Yes, just like John HadL , John Brodie & Jim Hart ? When these 3 guys put up OVER 30, 000 + yards & 200 + TDS passing , that WAS some thing , way back , then ! HadL won a 1963 AFL title , Brodie was a NFL MVP & Jim Hart still holds ALL ST. LOUIS Cardinals all - time records to this day ! Got those bad teams into the Play Offs in 1975 - 76 , too .
@@robertd.7060 Yes to all four. Hadl and Brodie I know through reputation, but I watched Hart and Anderson, and can attest first-hand that they were EXCELLENT QB's. Anderson and Hart both played on teams that had serious deficiencies and shortcomings, and they WILLED those teams into relevance.
Fouts is right. Ken Anderson belongs in the Hall of Fame. As a Steelers fan I always respected Anderson because he was so elusive, accurate & efficient on top of being tough.
Yes he is certainly worthy to be in the HOF!!! I grew up watching him. They are QB in the HOF whose stats can't begin to touch his. There are some currently in the HOF who have never won a passing championship. Ken Anderson has done that 3 times. The first 2 in back to back years
Overused word, but most underrated QB ever. Wasn't a Bengals fan but saw a great thrower who was in the shadows of Griese, Stabler, Bradshaw, Fouts and then Montana. Playing in the 70s, he took a beating, and it is only fitting that his career ended with a brutal face mask.
@@beauboone5332I grew up in Wisconsin, the Midwest. So teams like my Packers, ugh da Bears, Lions, Vikings, were always shown, but the AFC's Browns and Bengals were occasionally on NBC was it? Anyway Kenny Anderson was one of my favorites. I loved football growing up. Although I didn't understand it until I was a bit older, but I loved it nonetheless. Dan Fouts was one of my all-time favorite QB's. Bob Griese, Mercury Morris, and Larry Czonka were my other top guys. Brian Sipe from the Browns was good on occasion as well but Kenny Anderson was always there. He worked HARD! He didn't have the luxuries of some other QB's, yet he made it work! The 70's had some iconic players and some incredible games. I honestly think it is one of the best eras in NFL History even though my Packers were awful 😖. LOL. This was a really special video. Thank you and God Bless you as well.
Not mentioned: anderson also had a great 1974 season. Leading the league in passing yards, completion percentage, completions, passer rating, and yards per attempt. Those stats at the time weren't just great, but amazing. He had a game where he completed 20 of 22 passes, against the eventual super bowl champion steelers
As a N.E Ohio resident and Browns fan from the mid 70's on...I definitely knew Ken Anderson...believe me we had great respect for him...if the Bengals of the 70's to 80-81 beat you it was because of Kenny...
Ken Anderson was the most technically perfect player, I’ve ever seen. Wherever Bill Walsh went he took film of Anderson to show to his next quarterback. Hall of Famers Dan Fouts, and Joe Montana, were both taught by watching him. He carried the Bengals, for years. He led the NFL in passing 4 times, was the NFL MVP in 1981, NFL Man of the Year in 1975. 3x’s Ken led NFL in completion percentage (1974, 1982, 1983), he was also the passing yards leader 2x’s (1974, 1975), as well as yards/completion 2x’s, a wonderful athlete, he rushed for 2,220 yards while averaging 5.6 yards/carry. It’s been said he didn’t win a Super Bowl, but there are quarterbacks in the Hall who haven't. Anderson was poetry in motion, and a joy to watch, there is no way he doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. Bill Walsh, the genius who masterminded the West Coast Offense, thought he was perfect, I agree.
Anderson has some amazing timing as he came up right after Greg Cook, who Bill Walsh said was the greatest quarterback you've ever seen, was injured his rookie year in 69'
He was the franchise QB for the Bengals, an athlete who should have been the first Bengal to receive consideration for enshrinement. He always enjoyed his contests vs. Bradshaw and the Steelers, faltering when a Steeler head-hunter exploited a missed blocking assignment to run straight at him, grabbing Anderson's face-bar while twisting Ken's head and throwing him to the ground. But Ken came back until yielding to Boomer (whose passing and scoring stats in their 2 Super Bowls don't even begin to compare with Anderson's). And it was Anderson who beat Fouts in the -55 degrees "Freezer Bowl" to bring the Bengals to their first Super (something not achieved by HOF QB Fouts). Anderson's leadership, passing (and running) skills, his poise and big heart clearly qualify him for the HOF--ahead of publicized QBs who were his contemporaries (Namath, etc.) but who fell short of Ken''s stats. Had Bill Walsh stayed in Cincinnati, after losing the coaching job to an equally qualified Bengal assistant coach, would his "project" Ken Anderson have had additional games like his record passing victory (450 yds) over HOF'er OJ Simpson and the Bills? (On Monday Night Football, '75). Probably yes. Would he be in the HOF? Probably years, if not decades, ago. Would the Bengals, Cincinnati, and Ken have been the better for it? (After reading Walsh's autobiography, I'm not so sure.)
The guy is a classic borderline HOF case. He did a lot and definitely helped move the passing game forward, but his peak and period of dominance was pretty short. Also, the longer he goes without getting called, the more his stats look weak compared to modern-day passers. He should eventually get in as a senior nominee, but he'll need a big recruitment effort like Ken Riley unfortunately got posthumously.
People seem to forget how close Anderson came to beating Montana in that super bowl, and then he defeated the 49ers and the regular season. If they taken that super bowl the legacies will be much different, but that's football
As a Steelers Fan I remember Anderson being on the Steelers' coaching staff and I also watched highlights of the NFL in the 1970s and early 1980s and saw how good Anderson Was as a QB. Never knew that he was a D3 college athlete though. Yeah Anderson deserves to be in the HOF because him and Boomer Esiason were the only really good Bengal QBs of the time because in the 1990s the Bengals were terrible. It wasn't until 2003 where the Bengals had a turnaround season where they went from 2-14 in 2002 to 8-8 in 2003 in 2004 they Drafted Carson Palmer who was a million times better QB than any QBs the Bengals had in the 1990s.
What he never told anyone, was that his son almost died the night before that Seattle game in 1981. He had no sleep and was concerned for his son. Nobody could preform under that cloud. I've met him several times. and there is no greater human as an athlete. And yes he belongs just as Ken Riley did.
Imagine the numbers that Anderson would've put up, if Paul Brown had promoted Bill Walsh to coach after his retirement. In the SuperBowl, the Bengals made just enough mistakes to lose the game. If they win, Anderson is a lock for the Hall of Fame. Regardless, I believe that Anderson is Hall worthy.
Kenny should BE in the HOF ! And the guy who took OVER for him , at the end of his career should be , too ! Boomer is the NFL ALL - TIME LDR for yards & TDS for a [ LH ] QB , Not Steve Young , like many think .
KEN had the misfortune of having to go up against a very good AFC teams like Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Oilers, and other pre free agency teams that routinely. ALSO, DAN Fouts should be in this classified group as well.
Yes he did, and as I stated in the video, had played with many disappointing teams. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Thanks for commenting and thank you for watching.
Anderson owned the steelers. Let that sink in. Ken anderson read the steel curtain defense and dominated them at riverfront stadium. He set the single game completion percentage, against the eventual super bowl champion steelers
Bengals have some great qbs in their history, which is weird, considering their history. Anderson and esiason are hall of famers in my opinion, and joe burrow could join them soon
Ken Anderson belongs in the Hall of Fame, and it isn't even close. Myopic HOF voters ridiculously weight TEAM metrics (playoff games & Super Bowls won) to bestow INDIVIDUAL honors, which is patently insane. Along with Roger Staubach, Ken Anderson was the best QB of his generation. Any statistical analysis you do will very plainly show this. And Anderson did it with far less support than each of his HOF peers had.
I agree with you, there is no reason Ken shouldn’t be a hall of famer. I can tell you have strong feelings on this subject, and I respect that. Thanks for the comment and thank you for watching.
Hey Beau, Ken Anderson doesn't deserve a "Hall call". Although he was damn good for a few years he didn't have the longevity or superstar talent. Looking forward to more videos.
Thank you for your opinion, Rorey. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. He definitely was a “what if.” He had tremendous talent, but for a majority of his career, a terrible team. God Bless.
16 years in the NFL and you think he didn't have longevity? You say he didn't have superstar talent. Bill Walsh disagreed. I'll go with Bill Walsh's opinion. Anderson was far and away better than Namath, Griese & Bradshaw, all HOF'ers. He was every bit as good, if not better than Stabler. He was the equal of Tarkenton and Fouts. I'd say the only HOF QB of Anderson's era that was better was Staubach, but even there, there are facets of his game where Anderson was better even than Staubach. All of this is backed up statistically, not by "feelings".
His numbers were unfathomable for his time. He was completing over 62% of his passes, while most qbs in his era didn't even reach 60%. He led the league in passer rating 4 times, passing yards twice, lowest interception percentage 3 times, completion percentage 3 times, including 70.6% in 1982, wouldn't be broken until drew brees did it in 2009, completions twice, and he led the bengals to the playoffs 4 times, and took them to their first ever super bowl. He also won an nfl mvp, made 4 pro bowls, made 2nd team all pro in 1975, and was the offensive player of the year in 1981. Those are his accomplishments. Think about that
@@Fireyninjadog I don’t have to think about it. I watched most of his career. He was a very good player but he wasn’t legendary. Elway , Marino, Montana, Unitas, Staubach those are legendary players. You can throw Bradshaw and Namath in there also. Most people under 40 never even heard of Anderson but know the names of those other guys mentioned. Thus no he’s not legendary or even memorable.
@ronsmac ok, bradshaw, i guess, is better than anderson. He won 4 super bowls and was a true gunslinger for his time, but namath? Namath was an absolute trainwreck for most of his career. He was a great deep ball passer, but he was extremely turnover prone. 4 times he led the league in interceptions. He was also a horrendous leader. He was lazy, and spent more time having fun with women and partying than playing football. Anderson was an extremely accurate passer in an era where you had men like namath throwing the ball to defenders, a lot. Ken also had way less than talent than bradshaw, never had a running back even close to franco harris. He also didn't have the same talent as namath, or as i like to call him, fraudway joe
@@Fireyninjadog I think Anderson was betting than Bradshaw but Bradshaw is still a legend while Anderson is barely remembered. Bert Jones was the best qb when healthy in the 70s in my opinion but he’s not a legend.
@ronsmac yeah, bert was a truly great qb. Bill Belichick described him as a qb with the strongest arm. From 1975-1977, I think Jones was the best qb in football. Only Roger staubach comes close to his level, and jones was better, but still, anderson was better than jones, in my eyes. He didn't have bert's Rocket arm, but he had more touch on the ball, accuracy if you were. Anderson may be the best qb in terms of accuracy in the 70s and 80s, in an era when most qbs weren't accurate at all
The NFL Hall of Fame is so terribly reactionary putting in players like Lynn Swann bc of post season sucess while those are far greater numbers like Stanley Morgan and Isaac Curtis get no consideration. Play off on super bowl succession of course merit something federation but not nearly as much as the HOF gives. Football is after all a team sport
No, without super bowls absolutely not the Super Bowl is the only reason Joe Willie Namath is in the hall.there is no hall of very good. One needs to knock with some hardware.
