Why London Fletcher Deserves to Be on the Bills Wall of Fame
The Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame was created in 1980 to celebrate former players, coaches, and administrators who played essential roles in the team’s history. 31 inductees have been enshrined in the Wall of Fame since its inception. However, no one has been inducted since 1962 AFL MVP Cookie Gilchrist received the honor in 2017. With a new stadium being prepped for the near future, why not add more Bills legends' names to the Wall of Fame? This edition will show why London Fletcher deserves to be in the Wall of Fame.
Fletcher remains one of the most underrated players of all time. Despite remaining second in the history of the NFL in career tackles, Fletcher still hasn’t been selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Year after year, the five-foot-10, 242-pound linebacker proved himself as one of the best tacklers in the league with nothing to show for it. As a matter of fact, from 2002-06—the seasons when he played in Buffalo—only Zach Thomas and Donnie Edwards combined for more tackles than him during that span. Though Fletcher played with another great linebacker in Takeo Spikes while he was with the Bills, there’s no reason he shouldn’t have gotten one or two trips to the Pro Bowl. His lack of accolades is especially egregious given the fact that he finished top three in the NFL in combined tackles in 2002, 2005, and 2006.
After he left Buffalo, he finally started to get recognition, earning four Pro Bowl selections in his last five seasons, including back-to-back Second-Team All-Pro selections in 2011 and ‘12. Alas, his time with the Bills wasn’t as fruitful due to being yet another player in this series to play in the middle of the ‘drought era’ when the Bills were the laughing stock of the league. However, fans have been leading the charge for Fletcher to be a semifinalist in the last two years for the Hall of Fame. Maybe the same kind of sentiment can happen in Buffalo to get the Cleveland, Ohio native onto the Wall of Fame because he has shown that he deserves it.
