One of my all time favs. Excelled at all facets of the LB game; pick machine, good rusher and good against the run. Tough SOB as well...
He was a good solid linebacker and the 2nd best player on defense for the Jets during his career with Klecko being the best.
Would have been a HOF'er if he had played longer and healthier. The guy was a prototypical Linebacker of the day - smart and tough. Never missed an assignment. A leader by example on and off the field. Underrated because he played for the Jets, but was up there with people of his day who are in the HOF like Jack Lambert (with better cover skills). Certainly as good or better than Harry Carson (who made the HOF this year).
if he had played as long as the others...and gotten better press, he'd have made the HOF. IMO the only reason Carson got in was that he was on the Giants' Super Bowl teams and Mehl never got to a Super Bowl.
I always liked Mehl a lot. He never achieved great recognition or acclaim, but was super-rock-steady as a player. Just did his job and did it VERY well. I don't know about HoF material, but he was VERY very good. It was a shame that injury shortened his career.
Sorry MHO is that U are terribily over rating him. He never made a impact on the NFL & being a "good" player on the NYJ was not a very hard reputation to acheive when U think of how horrible NYJ teams were then
How is being a former all pro and pro bowler at a impact position like MLB not making any impact on the NFL?
He made the pro bowl once and was a good solid linebacker for a bunch of years. He never was HoF material. But a lot of very good players aren't and that's the group he fits in. It still burns me that Klecko hasn't made the hall though, that's just an injustice. Yeah his career was shorter than you'd like but he did some amazing things during that career and was the main reason the Jets were good enough to look like potential super bowl material in a few seasons.
Oh I dont think Mehl belongs in the HOF...I just think that he WAS one of the better Middle linebackers of the 80's and did leave a positive impact on the NFL. No doubt Klecko belongs in the NFL. Regardless of no SB ring, he did lead us to acouple playoff runs, and was the main contributor to a household name "the sack exchange". Hopefully one day he gets what he deserves
One year pro bowler(1986) and one year all pro(1985) and afew more solid years where he coulddve easily made it.
Much like Joe Namatah, much like Freeman Mcneil, much like Chad so far- great player when healthy but was not healthy long enough.
Mehl was more of an impact player than Vilma when he was in. He never missed tackles, never was moved backwards and had 7 INT's one year. He was really good.
Lance Mehl was a very good LB from Penn St. He could handle the run & dropped back into pass coverage with the best of em'. His 2 INT's vs Raiders helped seal a playoff victory over the raiders. Only injuries stopped this player from being a perrenial all-star. Lance was one of the best LB's in Jets' history. I saw someone mentioned that he was better than Vilma. He is better than any LB that the Jets' have today, not just Vilma. If you had to compare him to a present day LB, I would say he played alot like the Pats' LB....Ted Bruschi.
I'll always remember his two picks vs. the Raiders in the 1982 playoffs that got them into the Conference Finals. He was a very good players during a relatively short period of time. He was our 56 (calm down, he wasn't in LT's class).
fact:lance mehl was the best linebacker in jet history. fact:freeman mcneil was the best running back in jet history. -----if they both weren't injury prone ,their jerseys would be retired at the very least.--------fact.
