Leading by Example
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has changed the way it will select the Class of 2027. Maybe that’s the perfect opportunity to look at Ken Anderson’s career with fresh eyes.
And the simplest way to do that is to put his numbers beside quarterbacks who already have bronze busts in Canton. The comparison is compelling.
Start with the résumé
Anderson played 16 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and finished with:
32,838 passing yards
197 touchdown passes
59.3% completion percentage
91 career wins as a starter
4 Pro Bowls
1 First-Team All-Pro selection
1981 NFL Offensive Player of the Year
1981 NFL MVP
He also led the NFL in passer rating four times, passing yards twice and completion percentage three times.
Then consider some of the quarterbacks already in Canton.
Anderson vs. Hall of Famers
Ken Anderson vs. Ken Stabler
Anderson: 32,838 yards | 197 TDs | 59.3% completions | 4 Pro Bowls | 1 MVP
Stabler: 27,938 yards | 194 TDs | 59.8% completions | 4 Pro Bowls | 1 MVP
Anderson threw for nearly 5,000 more yards and slightly more touchdowns.
Ken Anderson vs. Joe Namath
Anderson: 32,838 yards | 197 TDs | 59.3% completions
Namath: 27,663 yards | 173 TDs | 50.1% completions
Anderson finished with 5,175 more passing yards, 24 more touchdowns and a significantly higher completion percentage.
Ken Anderson vs. Bob Griese
Anderson: 32,838 yards | 197 TDs | 59.3% completions
Griese: 25,092 yards | 192 TDs | 56.2% completions
Anderson had 7,746 more passing yards, more touchdowns and a higher completion percentage.
Ken Anderson vs. Len Dawson
Anderson: 32,838 yards | 197 TDs
Dawson: 28,711 yards | 239 TDs
Anderson threw for more than 4,100 additional yards. Both quarterbacks led their league in passer rating four times.
Ken Anderson vs. Dan Fouts
Fouts’ 43,040 passing yards and 254 touchdowns exceed Anderson’s totals.
But Anderson finished with a better career completion percentage, 59.3% to Fouts’ 58.8%, and Anderson won an NFL MVP award.
Fouts never reached a Super Bowl.
Anderson did.
The comparison isn’t about proving Anderson was better than every Hall of Fame quarterback.
It’s about showing that he belongs in their company.
One number was decades ahead of its time
Perhaps nothing illustrates Anderson’s greatness better than 70.6. That’s the percentage of his passes Anderson completed in 1982. More than four decades ago.
Anderson completed 218 of 309 passes, setting an NFL single-season completion percentage record that stood for decades. It was precision passing before precision passing became the norm. And it wasn’t a one-year anomaly.
Anderson led the NFL in completion percentage three times and passer rating four times.
An MVP résumé
Then there is 1981.
Anderson completed 62.6% of his passes for 3,754 yards, 29 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions.
He led the Bengals to a 12-4 record.
He won the AFC Championship.
He took Cincinnati to its first Super Bowl.
And he was named First-Team All-Pro, NFL Offensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP,
That’s a Hall of Fame season inside a Hall of Fame career.
One modern measure makes the comparison even clearer
Pro Football Reference’s Hall of Fame Monitor attempts to compare Hall résumés by combining career performance, honors, championships and other accomplishments.
Anderson scores 82.99.
That puts him ahead of several quarterbacks already enshrined in Canton:
Ken Anderson: 82.99
Ken Stabler: 82.20
Sonny Jurgensen: 78.57
Bob Griese: 73.00
Warren Moon: 71.30
Joe Namath: 70.00
Len Dawson: 69.74
The metric isn’t a Hall of Fame ballot, but it provides important context. Anderson’s career doesn’t sit outside the statistical neighborhood of Canton.
He’s already living in it.
More than No. 14
Anderson’s story extends beyond football. In 1975, he was named the NFL’s Man of the Year, the honor now known as the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.
Today, through the Ken Anderson Alliance, he continues working to improve opportunities for adults with disabilities. That community leadership doesn’t make his Hall of Fame case. His football career does. It simply tells us more about the man behind No. 14.
Put the numbers side by side
An NFL MVP.
A First-Team All-Pro.
Four Pro Bowls.
Four seasons leading the NFL in passer rating.
Three completion-percentage titles.
Two passing-yardage titles.
A record-setting 70.6% completion season.
An AFC championship.
A Super Bowl appearance.
And a Hall of Fame Monitor score higher than several quarterbacks already enshrined.
The Hall of Fame has a new selection process for 2027.
It also has an opportunity.
Look at the numbers.
Compare the careers.
Remember the era.
And recognize what those who watched Ken Anderson play already know.
No. 14 belongs in Canton.
– Jackie Reau
