Maybe Anquan Boldin is a Hall of Famer after all

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Anquan Boldin is now a Buffalo Bill, and that should inspire to change no plans in your day. I mean, it’s his fifth team and all, and the Bills haven’t made the playoffs since he was a freshman at Florida State.

In other words, he’s been around. A lot. Only four players among the list of the top 250 wide receivers have played for more teams.

But Boldin has also been around the ball a lot, too. He is 26 short of becoming the fourth most prolific pass catcher in NFL history, which seems completely absurd because he’s, well, just Anquan Boldin.

Except maybe he isn’t just Anquan Boldin. He is among a list of wide receivers who either are or are going to be Hall of Famers. Of the eight above him, Tony Gonzalez and Larry Fitzgerald are not in but will be, Jason Witten probably will be and Terrell Owens will be in after he has done whatever penance it is to make the Hall of Fame selectors view him more kindly.

So why not Anquan Boldin in Canton then? Well, three days ago, the answer seemed obvious – he’s Anquan Boldin. Except if you believe in aggregation as sufficient credentials for the Hall, then he’s ANQUAN BOLDIN!

And he could be ANQUAN BOLDIN! for awhile. Brandon Marshall, the next active pass catcher, is 135 behind him, Antonio Gates is 179 back, and Antonio Brown is 444 to the rear. In short, Boldin is going to be The Receiver With The Most Catches Not In The Hall Of Fame, which is an argument that eventually convinced people to vote for Cris Carter and Tim Brown. Plus, he won one Super Bowl and played in two others, which is something neither Carter nor Brown could have said.

So maybe Anquan Boldin is a Hall of Famer after all. I mean, nobody would ever have thought it, but nobody thought Adrian Beltre was a sure Hall of Famer until everyone suddenly looked up and declared him one.

Because that’s the real way you become a Hall of Famer – when there’s no really compelling argument for you not to be.

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