07-10-2021, 02:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-13-2021, 03:20 PM by allbetsonjames.)
Inspired by the lovely Schwarz. I took a look at every player who made it to the rare 13th season. There have been 11 such players in league history, though that number will surely grow with the TPE inflation we have seen in the past couple of seasons. One thing I was curious about was, is that extra season worth it? With the huge regression penalties that late in the career, the 13th season will be at pretty low TPE. Have those players actually made positive contributions to their team in that 13th season? Or for the players personally, did sticking around help out their career resume, maybe give a little boost to get that Hall of Fame bid?
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Verso L'Alto
Career Stats: 949 Receptions (2nd), 8454 Yards (29th), 8.9 Avg, 57 TD (25th)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (1st ballot, unanimous)
13th season: 31 Receptions, 191 Yards, 6.2 Avg, 2 TD, 12 Pancakes, 0 Sacks Allowed
Did they help their team?: Hardly. Baltimore called up rookie Earl Sauce to be TE1, leaving L'Alto to make a minimal impact on the field as TE2.
Did they help their career?: No. The big highlight of L'Alto's resume is the receptions, and playing this 13th season didn't let him reach a milestone like 1,000 receptions, or climb the career leaderboards (firmly in 2nd behind Paul DiMirio). They were a unanimous hall of fame selection, so I doubt those extra 191 yards are responsible for them getting inducted.
Vladimir Fyodorovich
Career Stats: 596 Receptions (33rd), 10002 Yards (20th), 16.8 Avg (11th), 53 TD (32nd)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (2nd ballot)
13th Season: 22 Receptions, 260 Yards, 11.8 Avg, 1 TD
Did they help their team?: Hardly. WR4 and the 5th receiving option on a run-heavy team.
Did they help their career?: Probably. Fyodorovich had to wait a season to make the hall of fame, and that was with the benefit of (just barely) reaching a milestone of 10,000 receiving yards. If they didn't get there, do they still get in? Maybe. Also just to note, Fyodorovich's special teams stats also play a big part in his story, but I didn't include them above because he was no longer a returner in the 13th season, so those weren't affected either way.
Danny Grithead
Career Stats: 1268 Tackles (3rd), 13 TFL, 16 Forced Fumbles (5th), 9 Fumble Recoveries (8th), 80 Sacks (15th), 26 Interceptions (23rd), 180 PD (5th), 3 Safeties (5th), 7 Defensive Touchdowns (5th)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (1st ballot, unanimous)
13th Season: 119 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 FF, 1 FR, 6 PD
Did they help their team?: Yes. Even though there are no peak-Grithead sack/interception numbers there, 119 tackles was good for sixth in the league.
Did they help their career? Yes and no. I believe at the time the additional full season let him pass Austin Roenick and retire as the all time leader in tackles. But let's be honest, Grithead was going to go down as one of the best defensive players ever regardless.
Nate Swift
Career Stats: 719 Receptions (9th), 10574 Yards (14th), 14.7 Avg (50th), 69 TD (14th)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (1st ballot)
13th Season: 57 Receptions, 526 Yards, 9.2 Avg, 5 TD
Did they help their team?: Sure. Looking at that average its clear Swift wasn't as, uh, swift as he once was, but those are decent numbers otherwise.
Did they help their career?: I think so. I'm a little surprised Swift made the hall of fame on first ballot, but voters like him so maybe he makes it in to the hall anyway (eventually) without that 13th season (he did clear the 10,000 yard milestone beforehand) but I'm sure the extra numbers helped quite a bit. Plus he did sneak into the top 10 in receptions and ended with a nice touchdown total as well.
Quenton Bode
Career Stats: 1441 Tackles (1st), 23 TFL, 19 FF (3rd), 11 FR (3rd), 39 Sacks, 8 Interceptions, 60 PD
Hall of Fame?: Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 10 Tackles, 2 TFL, 1 FF, 3 Sacks
Did they help their team?: Minimally. Clearly a part-time player, made a handful of splash plays in that time though.
Did they help their career?: No. Bode already had a commanding lead in career tackles, and didn't add to it. He added to some of his other stat totals, but his legacy isn't tied to sacks or TFL in any meaningful way.
Forrest Gump
Career Stats: 2497 Carries (5th), 10504 Yards (5th), 4.2 Avg (57th), 70 TD (10th), 409 Receptions, 3681 Yards, 25 TD, 14185 Scrimmage Yards (7th), 95 Scrimmage TD (9th), 21205 All-Purpose Yards (5th), 101 All-Purpose TD (5th)
Hall of Fame?: Near Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 18 Carries, 32 Yards, 1.8 Avg, 0 TD, 3 Receptions, 20 Yards, 6.7 Avg, 0 TD, 37 Pancakes, 0 Sacks Allowed
Did they help their team?: Eh. Certainly not in terms of yardage production. 37 pancakes is nice though. I guess you could say they didn't hurt.
Did they help their career?: No. Already had 10000 yards and didn't add anything meaningful. Helped round out his pancake numbers but that's not what his career was about anyway.
Alex D
Career Stats: 517 XPM (1st), 545 XPA (1st), 94.9% XP (36th), 346 FGM (1st), 374 FGA (1st), 92.5% FG (3rd), 968 Punts (2nd), 45530 Punt Yards (2nd), 47.0 Avg (5th), 178 Inside 20 (3rd)
Hall of Fame?: Near Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 38/39 XP, 26/30 FG, 44.7 Punt Avg, 30 Inside 20
Did they help their team?: Sure. I mean I would say they were a below average K/P this season, but nothing outside of normal K/P inconsistency.
Did they help their career?: Maybe a little. They already had the career lead in FGM/FGA, but the extra season let them pass Turk Turkleton for the XPM/XPA records.
Nero Alexander
Career Stats: 563 Tackles, 141 TFL (1st), 10 FF (29th), 4 FR, 58 Sacks (42nd),
Hall of Fame?: Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 41 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Sacks
Did they help their team?: Probably. The numbers are minimal, but that can happen for DTs.
Did they help their career?: No. Similar to Bode, their main career achievement is a commanding career lead in a major category (TFLs for Alexander to Bode's Tackles). The extra season helped round out some other stats, but nothing that made a big difference to the overall resume.
Dermot Lavelle Jr.
Career Stats: 751 Tackles (49th), 2 TFL, 3 FF, 26 Int (23rd), 200 PD (2nd), 2 TD (73rd)
Hall of Fame?: I think so (Eligible for S32 Class)
13th Season: 39 Tackles, 2 TFL, 2 Int, 17 PD
Did they help their team?: Probably. You never can tell much about a CB by the basic statline though.
Did they help their career?: Yes. 200 PD is a nice milestone, only eclipsed by his namesake. Also 2 interceptions doesn't seem like much but helped him climb the charts.
Sam Torenson
Career Stats: 3391 Carries (1st), 13957 (1st), 4.1 Avg (80th), 100 TD (5th), 296 Receptions, 1898 Yards, 10 TD, 15855 Scrimmage Yards (1st), 110 Scrimmage TD (6th), 16880 All-Purpose Yards (17th), 110 All-Purpose TD (6th)
Hall of Fame?: Lock (Eligible for S32 Class)
13th Season: 85 Carries, 315 Yards, 3.7 Avg, 5 TD, 3 Receptions, 20 Yards, 6.7 Avg, 2 Pancakes, 2 Sacks Allowed
Did they help their team?: No. 5 touchdowns is good in limited play, but bad efficiency, no help in the passing game, and a liability in blocking.
Did they help their career?: Yes and No. Similar to Grithead, sticking around let him take the lead on a career stat (passing Marquise Brown's Scrimmage Yards mark). Plus reached a nice round number of 100 rushing TD. But he was already 1st in career rushing yards so his legacy was pretty well cemented.
Bubba Thumper
Career Stats: 526 Tackles, 14 TFL, 6 FF, 6 FR (32nd), 107 Sacks (4th), 3 Safeties (5th)
Hall of Fame?: I think so (Eligible for S33 Class)
13th Season: 5 Tackles, 2 TFL, 3 Sacks
Did they help their team?: Minimally. Kudos to Bubba for a perfect season, every play he made resulted in negative yards for the opposing offense. But playing time was about as minimal as it gets.
Did they help their career?: Not really. The only thing they did was slide ahead of Jayce Tuck in career sacks to go from 5th to 4th all time.
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So what's the verdict? Inconclusive, but I think the majority of these 13th seasons were unnecessary, both to players and to their teams. I'm not sure it really makes sense to push earning to make it to the 13th season, unless you are really close to a major milestone/record or have a very borderline hall of fame resume, and even then you'll probably want to be very honest with yourself that production may not be what you're used to.
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Verso L'Alto
Career Stats: 949 Receptions (2nd), 8454 Yards (29th), 8.9 Avg, 57 TD (25th)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (1st ballot, unanimous)
13th season: 31 Receptions, 191 Yards, 6.2 Avg, 2 TD, 12 Pancakes, 0 Sacks Allowed
Did they help their team?: Hardly. Baltimore called up rookie Earl Sauce to be TE1, leaving L'Alto to make a minimal impact on the field as TE2.
Did they help their career?: No. The big highlight of L'Alto's resume is the receptions, and playing this 13th season didn't let him reach a milestone like 1,000 receptions, or climb the career leaderboards (firmly in 2nd behind Paul DiMirio). They were a unanimous hall of fame selection, so I doubt those extra 191 yards are responsible for them getting inducted.
Vladimir Fyodorovich
Career Stats: 596 Receptions (33rd), 10002 Yards (20th), 16.8 Avg (11th), 53 TD (32nd)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (2nd ballot)
13th Season: 22 Receptions, 260 Yards, 11.8 Avg, 1 TD
Did they help their team?: Hardly. WR4 and the 5th receiving option on a run-heavy team.
Did they help their career?: Probably. Fyodorovich had to wait a season to make the hall of fame, and that was with the benefit of (just barely) reaching a milestone of 10,000 receiving yards. If they didn't get there, do they still get in? Maybe. Also just to note, Fyodorovich's special teams stats also play a big part in his story, but I didn't include them above because he was no longer a returner in the 13th season, so those weren't affected either way.
Danny Grithead
Career Stats: 1268 Tackles (3rd), 13 TFL, 16 Forced Fumbles (5th), 9 Fumble Recoveries (8th), 80 Sacks (15th), 26 Interceptions (23rd), 180 PD (5th), 3 Safeties (5th), 7 Defensive Touchdowns (5th)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (1st ballot, unanimous)
13th Season: 119 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 FF, 1 FR, 6 PD
Did they help their team?: Yes. Even though there are no peak-Grithead sack/interception numbers there, 119 tackles was good for sixth in the league.
Did they help their career? Yes and no. I believe at the time the additional full season let him pass Austin Roenick and retire as the all time leader in tackles. But let's be honest, Grithead was going to go down as one of the best defensive players ever regardless.
Nate Swift
Career Stats: 719 Receptions (9th), 10574 Yards (14th), 14.7 Avg (50th), 69 TD (14th)
Hall of Fame?: Yes (1st ballot)
13th Season: 57 Receptions, 526 Yards, 9.2 Avg, 5 TD
Did they help their team?: Sure. Looking at that average its clear Swift wasn't as, uh, swift as he once was, but those are decent numbers otherwise.
Did they help their career?: I think so. I'm a little surprised Swift made the hall of fame on first ballot, but voters like him so maybe he makes it in to the hall anyway (eventually) without that 13th season (he did clear the 10,000 yard milestone beforehand) but I'm sure the extra numbers helped quite a bit. Plus he did sneak into the top 10 in receptions and ended with a nice touchdown total as well.
Quenton Bode
Career Stats: 1441 Tackles (1st), 23 TFL, 19 FF (3rd), 11 FR (3rd), 39 Sacks, 8 Interceptions, 60 PD
Hall of Fame?: Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 10 Tackles, 2 TFL, 1 FF, 3 Sacks
Did they help their team?: Minimally. Clearly a part-time player, made a handful of splash plays in that time though.
Did they help their career?: No. Bode already had a commanding lead in career tackles, and didn't add to it. He added to some of his other stat totals, but his legacy isn't tied to sacks or TFL in any meaningful way.
Forrest Gump
Career Stats: 2497 Carries (5th), 10504 Yards (5th), 4.2 Avg (57th), 70 TD (10th), 409 Receptions, 3681 Yards, 25 TD, 14185 Scrimmage Yards (7th), 95 Scrimmage TD (9th), 21205 All-Purpose Yards (5th), 101 All-Purpose TD (5th)
Hall of Fame?: Near Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 18 Carries, 32 Yards, 1.8 Avg, 0 TD, 3 Receptions, 20 Yards, 6.7 Avg, 0 TD, 37 Pancakes, 0 Sacks Allowed
Did they help their team?: Eh. Certainly not in terms of yardage production. 37 pancakes is nice though. I guess you could say they didn't hurt.
Did they help their career?: No. Already had 10000 yards and didn't add anything meaningful. Helped round out his pancake numbers but that's not what his career was about anyway.
Alex D
Career Stats: 517 XPM (1st), 545 XPA (1st), 94.9% XP (36th), 346 FGM (1st), 374 FGA (1st), 92.5% FG (3rd), 968 Punts (2nd), 45530 Punt Yards (2nd), 47.0 Avg (5th), 178 Inside 20 (3rd)
Hall of Fame?: Near Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 38/39 XP, 26/30 FG, 44.7 Punt Avg, 30 Inside 20
Did they help their team?: Sure. I mean I would say they were a below average K/P this season, but nothing outside of normal K/P inconsistency.
Did they help their career?: Maybe a little. They already had the career lead in FGM/FGA, but the extra season let them pass Turk Turkleton for the XPM/XPA records.
Nero Alexander
Career Stats: 563 Tackles, 141 TFL (1st), 10 FF (29th), 4 FR, 58 Sacks (42nd),
Hall of Fame?: Lock (Eligible for S31 Class)
13th Season: 41 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Sacks
Did they help their team?: Probably. The numbers are minimal, but that can happen for DTs.
Did they help their career?: No. Similar to Bode, their main career achievement is a commanding career lead in a major category (TFLs for Alexander to Bode's Tackles). The extra season helped round out some other stats, but nothing that made a big difference to the overall resume.
Dermot Lavelle Jr.
Career Stats: 751 Tackles (49th), 2 TFL, 3 FF, 26 Int (23rd), 200 PD (2nd), 2 TD (73rd)
Hall of Fame?: I think so (Eligible for S32 Class)
13th Season: 39 Tackles, 2 TFL, 2 Int, 17 PD
Did they help their team?: Probably. You never can tell much about a CB by the basic statline though.
Did they help their career?: Yes. 200 PD is a nice milestone, only eclipsed by his namesake. Also 2 interceptions doesn't seem like much but helped him climb the charts.
Sam Torenson
Career Stats: 3391 Carries (1st), 13957 (1st), 4.1 Avg (80th), 100 TD (5th), 296 Receptions, 1898 Yards, 10 TD, 15855 Scrimmage Yards (1st), 110 Scrimmage TD (6th), 16880 All-Purpose Yards (17th), 110 All-Purpose TD (6th)
Hall of Fame?: Lock (Eligible for S32 Class)
13th Season: 85 Carries, 315 Yards, 3.7 Avg, 5 TD, 3 Receptions, 20 Yards, 6.7 Avg, 2 Pancakes, 2 Sacks Allowed
Did they help their team?: No. 5 touchdowns is good in limited play, but bad efficiency, no help in the passing game, and a liability in blocking.
Did they help their career?: Yes and No. Similar to Grithead, sticking around let him take the lead on a career stat (passing Marquise Brown's Scrimmage Yards mark). Plus reached a nice round number of 100 rushing TD. But he was already 1st in career rushing yards so his legacy was pretty well cemented.
Bubba Thumper
Career Stats: 526 Tackles, 14 TFL, 6 FF, 6 FR (32nd), 107 Sacks (4th), 3 Safeties (5th)
Hall of Fame?: I think so (Eligible for S33 Class)
13th Season: 5 Tackles, 2 TFL, 3 Sacks
Did they help their team?: Minimally. Kudos to Bubba for a perfect season, every play he made resulted in negative yards for the opposing offense. But playing time was about as minimal as it gets.
Did they help their career?: Not really. The only thing they did was slide ahead of Jayce Tuck in career sacks to go from 5th to 4th all time.
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So what's the verdict? Inconclusive, but I think the majority of these 13th seasons were unnecessary, both to players and to their teams. I'm not sure it really makes sense to push earning to make it to the 13th season, unless you are really close to a major milestone/record or have a very borderline hall of fame resume, and even then you'll probably want to be very honest with yourself that production may not be what you're used to.