His knees eventually gave out, and he was not the same over his last three seasons, but he was stellar when healthy.Ĭharles ran for 7,563 yards and 44 touchdowns, but his 2,593 receiving yards put him at 10,156 yards from scrimmage, compared with Davis’ 8,887.ĭavis’ 2,000-yard season and his Super Bowl heroics - and a lot of this comes down to career moments - put him over with voters. The Denver Broncos great was a workhorse who ran for 7,607 yards and 60 touchdowns, but 6,413 yards and 58 scores came in his first four seasons, including 2,008 yards in 1998, when he led the Broncos to a second Super Bowl title and was the league MVP. More: Texas softball team aims to stay hot in Florida tournament loaded with ranked squads More: Big 12 women's basketball power rankings: Oklahoma closing in on another conference titleĬharles, who spent the first two seasons of his career in a platoon situation with Larry Johnson, outdistances Sayers in the rushing department, but Sayers was a generational talent at the time whose immense popularity played well with Hall voters. His prowess in the return game - he had eight kickoff or punt returns for touchdowns and had a dazzling rookie campaign of 2,272 all-purpose yards - added to his legend, though the Kansas Comet never played for a winner. Sayers is arguably the most electric player in league history, but the Chicago Bears legend registered only 4,956 yards rushing in a career that was cut short by injury. With that said, two Hall of Fame names come to mind when examining the case for Charles. The two behind him are active Cleveland Browns star Nick Chubb (5.3) and the late, great Brown (5.2). Charles was a touchdown waiting to happen, but his numbers - 7,563 rushing yards and 64 touchdowns, which came over his first seven seasons before knee injuries slowed him down - are probably not enough to get him that gold jacket.

No running back in league history with a minimum of 1,000 carries averaged more than Charles’ 5.4 yards per carry. Golden: Jamaal Charles has found peace through learning how to give backįirst, the stat. The case for Charles should come down to one statistic and two names. But it'll be an outside case, given the numbers he’s up against. Class of 2024 inductees Andre Johnson, Randy Gradishar, Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Patrick Willis and former Longhorns great Steve “Mongo” McMichael are deserving candidates, and future classes will be just as stacked, but Charles should have a case eventually. He was one of the best to ever do it, but the small sample size is hurting his cause.Ĭharles was named one of 173 semifinalists for Canton last year but didn’t make the finalist list in December. He is the Chiefs' all-time leading rusher.

Former Texas and Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles, speaking at the Austin-area High School Sports Awards at the Long Center last June, was one of 173 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame but did not make the final cut.

Jamaal charles stats