Simeon Rice really wants to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Simeon Rice sure has had an interesting few days. The defensive end was always a bit eccentric when he was still playing, and that hasn’t changed in his retirement — which is now nearly a decade long. Recently, Rice has been complaining that the Pro Football Hall of Fame hasn’t given him any kind of attention.

There’s something to that: Rice was arguably the most dominant pass-rusher in the league at the peak of his career, and his 122 total sacks are really impressive. He was also a key part of the Bucs’ dominant 2002 defense, and perhaps the one component that got them over the top and into the Super Bowl.

Then again, Rice is overstating his case juuuuust a little. He’s repeatedly claimed he was the fastest to 100 sacks (he wasn’t, as Tampa Bay Times writer Greg Auman keeps pointing out), and while he was certainly an outstanding player — the sacks alone won’t get him into the Hall.

Here’s a great case for his Hall of Fame candidacy, though: he’s only one of two Hall of Fame eligible player with more than 122 sacks who isn’t in the Hall. The other player is Leslie O’Neal, who had a pretty similar overall career to Rice — except without the Super Bowl ring.