Dolphins Head Coach Dan Campbell: Shane Lechler Is A Hall Of Famer

New Miami Dolphins head coach Dan Campbell, a Texas A&M alumnus, had some kind words to say this week for his former Aggie roommate from the late 90s, Texans punter Shane Lechler.

"Whenever he retires he should be going. To me that’s a given. He’s already earned that as far as I’m concerned. The numbers that he’s put up, and the longevity and everything that he’s been able to do, I don’t know how you keep him out of the Hall of Fame."

Campbell isn’t just blowing smoke, either; Lechler truly is one of the greatest punters in the history of the sport. Seven Pro Bowls, nine All-Pro selections, an All-Decade team selection for the 2000s, third all-time in career punt yardage (57,668), first all-time in yards per punt (47.4), and perhaps the most incredible stat of them all--not one missed game since his rookie debut in Week One of the 2000 season (244 total). Perhaps the only resume in history that can match Lechler’s is fellow longtime Raiders punter Ray Guy (seven Pro Bowls, eight All-Pro selections, and three Super Bowl rings), who happens to already be the first punter inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Statistics and honors aside, however, Lechler’s claim as the greatest punter in NFL history could be validated by his insane ability to neutralize the greatest return man in the NFL history. They don’t call him "The Anti-Hestermine" for nothing, folks.

Texans fans have thought for quite some time that Andre Johnson and J.J. Watt might be the first and second Hall of Famers in franchise history.  Perhaps Lechler will join them with a bust of his own one day. He certainly deserves it.

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