Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Bobby Dan Dillon, as he was actually known by coaches, teammates, fans, writers, and broadcasters, had a pretty good first five years: 36 INTs, returned for 655 yards and 3 TDs.

Joey Browner had three pro bowls and an all-pro selection in his first five years but he wasn't a full-time starter in years 1and 2. His prime years were 3-8 when he was selected to six consecutive pro bowls and three all-pro teams.

coachtj wrote:.....ken houston & mel renfro are in the hall of fame. they are not part of this discussion. best first five years and not in the hall of fame, and must be a safety. jake scott for some folks might rank ahead of volk....and he sure was a damn good player, as was his running mate dick anderson; though scott played better his first five than andy. patton though the best safety in football from 58-62 is not in the running as he played very little at safety(played some corner)his first 18 games, before winning the job from herb rich in '56. my focus of this subject is to see how many; so far, very few mentioned, though kenny easley is the better player over volk. that might be debated by some, yet the kenny easley case is rock solid for the hall, why volk will never be considered. keep in mind they played different positions, and the responsibilities for those men with their teams was very, VERY different. c'mon folks....other than scott, or possibly anderson ....no one else to be mentioned?

Oops, sorry Coach, I didn't catch that pre-req. My fault.

Goose Gonsoulin!

Although he wasn't a starter in his first two years in the league, Deron Cherry should get in this discussion, as he was a Pro Bowler in his first three seasons as a starter, intercepting 7 passes in each season. Interestingly, the man he replaced, Gary Barbaro, also had a solid first 5 years in the NFL. It's a shame he jumped to the USFL's New Jersey Generals, if he had stayed with the Kansas City Chiefs he could have been one of the top safeties of the 80s.

Teo wrote:Although he wasn't a starter in his first two years in the league, Deron Cherry should get in this discussion, as he was a Pro Bowler in his first three seasons as a starter, intercepting 7 passes in each season. Interestingly, the man he replaced, Gary Barbaro, also had a solid first 5 years in the NFL. It's a shame he jumped to the USFL's New Jersey Generals, if he had stayed with the Kansas City Chiefs he could have been one of the top safeties of the 80s.

Cromwell and Cherry started in the same fashion. Cromwell was nickleback for two seasons then from 1979-81 (the next three) he was a prototype free safety.

Cherry also exploded, as you mention, in the 3rd season.

Easley is my answer....followed by Steve Atwater...at least as far as the ones I have seen play.

If challenged to post an answer (and we kind of were) I can think of a "homer" choice who might apply...

If we can discount his very first season in which he played in only eight games and started but four then 49er Dwight Hicks had a pretty amazing five year start. Even if we consider the first partial season the last few years would elevate his five year totals.

1980 was Dwight's first full year in the NFL and he had a satisfactory 4 INTs.
But starting with 1981 and the arrival of three rookies in the 'Niner secondary (Carlton Williamson, Eric Wright and some guy named Ronnie Lott) Dwight Hicks stats and career took off.

From 1981 to 1984 Hicks was in the Pro Bowl each year and intercepted 9, 3, 2 and 3 passes in those years. In '81 he led the league in interception return yardage with 239 yards. And in 83 he led the NFL with 2 INTs returned for TDs.

And, of course, in '81 and '84 the 49ers were super bowl champs.

Even more amazingly, a secondary with Ronnie Lott in it was know as "Dwight Hicks and the Hot Licks".

Anyway, that's my modern era, homer choice.

Mark Carrier was excellent his first few years in the NFL as well. He was not the caliber of Browner, Easley, Cherry, Patton, etc., but he was damn good.