Pro Football Hall of Fame: The case for Dan Reeves

Dan Reeves is one of the most accomplished men in the history of football. A standout quarterback on some bad South Carolina football squads, Reeves became an All-Pro running back in the NFL who then became a good wide receiver after injuries before those injuries finally derailed his career. As his playing days were coming to a close, a long career in coaching followed. Now, the football lifer is hoping that he will be inducted into the Pro Football HOF.

The Hall of Fame does not elect members based on combined accomplishments; if the Hall operated that way, Reeves would be a shoo-in. Instead, the Pro Football HOF elects players and elects coaches/contributors.

Thanks to injuries, Reeves did not do enough as a player to make it into the Hall in that way, though his All-Pro season in 1966 was the first-ever 500-yard rushing and 500-yard receiving season by a Cowboys player. He was also the first Cowboy to score 4 touchdowns in one game and the first to score a rushing, receiving, and passing touchdown in the same contest.

As a coach, though, Dan Reeves has a legitimate argument as belonging in the Pro Football HOF.

Reeves is one of just nine coaches in the history of the National Football League to win 200 games, and he is one of just three men to ever take part in 9 Super Bowls (2 combined Super Bowl championships as a player and then an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys, a Super Bowl loss as a player and two losses as an assistant coach with the Cowboys, and four Super Bowl losses as a head coach).

Reeves was a head coach for four Super Bowl teams (Super Bowl XXI after the 1986 season with the Denver Broncos, Super Bowl XXII I after the 1987 season with the Broncos, Super Bowl XXIV after the 1989 season with the Broncos, and Super Bowl XXXIII after the 1998 season with the Atlanta Falcons).

Reeves’ playoff runs totaled 11 postseason wins, which is the most-ever for a head coach without a Super Bowl victory, tied with Marv Levy. 9th all-time in regular season wins, he is also one of just two eligible coaches with 200 or more victories not to be in the Hall of Fame, along with Marty Shottenheimer. Shottenheimer and Reeves are both on the ballot this year, and Levy was elected in 2001.

Reeves has been elected to the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame, the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame, won two NFL Coach of the Year awards (with the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons), and won a George Halas Award for the best coaching job amidst adversity (with the Falcons).

Unfortunately, Dan Reeves passed away on New Year’s Day of 2022, so even if he is elected to the Pro Football HOF, he will not have lived long enough to see it.

The fact that Reeves has been left out this long is injustice enough. It is time for his enshrinement to the Hall of Fame in 2024.

Reeves is on the Pro Football HOF ballot along with former South Carolina football legend Sterling Sharpe.