Edgerrin James is a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist... again.
The former Colts All-Pro made the final cut to fifteen for the third time in four years, and he'll have his case argued again by the great Mike Chappell before the final voting during Super Bowl week in Atlanta.
James, currently the NFL's 13th all-time leading rusher, which is the highest yardage total for anyone not already in or a lock to get in (hi, Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore!) Canton, and there isn't any active player who is a serious threat to pass him anytime soon. Edge was also a terrific pass catcher (433 career receptions for 3,364 yards) and blocker in his own right. His production among running backs in post-merger NFL history puts him firmly in the top ten in yards per game (82.7, 7th among all RBs in that span) and yards from scrimmage per game (105.5, 6th). He had an historic start to his career, with one of the best rookie seasons in franchise history in 1999 and a fantastic, All-Pro season in 2000. If not for an ACL injury in 2001, which he still returned from to produce two more 1,500+ rush yard seasons, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
I, along with many others, believe Edge unfairly gets held back because he played alongside other greats like Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison - why should that keep him out? Should Andre Reed have not gotten in because he played with Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly? How would Troy Aikman have fared without Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin? Penalizing great players for playing with other great players is ridiculous.
I'm not sure if this is going to be the year for James, but I do hope some day we can watch him get enshrined into a place where he belongs.