Terrell Suggs has racked up accolades since his college career. The legendary Ravens pass rusher and former All-American went on to win two Super Bowls, seven Pro Bowls, and other important honors during his pro career alone. And yet, Suggs was left out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame twice since his retirement.
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“I don’t know, man,” Terrell Suggs said on the B’more Football Podcast. “I don’t know, you know, about a resume, you know, you know, you would think that’d be good enough to get in since there’s a lot of guys that don’t have that kind of resume that’s already in, but you just gotta wait, man. You gotta wait on God. I guess if it happens, when it happens, that’s when God wants it to happen. So I just, I just gotta be patient.”
The time factor is something that Hall of Fame voters often differ on. Some believe a certain entity can manage to wait it out one more year, because another might miss this shot. (That was one of the reasons why one voter passed on Bill Belichick this year.) Suggs nearly made the Hall of Fame in the last two classes.
He became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2024 after a 17-year career and has a resume that is beyond worthy of putting him there. Suggs recorded 139 sacks in his career, which ranked eighth in NFL history at the time. That kind of longevity among edge rushers is rare. Suggs also hauled in more than 10 sacks in seven seasons, one of them being his rookie year.
It is only a matter of time. However, somehow, Dallas Cowboys icon DeMarcus Ware got into the Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility, with numbers that rival those of Suggs.
During his 2011 Defensive Player of the Year season, Suggs showed why he was one of the NFL’s best defenders. On Thanksgiving, he recorded three sacks against quarterback Alex Smith as the Ravens faced the 49ers. The star DE tallied 14 sacks that year, scripting his career high.
Suggs was inducted into the Ravens’ Ring of Honor in 2023. But he is widely regarded as one of the best pass-rushers in league history. Even Tom Brady found it tough to escape Suggs during his playing career.
“It’s not just sacking the quarterback like most defensive ends,” he said. “He makes plays in a lot of ways. … You can’t ever count on the same thing from him. You have to play him straight up and see what he’s going to do.”
The Ravens already have three first-ballot Hall of Famers in Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed. Former head coach Jim Harbaugh believed Suggs and Yanda should be next as he rooted for them in 2024.
“My thoughts are both of those guys should be first-ballot Hall of Famers,” Jim Harbaugh said back in 2024. “There’s no question in my mind that they both deserve that honor. I’ll be rooting for them.”
According to panthers.com’s Darin Gantt, since Suggs, Marshall Yanda, and Willie Anderson were part of the final seven modern-era members, all three will be automatic finalists for the Class of 2027. Reportedly, they secured more votes than Eli Manning, Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne, Frank Gore, Charles Woodson, Jason Witten, and others, who were eliminated in the previous rounds.
However, next year, there will be a big change.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has nearly halved its voting members from 50 to 28, with only 25 being able to vote each year, and the remaining three only getting to be involved in discussions. There will also be just one pool of players; the seniors category will cease to exist. And the final selections will have to be made from a group of 15 eligible candidates, of which one will be a coach, and the other will be a contributor.
Can Terrell Suggs make the Canton enshrinement next year? We will have to wait and watch.