Remembering Charles Haley's Hall of Fame Career

Sunday in Canton, Ohio, Charles Haley will become the latest legend from two separate famous football fraternities to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Not only did Haley win two Super Bowls and make three Pro Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, but he also won three Super Bowls and made two Pro Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. As a result, his name is about to join a group that includes the likes of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, as well as Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Steve Young. 

So he's kind of a big deal. 

In order to take an all-encompassing look at how a man who was once a raw Virginia afterthought retired with a resume that might possess the most prolific combination of individual and team accomplishments we've ever seen, let's look at six numbers that defined Haley's career.

95: The number of players who were picked before Haley in the 1986 NFL draft.

Drafting has always been a famously imperfect science. It is now, and it definitely was when Haley was the 96th overall pick in the fourth round of the '86 draft. On Sunday, the James Madison product will become the first player from that entire draft class to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. 

Player	Picked	Team	Career sacks	Pro Bowls
Jon Hand	4	Colts	35.5	0
Leslie O'Neal	8	Chargers	132.5	6
Gerald Robinson	14	Vikings	19	0
Tim Green	17	Falcons	24	0
Eric Dorsey	19	Giants	7	0
Bob Buczkowski	24	Raiders	1.5	0
Markus Koch	30	Redskins	10.5	0
Larry Roberts	39	49ers	28	0
Jim Skow	58	Bengals	24	0
Pat Swilling	60	Saints	107.5	5
Leonard Griffin	63	Chiefs	16.5	0
Mike Hammerstein	66	Bengals	5.5	0
Tim Harris	84	Packers	81	1
Mike Wise	85	Raiders	9.5	0

"We didn't know exactly what round to take him in," former 49ers assistant Bill McPherson said way back in 1989, per the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "We didn't know if anybody else knew about him. Also, we felt he was a project."

12: The number of sacks he recorded as a rookie.

But a project Haley wasn't. As a rookie member of the league's third-ranked scoring defense, the fourth-round pick led the team with a dozen sacks despite starting only one game. He's one of only 10 players in NFL history with at least 12 sacks as a rookie. 

He also ranked second in all of football that year with a career-high four forced fumbles before leading the team in sacks again in 1987, and he made his first of five Pro Bowls with a career-high 69 tackles and 11.5 sacks in 1988. 

In fact, only seven players in NFL history have recorded more sacks during their first five seasons than Haley did between 1986 and 1990. 

Player	Sacks
1. Reggie White	81
2. Derrick Thomas	66
3. DeMarcus Ware	64.5
4. Richard Dent	61.5
5. Jared Allen	57.5
5. Bruce Smith	57.5
7. J.J. Watt	57
8. Charles Haley	56.5
8. Dwight Freeney	56.5
10. Tim Harris	55

230: That's about what he weighed early in his career.

Haley's impact can't fully be measured with numbers, but the fact he was a dominant pass-rusher from the get-go despite being 6'5" and weighing about 230 pounds should help you understand just how much of a freakish rusher he was.

In NFL terms, that's a frame that no longer exists at the defensive end or outside linebacker positions. The league's top five sack leaders from 2014 weighed an average of 270 pounds (none lighter than 250). And although the times have changed, the top five sack artists in Haley's rookie season weighed in at an average of 264 pounds. 

He was still an anomaly. In terms of body mass index, you won't find many front-seven defenders in his range. He was a freak of nature who could run a 4.6-second 40-yard dash, which is why he was such a pleasure to watch. 

And such an intimidating force for opposing offenses. 

"He's the one guy everyone on our offensive line will know where he's at on every play," said then-Bengals center Bruce Kozerski in '89, per the Sun Sentinel. "When I come up to the line, I'll look at (nose tackle) Michael Carter, then I'll find out where Haley is."

100.5: The number of sacks he recorded in his career, ranking 29th on the all-time list.

Haley, who is one of 31 players in the 100-sack club, ranks 30th all-time with 26 forced fumbles and is one of 22 players in NFL history with six or more seasons with 10 or more sacks. 

Those numbers alone don't get a dude into the Hall of Fame, but when combined with the impact he clearly made beyond the stats and the immense success he experienced on five separate Super Bowl runs, he's a shoo-in. 

5: The number of championships he won during his 13-year career.

The fact that no other player in NFL history has accomplished that feat is well-documented, but the connection between Haley and winning can't be understated.

Before Haley originally retired in 1997 (he came out of retirement in 1998 for two final years with the 49ers), he had won 10 division titles in 11 NFL seasons. We don't assign records to defensive players like we do to quarterbacks, but if we did, Haley's career winning percentage would have been .709. 

The only quarterbacks with higher winning percentages: Tom Brady, Roger Staubach and Joe Montana. 

16: The number of years he had to wait before being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The 51-year-old was a finalist in each of the last six years and fell short of being inducted during his first 10 years of Hall of Fame eligibility, which is kind of a shame. 

Had Haley made the same impact in this era, I doubt he'd have to wait as long. We've learned that sheer sack numbers are overrated, and Haley was never about sack totals. He was an unselfish rusher who seemed to constantly create pressure, which resulted in big plays. And when he wasn't the man in the opposing quarterback's face on an interception, he was often battling at least a pair of opposing offensive linemen in order to free up teammates. 

If outlets like Pro Football Focus or Football Outsiders existed during his career, Haley would have been an even bigger legend than he is now. 

As SB Nation's Stephen White recently wrote, "You just had to be there."

Of course, as I suggested above, it's impossible to tell Haley's full story by focusing on mainly football-related numbers. Fair or not, a lot of folks now remember him for his oft-abrasive demeanor and his reputation as a nuisance in locker rooms and when dealing with the media. The tabloid-esque stories have been well-covered, sadly overshadowing his grapple with mental illness. 

There's always been more to Charles Haley than meets the eye, both on and off the field, but players with fewer accolades and more personal flaws have been enshrined in Canton. It's time we honor the only player in NFL history to help five teams win the Super Bowl. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon