13 | 2,949 | 12,120 | 4.1 | 91 | 307 | 2,287 | 9 | 1 | 9 | ||
| Paul Hornung | 9 | 893 | 3,711 | 4.2 | 50 | 130 | 1,480 | 12 | 2 | 2 | ||
| John Henry Johnson | 13 | 1,571 | 6,803 | 4.3 | 48 | 186 | 1,478 | 7 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Leroy Kelly | 10 | 1,727 | 7,274 | 4.2 | 74 | 190 | 2,281 | 13 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Floyd Little | 9 | 1,641 | 6,323 | 3.9 | 43 | 215 | 2,418 | 9 | 1 | 5 | ||
| Curtis Martin | 11 | 3,518 | 14,101 | 4.0 | 90 | 484 | 3,329 | 10 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Ollie Matson | 14 | 1,170 | 5,173 | 4.4 | 40 | 222 | 3,285 | 23 | 5# | 6 | ||
| Hugh McElhenny | 13 | 1,124 | 5,281 | 4.7 | 38 | 264 | 3,247 | 20 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Lenny Moore | 12 | 1,068 | 5,174 | 4.8 | 63 | 363 | 6,039 | 48 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Marion Motley* | 9 | 828 | 4,720 | 5.7 | 31 | 85 | 1,107 | 7 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Walter Payton | 13 | 3,838 | 16,726 | 4.4 | 110 | 492 | 4,538 | 15 | 7 | 9 | ||
| Joe Perry* | 16 | 1,929 | 9,723 | 5.0 | 71 | 260 | 2,021 | 12 | 3 | 3 | ||
| John Riggins | 14 | 2,916 | 11,352 | 3.9 | 104 | 250 | 2,090 | 12 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Barry Sanders | 10 | 3,062 | 15,269 | 5.0 | 99 | 352 | 2,921 | 10 | 8 | 10 | ||
| Gale Sayers | 7 | 991 | 4,956 | 5.0 | 39 | 112 | 1,307 | 9 | 5 | 4 | ||
| O.J. Simpson | 11 | 2,404 | 11,236 | 4.7 | 61 | 203 | 2,142 | 14 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Emmitt Smith | 15 | 4,409 | 18,355 | 4.2 | 164 | 515 | 3,224 | 11 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Jim Taylor | 10 | 1,941 | 8,597 | 4.4 | 83 | 225 | 1,756 | 10 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Thurman Thomas | 13 | 2,877 | 12,074 | 4.2 | 65 | 472 | 4,458 | 23 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Charley Trippi | 9 | 687 | 3,506 | 5.1 | 23 | 130 | 1,321 | 11 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Doak Walker | 6 | 309 | 1,520 | 4.9 | 12 | 152 | 2,539 | 21 | 5 | 5 | ||
| *Includes honors from the All-America Football Conference (1946-49) | ||||||||||||
| ^All honors earned as kick returner | ||||||||||||
| #Includes one year earned as defensive back and one year as both running back and DB | ||||||||||||
A number of Hall of Fame runners also accumulated yardage on punt and kickoff returns. Ollie Matson’s 3,746 yards on 143 career kickoff returns is more than any other Hall of Fame running back. Former Cleveland Browns great and Class of 1994 inductee Leroy Kelly accumulated the most punt return yards (990) of any Hall of Fame runner.
DeBartolo would be 20th contributor in Canton
If elected on Feb. 1, DeBartolo would join 19 others who’ve been enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame under the “Contributors” category.
2014 finalists and the Super Bowl
All but one of the 17 finalists for the Class of 2014 participated in a Super Bowl.