eewwll said:
Come on Blunt. Let's not turn a discussion into a meaningless argument.
I think you've already done that. All I've been saying is that
Johnson has had a Hall of Fame quality career and rates higher statistically than most are aware of.
If you do not know the meaning of the word impact: having an impact does not presuppose a positive or negative precondition. It means having a substantial positive contribution on overall team dynamics and or meaningful situations..whether those be first downs or Superbowls or even just in temperament with leadership ability.
No shit.
My problem with this is that I think you only do searches on stats, yet have not really watched much of these players in question.
That's a lame supposition, as I wouldn't know enough to do "searches on stats" for them if I'd never watched them play (or followed them throughout their entire careers, visually and statistically). The fact remains that "stats" DO matter, especially when there are strongly differing
subjective views on a player. Hard DATA often mitigates against faulty perceptions. Eyewitness testimony, as we know, is the
least reliable in terms of judging the truth in court cases.
I shudder when folks tell me to forget the stats and just accept their "expert" opinion on something. I don't even feel comfortable promoting my own personal analysis of athletic peformance based
solely on what I've seen, without valid back-up. So don't knock the numbers They help settle countless arguments based on
dueling perceptions.
However, I could be wrong. If you think a team has to be good in order for a player to have an impact you have sadly mistaken.
It's obviously much easier to ASSUME someone has made an impact when a team wins. Otherwise, said "impact" is fruitless.
My question to you was: when was Key the the #1 receiver on this TEAM. So 2001 is your reference. We are now entering the 2007-2008 season and you have go back 7 years for a reference.
LOL. That season is just the most obvious reference. If you don't think he was the KEY receiver on that team, then who was? Fact is,
Keyshawn was the KEY receiver the next year on the Super Bowl team as well, with 76 catches and 5 TDS. He also was the #1 receiver on the Jets for years.
Also, when you looked up his stats and looked for big numbers and found season 2001..did you happen to see that little number in the TD spot... for all those big numbers in his BEST season he had ONE touchdown.
That one TD season was a fluke.
Brad Johnson threw just 13 all year. The team's (and
Tony Dungy's) passing game was miserable, save for
Keyshawn. He was a one man show, just not at the goal line. He
did catch 5 the next year and led the AFC with 10 earlier, but catching TDs wasn't really his game. You'd know that if you "watched him play."
Again..you are helping me make my IMPACT argument. That should make things very clear. Up until Irvin retired, he was the best receiver on his team. Irvin was never a real #1 go to receiver even when he was in Dallas.
Not really debating
Irvin's "impact" here, though he certainly was on a team stacked with All-Pros, who made his job easier and gave him more opportunities to make an "impact."
Maybe you've forgotten, but
Keyshawn was the heart and soul of the JETS.
Parcells loved him and DID consider him an impact player. He had a number of excellent years there (in fact, ALL of them were).
I do not know if you are struggling with reading comprehension. I said stats are but ONE data set to use when coming to a determination of greatness. I never mentioned winning a super bowl as a requirement. I said the ability to produce in necessary situations.. game winning, situations where first downs are requirements.
All of which
Keyshawn has done (from accumulating stats, to winning a Super Bowl, to producing in key situations to getting big first downs).
Carter can't be penalized because he played for a perennially losing organization. However, throwing stats out of the picture (which he has just like Irvin) Carter had some of the "surest" hands in the league.
Yet
Moss still overshadowed him with a different skill set. Yet that didn't make
Carter less worthy of praise. Nor should
Keyshawn be penalized for not being a swift game-breaker.
He caught EVERYTHING thrown in his direction and again..when you needed a first down or a big reception..he was a go to receiver and always delivered.
Obviously wasn't "go to" enough to win anything.
Keyshawn is/was a great possession receiver but not a game changing receiver.
No one said he
was a "game-changing" receiver, and who says that's more important than being a GREAT possession receiver (and supreme blocker) for 11 straight years (an entire career)??
He never was a deep ball threat and was not an... it's third and 13 late in the 4th and I need the big catch type of receiver.
Not a deep threat, but certainly a big 3rd down receiver. Not sure what you were watchin'. Ask
Parcells.
Carter CLEARLY was and so was Irvin.. Carter was just not fortunate enough to play for Super Bowl caliber teams yet he had a great IMPACT on his teams offense.
Actually,
Carter did play on Super Bowl caliber teams, and failed to take them over the top. But this isn't about him. Bottom-line is,
Carter has great stats (which will get him into the Hall easily). Caught a lot of balls. Wasn't the game-breaker that
Moss was. But this isn't about
him.
Be careful here Blunt. Be very careful. Your consistency in spinning a disagreement into a pissing contest really tends to get to the best of you.
Not sure what there is to disagree about. You're just into hyping your favorites and all I'm saying is that
Keyshawn Johnson had a damn sight better career (in every which way) than most want to credit him with.
Your argument has SOLELY rested on digging up stats. The point was that it is fallacious to SOLELY use stats to judge players against each other.
First of all, stats
are used to judge players against each other. That's how it works (career-wise and yearly). My whole point here was to bring some tangible evidence of
Johnson's career performance, which may have escaped such predisposed folks as yourself.
My argument for
Keyshawn is actually based on the fact that his stats surprisingly match-up with his well-known intangibles. His numbers are comparable to
Irvin's. Whether you like that or not is up to you. It's just a fact, and part of the equation in judging his career.
Everyone knows about how
they individually FEEL about him from just watching him play (or listening to him). Big deal.
Your personal opinion isn't gonna do anything for his Hall of Fame chances (pro or con). You have to judge him based on
all the criteria that people use (including
objective statistical data, effort, coaches opinions and contribution to team performance).
Again, Smith is the all time leading TD producer and rusher in NFL. However, he is NOT better than Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Barry Sanders, etc. I would comfortably put Emmitt Smith in 6th place. It is not about giving him props for his consistency, it is taking all the circumstances into consideration and putting them into perspective before placing him. 6th position is a great position to be in in terms of ALL TIME RBs. Again, stats ALONE, are not enough to make the determination on the ladder, comparatively speaking.
Well "stats alone" are how you know
Jim Brown was great because you likely never saw him play during his era. He may
look domineering to you in the old clips, but its the FACTUAL DATA of his stats that PROVE how domineering he actually was. So please, don't brush off "stats" because they're inconvenient to your argument, and don't assume that they're the
only consideration I'm using when judging
Keyshawn. His great stats simply ADD verifiable substance to his noteworthy (and sometimes distracting) resume.
That's all fine and dandy.. but every player I have mentioned was consistent yearly and also had greater impact on their teams. None of them were short-term superstars so that comment is just irrelevant.
Well, not true. Both
Brown and
Sayers had truncated careers, while
Irvin was dominant for about 8 years. As I stated earlier, it'd be wrong to overlook
Keyshawn's 11 years of consistent, productive play. I'll bet lots of folks aren't even aware of his excellent "stats," unlike with the more obvious record-setting superstars. That's why it's important to emphasize them in his case, as a brilliant blocking/possession receiver's numbers are easy to overlook.
But he has never been known as a dominant, impact #1 receiver.
It's unfair to compare him with a different type of player. Fact is he
has been consistently DOMINANT (and impactful) at the game that he's been best suited to play. You're making my point by judging him based on the standards of others rather than on his particular type of contribution. Fact is that for a "possession" receiver to amass such great numbers
makes my whole point. He's been more productive and impactful than folks like you give him credit for, and I'm just giving him his props!!
This isn't about him being
better than all these different types of receivers. It's about him reaching a certain exalted career status playing a very different type of receiving game than the flashier types.
If someone as over-hyped (and hated) as he was when he came into the league can ever be considered UNDERRRATED, then he certainly qualifies (especially judging by this thread). I think that's a pretty interesting career arc.
(And I wouldn't even consider him a personal favorite of mine by any stretch of the imagination. He's simply a good subject for this type of discussion.)