Does Baltimore Ravens executive vice president Ozzie Newsome deserve a second induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? After all, he has followed up his spectacular career as a player with 27 years of experience working in the front office of the Ravens.
"I strongly believe Ozzie should be the first person inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame TWICE, with the second ceremony honoring his trailblazing work in Baltimore's front office," NFL.com's Steve Pioli recently wrote. "He truly deserves it -- there's no debate to be had."
Newsome first joined the Ravens' front office in 1996 as the executive vice president, a title he now holds again today. It would only take Newsome six years in Baltimore before earning the title of general manager.
In his 16 years as the man calling the shots in Baltimore's front office, Newsome was the mastermind behind one Super Bowl-winning team in 2013, although he was a part of the franchise's front office when the team brought home their first Lombardi Trophy in 2001.
But aside from that, what other accomplishments of Newsome does NFL.com see as worthy of the first-ever double induction?
"[Newsome] was the first African American general manager in the NFL and built two Super Bowl-winning teams (XXXV and XLVII)," Pioli writes. "Under his watch between 1996 and 2018, the Ravens had the fourth-most playoff wins and the second-highest playoff win percentage of any team."
And while all of these facts are impressive and worthy of a second induction, the most eye-popping stat may be the players acquired under his watch and where their careers took them.
The article points out that Newsome had brought to the Ravens 38 Pro Bowlers, 17 All-Pros, and six Hall of Fame inductions, with Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed being highlighted due to Baltimore's selection in the NFL Draft.
As Pioli writes, the Hall of Fame has inductees who were enshrined for more than one aspect of their careers. But it has never had a single person inducted twice like the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. If the Pro Football Hall of Fame were to change that fact, the Ravens' Newsome would be a strong candidate.
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