ST. LOUIS — Everyone had their "guys" growing up. You know what I'm talking about. Those favorite players on all of your favorite teams as a kid.
Growing up in the St. Louis area in the 2000s, I had some great options to pick from.
On the Cardinals, I had Scott Rolen. On the Blues, I had Keith Tkachuk. And on the Rams, my guy was Torry Holt.
Hopefully, 2022 is finally the year I get to see "my guy" Torry Holt go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The class of 2022 will be announced on Thursday night at the NFL Honors.
Obviously, St. Louis has an antagonistic relationship with today's Rams. But those Greatest Show on Turf teams gave us memories that can never be taken away.
Yes I know a lot of those former players have embraced the franchise even through the move, and that really stinks to see, but I get it. They want to still have a vehicle to connect to today's NFL. I'm willing to let some of that slide.
RELATED: Former St. Louis Rams receiver Torry Holt once again finalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame
Guys like Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt became legends here. They'll always be ours. And we get to celebrate when they're elected to Canton, because we saw them at their best.
2022 is Holt's third straight year as a finalist. It's past time he finally gets the call to join his St. Louis teammates.
I've taken a look at how Holt stacks up to other candidates and just how impressive his place in football history is before, so I won't go too deep into it again. But let me throw a few quick things at you.
- Holt has the 16th most receiving yards in NFL history. And he did it in just 10 years.
- Holt had the most receiving yards of the 2000s. With almost 1,000 more yards in the decade than Randy Moss and Terrell Owens who finished in second and third place, respectively.
- Holt has the second-most seasons of 1,300 receiving yards or more with six. Only all-time leading receiver Jerry Rice had more (7). And Holt is one of just five players in history with multiple 1,600 receiving yard seasons. (Hat tip to Jeff Kerr on Twitter for that one.)
Those numbers alone sound like a Hall of Famer to me. If you were one of the five most dominant players at your position in your decade, that should be good enough. Holt was.
Don't believe me? Just ask his former head coach Dick Vermeil, who is expected to get into Canton himself this year.
"It's time. He's been in the finals, what this is is third or fourth time? It is time to not pass him up. If I go in I'd love to have him covering for me and catching passes down the field on the same stage," Vermeil said of Holt. "He's one of the main reasons I'm a finalist, because of Kurt Warner because of Torry... Without those guys I'm not a Super Bowl-winning coach. Without Mike Martz, Al Saunders and Jim Hanifan I'm not a Super Bowl-Winning coach. It takes an unbelievably strong root to lift a 7-and-a-half pound Lombardi Trophy. It takes an entire organization and a lot of wonderful people to lift it. And I was so fortunate in my career to be surrounded by those kind of people."
RELATED: 'I'm extremely grateful': Former St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil is on the doorstep of Canton
I grew up loving Torry Holt because he made the plays that excited me most. They didn't call him "Big Game" for nothing.
If the ball was floated in Holt's general direction, there was probably a good chance he was going to do something cool. His mangled hands are legendary, but in their day there were none better.
There are many deserving candidates this year, with some intriguing wide receiver names as well. Reggie Wayne will no doubt get into Canton eventually and Andre Johnson presents an intriguing case, but this year should be Torry's time. He's waited long enough.
With four players from the Rams' Greatest Show on Turf offense already in the Hall of Fame (Warner, Faulk, Bruce and Pace), the unit is firmly cemented as one of the best offenses in the history of football. Once Holt takes his rightful place next to them, there will be even less doubt that the early 2000's St. Louis Rams were the greatest to ever do it.