CLEMSON — Monday was a good day for Clemson Football.

After years of waiting, Michael Dean Perry will finally be inducted into the Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium. This is a well-deserved honor for Perry, who is arguably the greatest defensive tackle Clemson has ever had.

Now, I know the newbies will not agree with me and that is okay. They, more than likely, will pick Christian Wilkins and that is a good choice, too. I understand recency bias as well as anyone.

And I get it. Wilkins was unbelievable and was one of the most athletic defensive linemen I ever saw play at Clemson, and that is counting Perry’s brother, William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Don’t worry, I expect to see Wilkins’ name on the façade of Memorial Stadium in the next 10 to 15 years.

However, growing up in the mid-to-late 1980s, I have never seen a defensive tackle like Michael Dean Perry at Clemson. I have still never seen anyone with the kind of first move Perry had or his ability to time up the snap count on a consistent basis.

He was so fun to watch. Perry lived in his opponents’ backfield, evident by his 61 tackles for loss, which is still a Clemson record to this day.

After leaving Clemson in 1987, where he guided the Tigers to two ACC Championships, he was selected No. 50 overall in the second round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

Perry was named to the NFL’s All-Rookie Team in 1988 and in 1989, in just his second year in the league, he earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. In his 10 years in the NFL, Perry earned eight All-Pro honors (First-Team six times) and six times was named to the Pro Bowl.

I bring all this up because Perry’s lifetime achievements should not stop with Clemson’s Ring of Honor. There is one more out there that I feel like he deserves – the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He deserves his bust to be up there among the best who have ever played the game. He should get the opportunity to join Brian Dawkins in the Hall, who right now is the only former Clemson Tiger in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Perry’s professional honors are very similar to Dawkins, who was an All-Pro five times (four first team honors) and was selected for nine Pro Bowls in his career.

I have always thought Perry deserved to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I will always believe it. Hopefully, after this column you will too.

—photo courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications