Darrelle Revis has indirect path from Revis island to Canton

Darrelle Revis had a good career, but should he be considered a great?

Darrelle Revis announced Wednesday afternoon that he will retire from the NFL after 11 seasons with the New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, and Kansas City Chiefs.

The 33-year-old was drafted 14th overall in 2007 out of Pittsburgh and spent the majority of his career with the Jets.

Undoubtedly Revis was one of the best cornerbacks of his era, and his 15 interceptions from 2008-11 over 61 games was one of the great stretches in the last 20 years.

However, Revis left his island with just 29 career interceptions, by far the fewest among Hall of Fame cornerbacks.

As noted by NFL Radio host Gil Brandt, Revis would have 11 fewer interceptions than any cornerback in the Hall of Fame.

It’s not as if Revis missed an extraordinary amount of time in his career, playing at least 13 games in 9 of his 11 seasons. His 2012 season lasted just two games after tearing his ACL, and his availability during last season was limited after signing midseason.

Revis never led the NFL in interceptions, and never had more than six in a season.

Perhaps the reason why Revis didn’t have fantastic interception numbers was that no one threw to him. The island effect was real, as shown by these numbers against the league’s best pass catchers in 2009.

It’s a fair argument to support Revis’s numbers, proving his presence alone changed games.

Revis’s career culminates with seven Pro Bowls and four All-Pros, but he never won a Defensive Player of the Year. To be fair, only three cornerbacks have ever won the award, and during Revis’ era Charles Woodson was the only recipient.

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Ultimately, being a first-ballot Hall of Famer is an uphill battle and based on his numbers Revis is an unlikely first-ballot inductee. He’ll be in a star-studded class with Joe Thomas, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates, and Dwight Freeney.