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Junior Seau elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame

Former San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau was elected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in his first year of eligibility. He'll be officially inducted this summer along with Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley, Will Shields, Mick Tinglehoff, Ron Wolf and Bill Polian.

By John Gennaro
Donald Miralle/Getty Images

Junior Seau was the best, and most entertaining, defensive football player I have ever watched. The fact that he was on the San Diego Chargers when I moved to San Diego is a big reason I adopted the team, and a big reason I have stuck with them all of these years.

We've all told our Junior stories over the years, so I'll save you hearing those again (until his induction ceremony, anyway), but let's celebrate that the Hall of Fame got this one right and mourn the fact that Seau won't be able to go and give the best speech Canton, Ohio has ever heard.

Seau's Career Highlights

  • Voted to team-record 12 consecutive Pro Bowls (1991-02 seasons); became only 4th NFL player since 1970 to be selected to the Pro Bowl 10 or more straight times, joining Randall McDaniel (12), Mike Singletary (10) and Lawrence Taylor (10).
  • First-team All-Pro selection eight times.
  • Named the NFL Alumni Association's Linebacker of the Year in 2000.
  • In 2000, named to the Chargers 40th Anniversary Team.
  • Named to the All-Decade Team of the 1990s by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
  • Selected the Chargers MVP five straight seasons (1997-2001), while he shared the award with Leslie O'Neal in 1993.
  • Voted the Chargers Defensive Player of the Year twice (1998-99).
  • Voted by his teammates as the Chargers Most Inspirational Player in 1997.
  • Voted first-team All-Pro by Associated Press six times (1992-94, 96, 98, 00); second-team twice (1995, 99).
  • First-team All-Pro by College & Pro Football Newsweekly twice (1992, 94) and second-team three times (1993, 95, 99).
  • First-team All-Pro pick by Pro Football Weekly on four occasions (1992, 1994-95, 1998).
  • First-team All-Pro by the Pro Football Writers of America four times (1992-95).
  • First-team All-Pro selection by USA Today in 1996.
  • Recorded 10 or more tackles in a game 64 times.
  • Led team in tackles in 89 of his 230 career regular season games.
  • Led the Chargers in tackles in eight of his 13 seasons in San Diego.
  • Averaged 116 tackles a season and more than seven tackles a game over his San Diego career.
  • Is tied for second on San Diego's all-time list for games played with 200.
  • Registered 56.5 sacks during his 20 seasons.
  • Selected by the San Diego Chargers with the fifth overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft. He played in the NFL longer than any other first-round choice that year.

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