Dave Hyde: Time to finally give this Dolphins great his Hall of Fame due

Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Feb 14, 2025

Published in Football

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In 13 NFL seasons, Player X started 183 games at left tackle, made seven Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams (two at first team), and was named to the All-Decade second team for the 1990s.

In 13 NFL seasons, Player Y started 184 games at left tackle and made four Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams (three at first team).

Two great careers, even if one is a leg-up better.

So, why was Player X, Miami Dolphins great Richmond Webb, missing from the Hall of Fame’s list of 15 finalists this year while Player Y, Cincinnati great Willie Anderson, made that cut?

Why when you look at portfolios of the four players elected to the Hall last week — three of whom didn’t have Webb’s seven Pro Bowls — wasn’t the Dolphins great in that conversation at the very least?

Webb must need a studio microphone, or a famous brother, or a contending franchise to provide some coattail-riding to get his career properly appreciated. Maybe he needs a booster. Count me in there.

The case of Webb and the Hall looks like Exhibit A for how louder names with lesser numbers got their career due again this time around, while he is left holding the phone at home in Houston saying: “I’m hopeful. I was happy to be a semifinalist for the first time this year.”

A semifinalist put him in the top 25 this year. That’s nice. But look at the impact of his position through his career back in the 1990s The left tackle. The blind side. The player most important in protecting the Dolphins franchise — Dan Marino.

So many Marino records have fallen in recent years. One that won’t be broken is his 19 straight games without a sack. Some of that was his quick release. Some of it was Webb protecting his blind side.

“You won’t see that happen again,” former Dolphins assistant Mike Westhoff said.

All this doesn’t make Webb a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. Most players aren’t at first glance, especially on the offensive line. His personality was of a “quiet giant,” as running back Mark Higgs said. His teams didn’t win big. His game wasn’t electric like, say, Marino, whose Hall of Fame bust was waiting when he retired.

Marino was the only Dolphins Hall of Famer to have such immediate impact he was voted to the Pro Bowl as a rookie.

Webb would be the second to do that.

Marino was voted to the Pro Bowl the first five years of his career.

Webb was a Pro Bowl player his first five years, too. And more. He was voted to the Pro Bowl his first seven seasons, as well as being a two-time first-team All-Pro and two-time second-team All-Pro. That was back when being voted to the Pro Bowl mattered, too, before this modern indifference where players began declining bids and fifth alternates were invited.

You’d think something as fundamental as a Pro Bowl count would be a baseline for measuring the impact of Webb’s career and comparative Hall candidacy. Look at this year’s elected class in that regard.

Tight end Antonio Gates had eight Pro Bowls (plus three first- and two second-team All Pro selections) in 16 years. That’s a Hall of Fame career.

Cornerback Eric Allen had six Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro in 14 years. Defensive end Jared Allen had five Pro Bowls (and four first-team All Pro seasons) in 13 years. Tight end Sterling Sharpe had five Pro Bowl seasons (and three first-time All Pro selections) in seven years.

So, Webb played a cornerstone position, had more Pro Bowls than three of those inductees — had as many Pro Bowls as Sharpe played seasons. And he doesn’t get in the conversation? Sharpe was cut short by injury, just as another recent inductee — Jacksonville’s left tackle Tony Boselli.

Boselli played seven seasons with five Pro Bowls. That’s not to diminish his career. It’s just to wonder how everything is weighed in the voting. Boselli was the other second-team selection at tackle by Hall of Fame voters for the NFL’s team of the 1990s, too.

Have those voters forgotten Webb? Or misplaced his portfolio?

One theory is Webb wasn’t a run blocker. That’s not studying the situation. He was a run-blocking beast entering the NFL from Texas A&M. Higgs remembers Webb’s rookie season there was a play where Webb would pull and run interference through a hole.

“You couldn’t believe a guy that big could move like that,” Higgs said.

That play wasn’t dropped as the Dolphins rode Marino’s arm more and more. Webb became an elite pass blocker, even as his impact could be seen in rushing games. Higgs had two 900-yard rushing seasons. Karim Abdul-Jabbar ran for 1,000 yards in 1996, as did Cincinnati’s Corey Dillon when Webb went there for his final three years.

Webb isn’t one to tout his career. He’s being inducted into the Texas Hall of Fame this weekend and admits the five-to-seven minutes allowed for his speech, “will be plenty of time. I told the other (inductees) they could have one of my minutes.”

He shouldn’t have to campaign for his Hall chances, though. Look at his career. Compare it to those inducted. Call him Player X if need be. It’s time to run interference for him in the manner he did for the Dolphins all those years.