You are isolating ward as a receiver. Some players have multifaceted assets. For instance, Lamar jackson will go to the HOF as a qb, but his passing stats will not be why he goes in. He is the best running qb in history.
Hines started in 98... from 98 to 07 the Steelers played in a run first offense.. in 08 they transitioned awkwardly to a passing team, by then ward was out of his prime
Ward also played almost his entire career before the CTE era forced the NFL to open up the middle.. back then the over the middle routes he ran were tough and came with a huge risk of killer hits.
So Ward put up HOF worthy stats before the yardage was cheapened by rule changes... and he produced them on teams that didnt pass all the time like many of his contemporaries were in that era... when he retired, 9 was 15th or 16th in total receiving yards in NFL history...
Moreover he did it playing his first six seasons with qbs like Kordell Stewart, Kent Graham, and Tommy Maddox.
But the crux of his entire candidacy isnt his general receiving stats... its two things... the first is that his downfield blocking style was legendary, probably added thousands of yards to the offense, and drove a rule change... this was a wr who laid out defensive linemen... it was so impressive that by the mid 00's tv networks would hype games with it in promos... he has a legit claim to the best blocking wr in football history..
now its hard for media guys to quantify blocking stats.. so this isn't as enticing of an add on to tradional positional stats as say RB receiving yards or WR k/p return yards for them, but it is no less important.
The second key point was his postseason play... Ward is still 8th among wrs in postseason receiving yards, he has 10 postseason td's.. He won 2 super bowls, played in a third, and made it to two other AFC CGs besides those three... he won a SB MVP...
Hines ward was one of the best all around football players ever. The games he played in for the steelers they won 63% of the time. Much of that was because of his run blocking late in games and clutch plays when they need tgem in the passing game...
He checks all the boxes
His era specific stats are hall worthy
His postseason success is substantial
He has a Narrative that affected the history of the game
He has a legendary quality, namely his blocking.
First off I loved Hines. True Steeler but as great as those blocking hits were most of the highlight blocks didn't affect the game one iota
Hines played in the modern era of football. Let's not make it seem he was playing during the Steel Curtain. Is he in this era of flag football? No, but the offenses of the NFL already opened up before Hines.
SBs and SB MVPs are part of the consideration but it's way down the list when considering who should get in or not. (SB winning QBs get more consideration aka Eli). And let's not get carried away with Hines taking over the SB the year he won MVP. He had that big play from Randle El where he was wide open and just had to catch the ball which padded his stats. Amazing but come on. Hines wasn't running all over the field ripping up the corners
It comes down to how dominant you were during your era at what you did.
Based upon all of the things you listed and looking at the totality of his career, and what the Hall puts down as eligibility I'd say he's worthy to get in as a senior member. He is NOT getting in before senior voting. That's Clear as day since he can't even make it as a finalist. The question becomes when the senior committe votes and then he's grouped in with a bunch of other receivers that have stats just as good or better.
Who overlaps his time in the NFL at his position? ....that would be Moss, Owens, Harrison, Wayne, and Holt..Holt Is the only one not to be in the HOF. These guys careers overlap with Hines the most time wise
Let's throw Moss and Ownes out and compare him to Wayne, Harrison, and Holt.
Wayne and Harrison had Manning but you also had to feed Harrison, Wayne, and James and those 2 wideouts still posted superior numbers to Hines.
Then you have Holt who hasnt gotten in.....look at his peak period
1635
1363
1302
1696
1372
1331
Hines can't sniff that. Yes another high-powered offense but Holt put up those numbers with Issac Bruce and Marshall Faulk getting fed continously too.
I'm not saying Hines wasn't great but stats wise he was CONSIDERED during his time as the 6th best receiver at best.
You had Rice, Bruce, Tim Brown, and Chris Carter, and Andre Reed that overlapped the beginning of his career. You also had Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson intersect with the latter part of Hines career.
Look at the receivers that played at any time during Hines time that are in the HOF
Calvin Johnson
Terrell Owners
Chris Carter
Tim Brown
Andre Johnson
Reggie Wayne
Marvin Harrison
Issac Bruce
Jerry Rice
Randy Moss
There is one guy who is in that Hines stacks up better against and that's Andre Reed.......I would put Hines in before Reed and so from.that perspective, I'd put Hines in but I wouldn't have put Reed in at all in the first place.
aside from.Reed you have to.compare him.to Holt, Wayne, Brown, Carter, Bruce, and Andre Johnson
Is Hines more deserving than those guys? Was he a better receiver than those guys? He was better than Reed who is in but other than him do you thinknHines was a better receiver than those guys?
