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Buffalo Bills: 8 players who should be added to the Wall of Fame

By Brandon Croce

ORCHARD PARK, NY - DECEMBER 22: Eric Wood #70 of the Buffalo Bills and head coach Doug Marrone and Kyle Williams #95 stand for the playing of the anthem before the start of NFL game action against the Miami Dolphins at Ralph Wilson Stadium on December 22, 2013 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NY - DECEMBER 22: Eric Wood #70 of the Buffalo Bills and head coach Doug Marrone and Kyle Williams #95 stand for the playing of the anthem before the start of NFL game action against the Miami Dolphins at Ralph Wilson Stadium on December 22, 2013 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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30 Oct 1988: Linebacker Cornelius Bennett of the Buffalo Bills looks on during a game against the Green Bay Packers at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The Bills won the game, 28-0. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport
30 Oct 1988: Linebacker Cornelius Bennett of the Buffalo Bills looks on during a game against the Green Bay Packers at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The Bills won the game, 28-0. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport /

Cornelius Bennett

A majority of the key players from the Super Bowl teams of the 1990s are apart of the Wall of Fame with the biggest name missing being Cornelius Bennett. The production on the field certainly warrants his name up there however off the field issues in the latter part of the 1990s could be the reason for his exclusion.

Bennett was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 1987 however the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement and he was traded to the Bills midway through the season. He would go on to play nine seasons with the Bills that included five Pro Bowl appearances, three first-team All-Pro selections and won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 1988 and then again in 1991.

As mentioned, the on-field production is certainly enough to make this an easy choice however Bennett had some off-the-field issues after he left the Bills. In an article last year by Tim O’Shei of the Buffalo News, the exclusion of Cornelius Bennett got brought up during an interview with Marv Levy.

In that article, Levy says he wrote a letter to co-owner Kim Pegula about Bennett being left out due to a sexual assault charge in 1997.

"Levy addressed in the letter what he has heard is keeping Bennett off the team’s Wall of Fame: a 1997 charge of sexual misconduct to which he pleaded guilty. “I understand (the committee’s) concern,” he wrote, “but I also feel that he has already dearly paid the price, and that he has directed an overwhelming amount of attention to atoning for that action.”"

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