Dallas Cowboys: Charles Haley Is Ready For Canton

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The day has finally come and former defensive end Charles Haley, who’s ready for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Haley will enter with other greats such as Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Junior Seau, Will Shields and Mick Tingelhoff. Contributors Bill Polian and Ron Wolf also join the 2015 class.

Having retired from the NFL for the last time in 1999 following a second, albeit brief, stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Haley should not have waited as long as he did. That wait ends on Saturday evening at 6pm CDT.

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Those last two seasons back in the Bay Area of northern California were rather meaningless where Haley’s resume is concerned – although they did end up putting just over the 100 sack marker during a rather late 13th season.

On the contrary, it’s the work done well before that which earns Haley a golden sport coat and a bust in football’s most elite and exclusive fraternity.

Haley was chosen in the fourth round of the 1986 NFL Draft out of James Madison University. Tall and lanky, similar to current Dallas Cowboys rookie pass-rusher Randy Gregory, Haley was immediately utilized as a situational pass rusher by San Francisco. The more Haley played, the better that 49ers defense got, and it was already pretty good.

San Francisco would win back-to-back Super Bowls following the 1988 and 1989 seasons, despite gaining a reputation as being a bit of thorn in the locker room. By the time Haley had worn out his welcome with the 49ers after the 1991 season, he had amassed 63.5 sacks en route to those first two Super Bowl rings.

When Haley was shockingly traded to the Cowboys just prior to the 1992 season – I refused to believe this news told to me by a good friend of mine the day it was first reported – it was absolutely the final piece of a championship puzzle for America’s Team. By comparison, Haley represented the same thing to the ’92 Cowboys that most fans hope defensive end Greg Hardy will mean to the 2015 campaign coming up quick.

In fact, owner and general manager Jerry Jones has stated numerous times that the Cowboys “couldn’t spell Super Bowl” until the arrival of No. 94.

He’s pretty much correct.

Over the next four seasons, Dallas would win three Super Bowl as Haley added 34 more quarterback take downs to his stat sheet. He would add just one more in 1996, a season in which he would only play in five games.

But the legacy was forged.

Haley was a two-time All-Pro selection and was voted to the Pro Bowl five times. He was the UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1994, ironically following two seasons in which Haley’s teams did not win Super Bowls following NFC championship game defeats in the same stadium, Candlestick Park.

If you’re counting along, Haley was a part of – count ’em – five Super Bowl championship teams.

Now, there are some that will say that Haley might not be deserving of induction into the Hall of Fame based on the fact that he played on great teams. After all, Haley played on 10-win teams for 11 straight seasons, right?

This is just like saying that Emmitt Smith isn’t the greatest running back of all time because he always had great offensive lines in front of him.

It’s naïve and weak.

Haley’s 49ers had already won a couple of Super Bowls before he arrived, but they proceeded to win two more shortly after his arrival on a defense that was far different from the 1981 team close to a decade before.

Obviously the Cowboys would not have torn off the championships that they did as such a young team heading into the 1990s.

For all the problems Haley may have caused, it’s his current self that makes him additionally worthy of the Hall.

Haley has been involved with both the Cowboys and 49ers in recent years as a mentor to young defensive talent on both franchises.

Gregory, a second-round draft pick last May, enters the NFL with his own history coming out of Nebraska. Haley has already spent time with the young Nebraska star in hopes that he’ll realize his potential as the face of the Dallas defense for years to come.

Haley has also worked with Aldon Smith, the just-released outside linebacker at San Francisco whose entire career has been hampered with issues. Haley is already on record stating his desire to keep working with the former Missouri pass-rushing weapon who also helped the ‘Niners reach contention in the NFC in recent seasons.

Yes, greatness will always be criticized for reasons I’ll never fully understand, nor do I care to.

But greatness will always be recognized for what is – sooner or later, anyway.

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