One of the all-time greats
Harrison Smith has been one of the best safeties in the National Football League for a very long time, and on Sunday afternoon against the New York Jets the Minnesota Vikings legend reached a level that very few in NFL history have reached.
With his sack of Aaron Rodgers in Sunday’s game, Smith became one of just seven players in the history of the league to record at least 30 career interceptions and at least 20 career quarterback sacks.
To say that this puts him in some pretty elite company is an understatement. Here are the other players in NFL history that have accomplished that:
- Ronde Barber
- Leroy Butler
- Brian Dawkins
- Rodney Harrison
- Larry Wilson
- Charles Woodson
Of those other six players, only Harrison is not enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Now, I’m not saying that this will definitely get Harrison Smith into Canton at some point in the future. But when it comes to listing some of the best defensive backs of the past couple of decades or so, perhaps his name should be a whole lot higher on the list than it currently is. He’s proven over the years that he can do it all and reaching this sort of plateau is simply further proof of that.
Congratulations to Harrison Smith on making himself part of a pretty elite group on Sunday in London.