Elvin Bethea is a Hall of Fame pass rusher whose career earned a strong career value score of 75 in the Knox value model. Bethea's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
E
Elvin Bethea
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextRegular-season all-time ranks
Yes
Hall of Fame
A high-end edge rusher defined as much by exceptional availability — almost never missed time as by their on-field impact (top 10% all-time). Coaches and teammates could count on them being available.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 189 · #428 · EliteWorth 189 points of value above a freely-available replacement edge rusher — top 10% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 11 of 14 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +17.2 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
11 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
51
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
11
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+17.2
Avg surplus
peak +40
11 seasons × ~17.2 surplus ≈ VORP 189
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.
1 grid split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Defense | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1968 | — | HOU | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1969 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14.5 | 14.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1970 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.5 | 10.5 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1971 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.5 | 10.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1972 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7.0 | 7.0 | — | — | — | 5 | — | — |
| 1973 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16.0 | 16.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1974 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5.0 | 5.0 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1975 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.0 | 10.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1976 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14.5 | 14.5 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1977 | — | HOU | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1978 | — | HOU | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8.0 | 8.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1979 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | HOU | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1981 | — | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1982 | — | HOU | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1983 | — | HOU | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| Career | — | 181 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 105.0 | 105.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | — | — | |
Defense
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 22 | HOU | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1969 | 23 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14.5 | 14.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1970 | 24 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.5 | 10.5 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1971 | 25 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.5 | 10.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1972 | 26 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7.0 | 7.0 | — | — | — | 5 | — | — |
| 1973 | 27 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16.0 | 16.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1974 | 28 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5.0 | 5.0 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1975 | 29 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.0 | 10.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1976 | 30 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14.5 | 14.5 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1977 | 31 | HOU | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1978 | 32 | HOU | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8.0 | 8.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1979 | 33 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1980 | 34 | HOU | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1981 | 35 | HOU | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1982 | 36 | HOU | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1983 | 37 | HOU | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| Career | 181 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | — | — |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 75 · GreatA great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 75 of 100, era-normalized against sacks/g peers across 14 scored seasons.
64
Sustained
career value
×.6
85
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 72.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 75· confidence 96%
What builds the career mark of 64
On-field 45.5
Availability 18.5
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative sacks/g)
1968bestavg 61elite 701981
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position51
Solid
of 100
Reached 53% of the all-time Sacks leader — a solid all-time profile at the position.
53% of the all-time Sacks leader53
1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33
A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 95%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average edge rushers aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (North Carolina A&T), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.
Reference Graph
Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1983final season
Last recorded season with HOU
- 1968signing
Entered the NFL with HOU
Knox
StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →
Historical Knox · KV-H
Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 14-season peers. See all →
75
peak 85
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
F1968
B+1969
B1970
B1971
C+1972
A1973
C+1974
B+1975
A+1976
C1977
B+1978
C1979
C+1980
B1981
Era Translator
Sacks translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.
| Season | Actual Sacks | Sacks/G | → 2025 Sacks | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0-0.5 | 0 |
| 1969 | 14.5 | 1 | 8-6.5 | 0.5 |
| 1970 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 4-6.5 | 0.2 |
| 1971 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 4-6.5 | 0.3 |
| 1972 | 7 | 0.5 | 2-5 | 0.1 |
| 1973 | 16 | 1.1 | 10-6 | 0.6 |
| 1974 | 5 | 0.4 | 1-4 | 0.1 |
| 1975 | 10 | 0.7 | 7-3 | 0.4 |
| 1976 | 14.5 | 1 | 12-2.5 | 0.7 |
| 1977 | 2 | 0.2 | 1-1 | 0 |
| 1978 | 8 | 0.5 | 8 | 0.5 |
| 1979 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0-1.5 | 0 |
| 1980 | 2 | 0.2 | 3+1 | 0.2 |
| 1981 | 2 | 0.1 | 4+2 | 0.3 |
Data: wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/10/2026
Career Value · VORP
189 career value over replacement — #428 all-time of 4,642. 13.5/season above a replacement-level EDGE.
Fan Rating
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