The Falcoholic
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its list of Senior candidates for Canton, and there are once again several Atlanta Falcons on the list. We’d like to see all of them make it, but hell, we’d settle for one. Here’s a look at who is eligible to don a gold jacket in 2025.
We’ve been writing about Kenn’s case for depressingly close to a decade, and despite that fact that he’s a slam dunk, no-brainer Hall of Famer, I’m not hopeful his fortunes will change in 2025.
Why? He was an offensive lineman for a franchise that flew under the radar, two knocks against his case despite his obvious greatness, and ones that contributed to his relatively low Pro Bowl total. Only 57 players—not linemen, players—have appeared in more games than Kenn did during his three decade-spanning career, and only five of those players are offensive linemen. He was a five-time Pro Bowler, a two-time first-team All-Pro, and a three-time second-team All-pro who started every one of the 251 games he appeared in for the Falcons, and was known for his ability to handle some of the legendary defensive ends of the 70s and 80s.
Kenn made his second first-team All-pro squad 11 years after his first, in a 1991 season where he allowed just one sack in a pass-heavy offense after making his bones as an elite run blocking left tackle throughout the early part of his career. The league kept changing around Kenn, and Kenn kept being a great offensive lineman right up until the day he retired. He has a legitimate case as the best Falcon ever with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Tommy Nobis, and Jeff Van Note, certainly belongs in the conversation as one of the best 15-20 tackles in NFL history, and has durability and excellence very few players in the league can touch.
His peers knew it, and unfortunately the passage of time is making it harder to make his case. In the article linked above—a very worthwhile read, by the way—John Turney quotes NFL great Art Shell, who seemed confident Kenn would be an easy inductee.
“He’s a future ‘Hall’ guy, sure,” Shell told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution*. “If the folks who do the voting have any sense about them, he’ll walk right in when it’s his time.”*
Mike Kenn should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One day soon, I hope he will be.
Another player who was overshadowed by the long ineptitude of the franchise he played for, Nobis was widely considered one of the greatest defenders of his era. Mr. Falcon played in an era where many statistics were not counted the way they are today, and that plus the swirling mists of time have obscured his impact.
But Nobis hasn’t gotten real consideration, despite being considered as good as Hall of Famers Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke in his prime by peers. He was a five-time Pro Bowler, two time All-Pro...
