Roger Craig, Terrell Davis Highlight Best NFL Backs Not in the Hall of Fame

Running the ball is usually an easy route to the Hall. 

A helluva lot easier Hall route than being a blocker or a tackler or, in the case of Ray Guy, a punter.

Unless, of course, an injury lays your career low, leaving you in Hall limbo.

Gale Sayers was one of the very few great ones able to slash through a shortened career and run to Hall daylight. But he was also an electrifying punt and kick return specialist besides being one of the most dazzling runners of all time.

Let's look at some old running backs looking to hit that last Hall hole hard and plunge to bronze-bust glory.

Terrell Davis: Denver Broncos

TD was the man who finally carried John Elway to Super Bowl glory. His career was cut short by a knee injury, but not before he had already won two Super Bowl rings, two Offensive Player of the Year awards, and one NFL MVP award.

Davis was on the All-Decade team of the 1990s, averaged 4.6 yards a carry for his career, and made three Pro Bowl appearances.

Roger Craig: San Francisco Forty Niners, Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings

In 1986 Craig became the first player in NFL history to total over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in a single season.

The ultimate Bill Walsh West Coast back, Craig caught a then NFL running back record 93 passes in 1988, the same year he was NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year.

Craig made the Pro Bowl four times as both a fullback and tailback, and was a key element on three Niners' Super Bowl champion teams.

The Nebraska product is on the NFL's All-1980s squad.

Allan Ameche: Baltimore Colts

Ameche, a Heisman winner at Wisconsin, scored the biggest touchdown in NFL history, the winning plunge in the 1958 Championship Game. Even without that score, the Horse had a Hall-worthy career on those famed Baltimore Colts squads.

A Rookie of the Year award, four Pro Bowls, two championship rings, and a member of the All-Decade team of the 1950s. Why isn't the Horse in the Hall already?

Rick Casares: Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins

Casares, like Ameche, is buried in the deep seniors' committee swamp.

But the powerful Bear fullback, the toughest man Mike Ditka said he ever saw in football, made three Pro Bowls and in 1956 led the league in rushing with the second highest total, at the time, in NFL history.

Casares was the Bears' all-time leading rusher until Walter Payton came along. Pretty good numbers for a fullback.

Otis "OJ" Anderson: St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants.

OJ revived his career by winning two Super Bowls, a Super Bowl MVP award, and a Comeback Player of the Year award with Bill Parcells and the New York Giants.

But before that, he was the Rookie of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowler with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Anderson scored 86 touchdowns and ran for over 10,000 yards in his career.

That's a lot of stuff on the mantle for a man who hardly gets a whiff from the Hall.

Eddie George: Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys

The big back of the Titans' powerful attack won Rookie of the Year and made four Pro Bowls while rushing for over 10,000 yards. George also accounted for over 2,000 yards catching the pigskin.

George totaled 86 touchdowns and made one Super Bowl appearance.

Note

This article does not include men that are not yet Hall eligible. The addition of stalwarts Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, and Marshall Faulk will surely create further back backlog. 

Ameche and Casaras need to land on the seniors list to make the cut. With Faulk a sure thing and Martin almost one, it seems like Davis, Bettis, and Craig will jostle for a slot. For some reason though, Craig doesn't generate much interest from the voters.

Anderson and George are longer shots to bust a Hall run, but one never knows. Doak Walker has just over 1,500 career rushing yards and the old Lion landed in the Hall of Fame.

But old Doak kicked too.