1000/1000/1000 Club

[Bryan]

I read a blurb that said Charley Trippi is the only member of the HOF who has 1000 yards rushing, passing, and receiving. This implies that there are other members of the "1000/1000/1000 Club", they just aren't in the HOF. I couldn't think of anyone who could realistically be a member of the Club...the only two guys I could think of were Paul Hornung (only about 400 passing yards...and already in the HOF) and Marlin Briscoe (only about 400 rushing yards), but neither of them were close.

Does anyone know of players who fulfill the 1000/1000/1000 criteria, or come close to fulfilling it?

[ChrisBabcock]

I thought maybe Dutch Clark would qualify but he only had 416 receiving.

[Bob Gill]

Bob Hoernschmeyer had 1,000 yards in all three categories -- though that includes his AAFC stats, which the NFL sometimes ignores.

Verne Lewellen also hit 1,000 in all three, according to the stats compiled by David Neft. Of course they're unofficial, but they're the best we'll ever get.

The first guy I thought of was Bill Dudley, who is in the Hall of Fame, unlike the last two, but he fell just short in passing yards, with 985.

[Bryan]

Bob Hoernschmeyer had 1,000 yards in all three categories -- though that includes his AAFC stats, which the NFL sometimes ignores.

Verne Lewellen also hit 1,000 in all three, according to the stats compiled by David Neft. Of course they're unofficial, but they're the best we'll ever get.

The first guy I thought of was Bill Dudley, who is in the Hall of Fame, unlike the last two, but he fell just short in passing yards, with 985.

Thanks for the info. I never would have thought of Hoernschmeyer.

[John Grasso]

According to PFR George Taliaferro also makes this list although one of his seasons was in the AAFC
2266 rushing, 1300 receiving, passing 1633

[Bob Gill]

According to PFR George Taliaferro also makes this list although one of his seasons was in the AAFC
2266 rushing, 1300 receiving, passing 1633

Good one. Another guy I've liked ever since I came across him years ago, so I should've thought of him too.

[conace21]

Kordell Stewart falls short with 658 receiving yards.

Frank Gifford came a little closer with 823 passing yards

[MarbleEye]

I noted with great interest that Hoernschmeyer completed 11 regular season passes for the Lions in his career and that 10 of them went for touchdowns ! (If PFR is accurate.) I also see that in 10 seasons of play he had 81 TD's responsible for. Trippi, in 9 seasons of play had 53 TD's responsible for.

I don't think this will spark a HOF controversy here like it surely would at a baseball site (about which man is more deserving of a HOF bust) but it is interesting nonetheless.

[Bob Gill]

I noted with great interest that Hoernschmeyer completed 11 regular season passes for the Lions in his career and that 10 of them went for touchdowns ! (If PFR is accurate.)

Yes! That's one of my favorite things about Hoernschmeyer. My other favorite passing statistic for a running back is this: Frank Gifford -- who threw quite a few passes, as noted above -- had a career passer rating higher than Joe Montana's.

[Bryan]

I noted with great interest that Hoernschmeyer completed 11 regular season passes for the Lions in his career and that 10 of them went for touchdowns ! (If PFR is accurate.) I also see that in 10 seasons of play he had 81 TD's responsible for. Trippi, in 9 seasons of play had 53 TD's responsible for.

I don't think this will spark a HOF controversy here like it surely would at a baseball site (about which man is more deserving of a HOF bust) but it is interesting nonetheless.

Its definitely worth a conversation. I don't think Trippi is a 'strong HOFer', but I do think he is better than Hoernschmeyer. Trippi's 1947-1949 seasons were great...he averaged about 1300 all-purpose yards and led the NFL twice in that category. Trippi didn't get any all-pro consideration in 1949, but his 34 receptions and 6 receiving TDs from his LH position was better than All-Pro Ends Pete Pihos and Jack Ferrante. Trippi's 1947 title game performance was memorable: 84 yards rushing (including a 44-yard TD), 100+ yards from scrimmage, 102 punt return yards (including a 75-yard TD). The Cardinals won that game in spite of QB Paul Christman going 3-14 with 2 INTs.

I've read a lot about Trippi's career, both about his college career and his NFL career, but I'm not an expert as I've seen very little film. I do know that TJ Troup spoke highly of him (http://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/ ... living.htm). To me, it seems like the Cardinals did him a disservice by having him play QB in 1951 & 1952, as he wasn't all that great of a passer. Trippi seemed most effective playing halfback, catching passes, returning punts. If his numbers/profile was helped by playing on some very good Cards teams early in his career, I think that was counter-balanced by being stuck on dreadful teams in the 1950s.

Hoernschmeyer had a similar career but almost the exact opposite career path. He started out playing QB on some bad AAFC teams and then spent the latter half of his career on some great Lions teams as a HB. I was surprised to see that Hoernschmeyer has more TDs than Trippi even if you just use rushing/receiving/return TDs. Hoernschmeyer played 2 more seasons than Trippi to amass his stats but retired at age 30 while Trippi retired at age 33 (Trippi had a late start due to WWII and was 25 his rookie year, while Hoerschmeyer was only 21).

I don't think Hoernschmeyer had as spectacular of an all-around repertoire as Trippi, and it seems like Trippi was slightly better than Hoernschmeyer as a runner, receiver, punter, defender. Perhaps I am being unfair to Hoernschmeyer, because he was a very productive player who was somewhat overshadowed by Doak Walker (I thought it was interesting that both Walker and Hoernschmeyer had over 1000 all-purpose yards for the 1951 Lions). I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this matter.