Edgerrin James: A good NFL back or hall worthy?

Edgerrin James sees more than a hole when he takes a handoff. He sees the big picture. Since training camp, James on occasion has been willing to talk about his larger goals, of his chances to be a football immortal and be inducted into pro football’s Hall of Fame, of maybe even taking a run at Emmitt Smith for the most rushing yards.

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Those goals may have taken a detour with his decision to leave the Indianapolis Colts for the lower-profile and less-talented Cardinals.

But James doesn’t quite see the situation this way.

“In life, it’s easy to play it safe. It’s hard to go out and accept challenges.”

As he expounds on the subject, he sounds sort of like an Eastern mystic.

“The turtle never moves forward unless he sticks his neck out,” he says. “It would be easy to say I’m going to be safe and play with an All-Star team. That’s not living.

“Life has so many different obstacles. Life is kind of complex. You can make it easy if you take the easy way out.

“But that’s boring. Easy is boring. I took the more difficult path.”

James, 29, has a shot at these goals. Just last week, he moved past John Riggins into 13th place on the all-time rushing list with 11,352 yards.

If he continues to stay healthy and start, by this time next year he could be moving past the great Jim Brown into eight place on the list.

He points out that by the time his Cardinals contract is finished in two years, he could rank fifth or sixth.

And that would seem to point him to Canton.

“When I came here. I wanted to continue to have 1,000-yard seasons — any time you have over 1,000 it’s a plus — and help turn this program around.

“That’s the main thing. We’re on our way to doing that.”

After a slow start last year, James scratched his way to 1,000 yards behind a sometimes struggling offensive line. He needs 32 yards today to break the same barrier.

To become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher seems far-fetched, as he would need to put together seven more such seasons to surpass Smith’s 18,355 yards.

Much more attainable would be the 3,900 yards he needs to run past Barry Sanders (15,269) for No. 3.

So how long does he play to keep charging into those lines of defenders?

“As long as I do my numbers in the offseason.” he says.

That means running 40 yards in “the high 4.4s or 4.5” and hit certain weightlifting goals and generally stay in top shape.

Right now, he says he weighs 216 pounds, the same weight as when he entered the league.

“As long as those numbers stay the same, I’ll play, as long as there’s an interest. If I balloon to 230, and am not able to move,” then maybe not.

This season, “Edge” seems either to be the Cards’ main man, or an obscure backstage figure, with seemingly few games in between.

“Some of the games have dictated that,” coach Ken Whisenhunt says. “We’ve been behind in games and have been trying to catch up. And it’s caused us to throw the ball a little bit more.”

The key to James’ production is the Cardinals’ ability to build a lead and to convert third downs.

“Those two things lead to better run production in the run game for Edge,” Whisenhunt says. “Those are situations we haven’t seen a lot this season in a lot of games because of turnovers, because of slow starts.

“We’ve trailed in a number of games and we’ve had to come from behind. We’ve done a good job of that, but in those situations it’s more difficult to run because you have to pass to catch up.”

In a few other games, defenses have loaded up against the run, daring quarterback Kurt Warner to pass.

That’s what happened last month in a win at Cincinnati, and the Cardinals burned the Bengals with the passing game.

“I want to win. That’s the main thing right now,” James says.

“I know it’s a fantasy football league; everybody wants stats, stats, stats. But there are certain things you can’t control.

“When you have more people (on the defensive line) than you can block, it’s going to be tough.”

“You see the safety cheating, rushing up as soon as they see action. That means you’re doing something. That means they respect you.”

As he moves up the list of football’s all-time great running backs, maybe they’ll respect him all the more.

Maybe the “risk” of playing for the Cardinals will pay off, after all, when the Hall of Fame votes are counted.

“I’m 29 years old. No telling how this will shape up.

“I would have been mad at myself if I didn’t take a chance or didn’t take a risk. I wouldn’t feel complete.”

WRITERS WEIGH IN ON JAMES' CHANCES

The Tribune asked five NFL reporters, including three Hall of Fame voters, to assess Edgerrin James’ chances to be inducted into the Hall at Canton, Ohio. Here are their responses.

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I think they’re pretty good. One thing we seem to do as voters: We do a better job of taking in the top 15 running backs than we do the top 15 receivers.

Those running backs are all pretty much in. Once you get 12,000 yards, there’s a good chance you get in.

He has longevity, and the more yards, the better your chances.

He stands a better chance than Tiki Barber or Terrell Davis.

He may not necessarily get it on first ballot, but there’s a strong enough case that eventually he’ll get in.

Longevity plays big.

John Clayton of ESPN, Hall of Fame voter

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“Is Edgerrin James a Hall of Famer?”

That’s a darn good question, and one to which I’d have to say “no” — at least right now.

I think he needs to have a couple of more seasons like the one he is having in Arizona and has to elevate the Cardinals to legitimate Super Bowl contenders to gain induction into Canton.

As great as James was in Indianapolis, he was surrounded by superb talent and was never even the best offensive player on his own team.

True, you can probably say the same thing about Hall of Famers such as John Stallworth and Lynn Swann, but they played on four Super Bowl championship teams.

The Colts didn’t get to (and win) the Super Bowl until the season after James left, which raises questions about how valuable he was to them.

Is that unfair? Probably. But these are the kind of points that will be brought up by voters when James is ultimately eligible for the Hall of Fame. He is close to making it but isn’t quite there — yet

Scott Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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I would put Edge on the bubble for Canton, and my lead criteria is comparing him to Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander.

Shaun is also no guarantee though he is a former MVP and once held the single-season TD record.

Edge has fewer touchdowns than Shaun in one more year of service, and his yards per carry is 4.3 vs. 4.1 for Alexander. Tough to vote him in.

Maybe he needs another Pro Bowl appearance or two. I think a few more years in the league could get him voted in, though, because he needs the numbers to look more impressive to voters.

Jose Romero, Seattle Times

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He’s only 29 so I think it’s too early to judge. Let’s see where he finishes.

While I can’t blame him for taking the money, he probably hurt his chances by signing with the Cardinals, which is like going into the Witness Protection Program.

I just checked and was surprised to see he has over 900 yards this year. He no longer gets noticed. If he’d stayed in Indy and gotten the Super Bowl ring or if he’d signed with a winning, high-profile team that relies on the run, his chances would be better.

That being said, if he gets to the 14,000-15,000 range, I would think he’ll probably get in.

Vito Stellino, Florida Times-Union, Hall of Fame voter

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I would have to say Edgerrin James would receive very strong consideration. His numbers put him among the great backs of all time, and if he continues... and cracks the top 10, he would seem a sure bet.

If he doesn’t, it might be more difficult but I would think, in time, he would be able to make a very strong case for himself.

Ron Borges, longtime pro football writer, Hall of Fame voter