Elite.
It really grinds Joe’s gears the way Lavonte David is shat on each and every year. Joe doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about the Pro Bowl but the guys and gals who vote on the Pro Football Hall of Fame value that dumbass game and use it to push for or run off Hall of Fame candidates.
It’s an outage this is a criterion, but it is. And it’s a reason Joe gets steamed every year that David doesn’t get named to that waste of time and energy.
Joe has maintained for years there is no more disrespected player in the league than David. Hell, he’s fifth in NFL history (since the NFL began keeping track of solo tackles in 1994) in most career solo tackles.
And the guy can’t sniff the friggin’ Pro Bowl and never gets any run when Hall of Fame players come up. Criminal!
Now yesterday at One Buc Palace, David was not asked about the Hall of Fame. He was asked how playing linebacker in the NFL has changed since he was first drafted in 2013.
David’s response was a helluva pitch for him being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday when asked about how his position has evolved.
> “That’s something that I just started thinking about,” David said. “Somebody in my position playing inside linebacker who basically has to be the leader of the defense – the quarterback of the defense.
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> “In my 14 years of playing, I’ve probably played with five defensive coordinators. **_\[Joe’s note: Actually six. — Joe\]_** Each defense, I adapted to it and I made it what’s good for me – I prevailed in each one. So, just adapting, taking what I learned from those defenses, and putting it into my game right now.
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> “The game doesn’t change, people do the same thing but in different ways. Once you learn that and try to adjust to that, the game just slows down to you. It’s just fun to see all of that just come together – all of the things that you learn from your rookie year all the way until now and putting it into fruition and watch yourself and see your product on the field, how you’re moving through stuff like that and how you adapt to the game the way it’s played now. It’s a great feeling for you, personally.”
And there you have it. Doesn’t matter if David played for Bill Sheridan or Leslie Frazier or lousy Lovie Smith or Mike Smith or Mark Duffner or Todd Bowles, he has adjusted, sometimes changed positions, given various responsibilities, and played elite football game in and game out for 13 years and running. All the while being a total class act.
If that’s not a Hall of Fame player, then Joe doesn’t know what one looks like.