Dent elected into Pro Football Hall of Fame
For former Bears defensive end Richard Dent, the MVP of Super Bowl XX, the seventh time was the charm.
That's how many times Dent was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which he was finally elected to Saturday. This summer he will become the Bears' 27th player enshrined in Canton, Ohio, the most of any team.
Dent played 15 seasons, including 12 with the Bears and one each with the 49ers, Colts and Eagles, and he finished with 137½ sacks, the third most in NFL history when he retired. He currently is tied for sixth all time with former Viking John Randle, trailing only Bruce Smith (200), Reggie White (198), Kevin Greene (160), Chris Doleman (150½) and Michael Strahan (141½).
“Richard always wanted to be known as a great pass rusher,” said former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, who played middle linebacker for 10 years behind Dent. “He wanted to be a guy who could get to the quarterback.”
Joining Dent in this year's class will be Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk Shannon Sharpe, Ed Sabol, Les Richter and Chris Hanburger.
Dent, a skinny, 6-foot-5, eighth-round pick out of Tennessee State in 1983, set the franchise record the next season with 17½ sacks.
He had a league-best 17 the next year and capped off the season with 1½ more sacks and 2 forced fumbles in the Bears' 46-10 Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in New Orleans. By then Dent had bulked up to his usual playing weight of 265, giving him the ability to speed rush opponents with a quick first step or power past them with size and strength.
That allowed him to compile eight double-digit sack seasons in the next 10 years. He never had fewer than 8½ sacks in that 10-year stretch. Two times, once in 1984 and again in '87, Dent had 4½ sacks in one game.
Despite all that, the four-time Pro Bowl pick waited longer than a lot of teammates and opponents thought he should have.
“It feels great,” said Dent, the Bears' all-time sack leader with 124½. “I was just on the golf course, and when I came off, my daughter Mary called and told me, and I went into tears. It's very appreciated, and I'm very happy. It's been a long time coming.”
In Canton, Dent will join three teammates from the Bears' only Super Bowl champion team, running back Walter Payton, defensive lineman Dan Hampton and Singletary.
“When you start a career, you never think about the Hall of Fame,” Dent said. “But then you watch a guy like Walter Payton, he would say, ‘Don't do what I say, do what I do.' If you can do your thing the way he does his, the possibility is you will get in the Hall of Fame.”
Dent was one of the first dominant edge rushers who came to prominence in the 1980s. He earned the nickname “Colonel,” a takeoff on the Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials featuring Colonel Sanders that said, “We do one thing right.”
Dent did rushing the quarterback right.
As for the others ...
Ÿ As talkative as he was talented, known as much for his celebration dances as his interceptions and kick returns, Sanders was an outstanding cornerback and sometime wide receiver with five teams. He's a two-time Super Bowl winner and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1994.
Sanders reacted to his election with typical Neon Deion bravado. He said he's grateful, but then made sure to explain, “what you feel about me has nothing to do with how I feel about me.”
Then he broke into the open field.
“Next to the Bible, my favorite book was ‘The Little Engine That Could.' I read that story so many times, I know it by heart,” he said. “And a couple trains passed that engine until he started saying to himself: ‘I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.' And that's what I modeled my career after. I mean, it sounds arrogant, it sounds brash, it sounds cocky. But it was real.”
Ÿ Faulk won a Super Bowl with the 1999 Rams, was the 1994 Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2000 NFL MVP and a three-time Offensive Player of the Year (1999-2001). Faulk is the 10th leading career rusher with 12,279 yards, and for a half-dozen seasons was the most versatile back in football, as much a threat as a receiver as a runner.
Ÿ Sharpe starred for Denver and Baltimore for 14 seasons and won three Super Bowls in a four-year span, two with Denver, one with Baltimore. He held league records for a tight end in receptions, yards and touchdowns when he retired in 2001.
“If I had a thousand tongues, I couldn't say how happy and proud I am,” Sharpe said. “I don't know what I did to deserve this.
Ÿ Richter played linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams from 1954-62. They traded 11 players for him and waited two years while he was in the military before he suited up. He made the wait worthwhile, going to eight straight Pro Bowls. He also was a center and kicker.
Richter died last June.
Ÿ Hanburger spent all 14 pro seasons with the Redskins and played in nine Pro Bowls.
Ÿ Sabol founded NFL Films and was selected as a contributor. Under his guidance, NFL Films received 52 Emmy Awards.
Induction ceremonies are Aug. 6 in Canton, Ohio.
Associated Press contributed
Ÿ Follow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials at DailyHerald.com