Mark Madden: Ex-Steelers WRs have better Hall of Fame credentials than Julian Edelman

Since New England receiver Julian Edelman quit and those in the sports media presumably whacked out of their minds on hallucinogens started making his case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the argument posed by Yinzer Nation compares him to the Steelers’ Hines Ward.

Ward’s stats badly trump Edelman’s save the playoff numbers. Ward has 380 more catches, 49 more touchdowns, four Pro Bowls to Edelman’s none, three second-team All-Pro selections to Edelman’s none. Ward was no post-season slouch, either: He got a Super Bowl MVP, just like Edelman. But nobody thinks Ward is making the Hall of Fame, except perhaps Ward.

The Edelman-Ward debate is too easy and too clichéd, however, especially in these parts.

Here’s another way to drive the point home and still maintain local flavor.

Ex-Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders also has better numbers than Edelman.

Sanders has more catches (662-620), more receiving yards (8,619-6,822) and more touchdowns (47-36). Nobody thinks Sanders will make the Hall of Fame, not even Sanders.

But wait, there’s more.

Wes Welker was Edelman before New England had Edelman. Or used Edelman, anyway — their Patriots tenures overlapped from 2009-12. Welker started, Edelman was mostly a sub.

Welker got more catches (903-620), more receiving yards (9,925-6,822) and more touchdowns (50-36). Welker won’t make the Hall of Fame, but he married a former Miss Hooters International. Many men would take that over Canton.

The notion that Edelman should even remotely be considered for the Hall of Fame is utterly laughable. It should never have crossed anybody’s mind.

Edelman played well. He won three Super Bowls. He was a Super Bowl MVP. But Edelman is more of a Tom Brady creation than he is a Hall-of-Famer. Edelman didn’t get enough respect from his fellow players to get voted to the Pro Bowl a single time.

But some legitimately smart guys say Edelman should get a gold jacket.

Ex-punter Pat McAfee says so. He’s now a radio host. He leads Edelman 2-0 in Pro Bowls, 1-0 in All-Pro selections. McAfee was a better punter than Edelman was a receiver.

Fox’s Colin Cowherd is the gold standard for national sports radio hosts. Cowherd said that “Edelman, for a decade, made more big catches in more big games than any player.” Cowherd compared Edelman favorably to ex-Detroit superstar receiver Calvin Johnson, a/k/a Megatron. Johnson is in the Hall of Fame.

Never mind the gold jacket. Cowherd needs fitted for a straitjacket. (Great host, though.)

If making the Hall of Fame is about big moments in big situations and Edelman deserves induction for his MVP performance in Super Bowl LIII, where’s that leave Plaxico Burress? He caught the winning touchdown that ended New England’s undefeated season in Super Bowl XLII. What about Santonio Holmes, who caught the game-winning TD and was MVP in Super Bowl XLIII?

If Edelman gets inducted, it could open the floodgates for a lot of ex-Steelers receivers.

Maybe Halls of Fame are the problem. Perhaps they’re outdated. Each seems a bloated parody of what it set out to be. Each would benefit by taking 50 people out before putting anybody else in.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is the first of its kind. It started in 1936, and the first class inducted was Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. Those five men define elite. Now, 85 years later, a case is being made that a player who never made a single Pro Bowl should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

We’ve gone from Babe Ruth to Julian Edelman.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s election process is flawed. Media members get together and make arguments for players they covered. Should a Hall of Fame require campaigning? Shouldn’t performance and numbers speak clearly, with no need for embellishment?

Whoever stooges for Edelman has but one case to make: “Just because.”

It’s not logical. It’s an argument straight off a grade-school playground. Edelman should be in the Hall of Fame just because.

But, for Edelman’s candidacy, it’s the only argument that exists.

Here’s betting Edelman plays for Tampa Bay next year, anyway.