Jamaal Charles' career could be coming to a close shortly.
Months removed from playing just two games for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the former Kansas City Chiefs great told TMZ Sports this week that his future is still "in the air" and that there is a "possibility" that he's played his last game.
Considering that Charles could be calling it quits shortly, it's worth considering his legacy. The 32-year-old running back already has. When asked about his Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy, Charles was definitive: He deserves a gold jacket.
"I mean, some of my numbers look way better than some people already in Canton," Charles told TMZ. "I think what's gonna definitely haunt me is not winning a Super Bowl but I hope that people can see what type of person I was from playing football, on the field and off the field."
Is Charles a Hall of Fame running back? Let's dive into this thought experiment.
Charles self-diagnoses his gold-jacket viability pretty well. Over the course of his 11-year career, Charles has averaged 5.4 yards per carry, more than any other running back not named Marion Motley. That's more than Jim Brown's 5.2 YPC, Joe Perry's 5.0, Gale Sayers' 5.0 and Barry Sanders' 5.0. All five of those backs are in Canton.
"That tells you what type of player I was," Charles said. "I gave it my all. Every time I touched the ball, I averaged six yards a carry basically."
However, Charles' career was riddled with injuries -- he started over 10 games in a season just three times -- and as the running back offered, he played in just two playoff games and never won a Super Bowl. Due to injury and playing at the same time as Adrian Peterson, LeSean McCoy and Arian Foster, Charles never led the league in rushing either.
The last six running backs to be enshrined in Canton are Terrell Davis, LaDainian Tomlinson, Jerome Bettis, Curtis Martin, Marshall Faulk and Emmitt Smith. Five of those players are among the top 12 all-time in rushing, and there are two active players -- Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson -- who are already there.
Meanwhile, Charles is 56th all-time, 44 yards behind Davis, who, in just seven seasons, led the league in rushing once and rushing TDs twice, won two Super Bowls and was named Super Bowl MVP.
A two-time first-team All Pro, Charles' best campaign arguably came in 2013 when the running back led all players with 19 total touchdowns and racked up 1,980 yards from scrimmage.
Charles hasn't seen a campaign like that in some time though. The running back has started just five games over the last four seasons, totaling 1,034 total yards and seven scores on 206 touches for three franchises during that span.
Like the continuation of his career, Charles' HOF candidacy is still up in the air. It will be dependent on Charles' company, others eligible for enshrinement five years after he retires, and the 48-person Selection Committee to determine whether he can ride an electric albeit inconsistent career into Canton.
