Members of the 2020 and 2021 class were enshrined to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past weekend.
Now that the dust has settled, the attention has turned to who will represent the Class of 2022.
Touchdown Wire’s Mark Lane listed candidates that must be considered, and included is former Chargers defensive tackle Leslie O’Neal.
O’Neal missed his second season in the NFL with a knee injury, but got out of the gates with six Pro Bowls and 132.5 sacks. The closest he came to winning a Super Bowl was with the San Diego Chargers when they played the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX at the end of the 1994 season. O’Neal tallied eight seasons of 10-plus sacks from 1986-99.
O’Neal is arguably one of the best players to wear the blue and gold when it came to terrorizing opposing quarterbacks.
O’Neal is the franchise leader in career sacks with 105.5. He averaged more than 10 sacks per year with the Bolts and registered a career-high 17 in 1992. He also recorded five sacks in a single game against the Cowboys in his rookie season.
During nine seasons with the Chargers, O’Neal totaled 597 tackles, 18 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries and made six Pro Bowl appearances.
The resume speaks for itself, and there’s no denying that’s O’Neal is worthy of having his name among the other greats to play in the NFL.
