Fixing the Hall of Fame, Part 1: Running Backs

[Rain Man]

I would like to propose James Brooks, the great running back for the Bengals and Chargers. This guy was an awesome running back, as witnessed by his four pro bowls and his 4.7 ypc rushing average. He was also a receiving threat, with nearly 400 career receptions.

As quoted by wikipedia,

"A four time pro bowler (1986, 1988-1990), Brooks excelled at running, receiving, and kick returning. By the time he left the Bengals in 1991, he was the team's all time leading rusher with 6,447 yards(he has since been surpassed by Corey Dillon's 8,061 yards), and is still among the Bengals top 10 all time leading receivers with 297 receptions for 3,012 yards. By the time of his retirement after the 1993 season, Brooks amassed 7,962 rushing yards, 383 receptions for 3,621 receiving yards, 565 punt return yards, 2,762 kickoff return yards, and scored 79 touchdowns(49 rushing and 30 receiving). As of 2006, Brooks' 14,910 total net yards ranks him #21 on the NFL's list of career total net yard leaders.

His most memorable run happened in a December 7, 1986 game against the New England Patriots. In that play, Brooks made several cutbacks, broke several tackles and dragged the final 5 yards across the goal line for a 56-yard touchdown run for the Bengals.

Brooks made a Super Bowl appearance with the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. He also was a key participant in 2 of the most famous games in NFL Lore during his rookie season with the Chargers: The Epic In Miami, and the Freezer Bowl."

               +--------------------------+-------------------------+
                 |          Rushing         |        Receiving        |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| Year  TM |   G |   Att  Yards    Y/A   TD |   Rec  Yards   Y/R   TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| 1981 sdg |  14 |   109    525    4.8    3 |    46    329   7.2    3 |
| 1982 sdg |   9 |    87    430    4.9    6 |    13     66   5.1    0 |
| 1983 sdg |  15 |   127    516    4.1    3 |    25    215   8.6    0 |
| 1984 cin |  15 |   103    396    3.8    2 |    34    268   7.9    2 |
| 1985 cin |  16 |   192    929    4.8    7 |    55    576  10.5    5 |
| 1986 cin |  16 |   205   1087    5.3    5 |    54    686  12.7    4 |
| 1987 cin |   9 |    94    290    3.1    1 |    22    272  12.4    2 |
| 1988 cin |  15 |   182    931    5.1    8 |    29    287   9.9    6 |
| 1989 cin |  16 |   221   1239    5.6    7 |    37    306   8.3    2 |
| 1990 cin |  16 |   195   1004    5.1    5 |    26    269  10.3    4 |
| 1991 cin |  15 |   152    571    3.8    2 |    40    348   8.7    2 |
| 1992 cle |   4 |    13     38    2.9    0 |     2     -1  -0.5    0 |
| 1992 tam |   2 |     5      6    1.2    0 |     0      0   0.0    0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|  TOTAL   | 162 |  1685   7962    4.7   49 |   383   3621   9.5   30 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+


Seasons among the league's top 10
Rushing yards: 1986-8, 1989-7, 1990-8 
Rushing TDs: 1982-8t, 1989-10t 
Yards from scrimmage: 1986-3, 1989-5, 1990-10 
Rush/Receive TDs: 1985-7t, 1988-4t 


Among the league's all-time top 50
Rushes: 48 
Rushing yards: 39 
Yards from scrimmage: 44 
Rush/Receive TDs: 46t 


Postseason data
Please read this fine print before using this data or sending questions or corrections. 

 Year  Opp   Result  |  RSH    YD  TD  |  REC    YD  TD
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------
 1981  mia  W,41-38  |    3    19   0  |    4    31   2
 1981  cin  L,7-27   |    6    23   0  |    2     5   0
 1982  pit  W,31-28  |    3    20   1  |    1     4   0
 1982  mia  L,13-34  |    3     9   0  |    2    25   0
 1988  sea  W,21-13  |   13    72   0  |    1     9   0
 1988  buf  W,21-10  |    7     6   0  |    2    21   1
*1988  sfo  L,16-20  |    6    24   0  |    1    20   0
 1990  hou  W,41-14  |    6    17   0  |    0     0   0
 1990  rai  L,10-20  |   11    26   0  |    1    22   0
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------
TOTAL                |   58   216   1  |   14   137   3


* - Super Bowl