Sam Mills is a Hall of Fame linebacker whose career earned a historically elite career value score of 81 in the Knox value model. Mills's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
S
Sam Mills
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextYes
Hall of Fame
An all-time caliber linebacker (top 1% all-time) who combined elite production with excellent availability over their career. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 300 · #134 · All-TimeWorth 300 points of value above a freely-available replacement linebacker — top 4% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 12 of 12 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +25 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
12 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
47
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
12
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+25
Avg surplus
peak +34
12 seasons × ~25 surplus ≈ VORP 300
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 | |||||
| 1986 | — | NO | 13 | — | 92 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 1987 | — | NO | 12 | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 1 | 3 | — | — |
| 1988 | — | NO | 16 | — | 105 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 0 | 4 | — | — |
| 1989 | — | NO | 15 | — | 95 | — | — | — | — | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1990 | — | NO | 14 | — | 112 | — | — | — | — | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1991 | — | NO | 16 | — | 102 | — | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2 | — | 2 | 2 | — | — |
| 1992 | — | NO | 16 | — | 130 | — | — | — | — | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1 | — | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 1993 | — | NO | 7 | — | 85 | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1994 | — | NO | 16 | — | 155 | 115 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1995 | — | CAR | 16 | — | 110 | 86 | — | — | — | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5 | — | 5 | 4 | — | — |
| 1996 | — | CAR | 16 | — | 122 | 90 | — | — | — | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1 | — | 0 | 2 | — | — |
| 1997 | — | CAR | 16 | — | 99 | 72 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Career | — | 173 | — | 1,265 | 363 | — | — | — | 20.5 | 20.5 | 11 | 0 | 22 | 23 | — | — | |
Defense
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 27 | NO | 13 | — | 92 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 1987 | 28 | NO | 12 | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 1 | 3 | — | — |
| 1988 | 29 | NO | 16 | — | 105 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | — | 0 | 4 | — | — |
| 1989 | 30 | NO | 15 | — | 95 | — | — | — | — | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1990 | 31 | NO | 14 | — | 112 | — | — | — | — | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1991 | 32 | NO | 16 | — | 102 | — | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2 | — | 2 | 2 | — | — |
| 1992 | 33 | NO | 16 | — | 130 | — | — | — | — | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1 | — | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 1993 | 34 | NO | 7 | — | 85 | — | — | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1994 | 35 | NO | 16 | — | 155 | 115 | — | — | — | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 1995 | 36 | CAR | 16 | — | 110 | 86 | — | — | — | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5 | — | 5 | 4 | — | — |
| 1996 | 37 | CAR | 16 | — | 122 | 90 | — | — | — | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1 | — | 0 | 2 | — | — |
| 1997 | 38 | CAR | 16 | — | 99 | 72 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Career | 173 | 1,265 | 363 | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | 22 | 23 | — | — |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 81 · GreatA great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 81 of 100, era-normalized against tackles/g peers across 12 scored seasons.
72
Sustained
career value
×.6
80
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 75.2 × longevity 1 = KV-H 81· confidence 99%
What builds the career mark of 72
On-field 53.5
Availability 18.5
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative tackles/g)
1986bestavg 72elite 701997
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position9
Depth
of 100
Reached 10% of the all-time Sacks leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
10% of the all-time Sacks leader10
0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0
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: 97%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average linebackers 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 (Montclair State), 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.
Top Teammates
Toi CookDB9yRickey JacksonLB8yTommy BarnhardtP8yHoby BrennerTE8yEric MartinWR8yDalton HilliardRB8yWayne MartinDT6yJohn TiceTE6yCraig HeywardRB5yFloyd TurnerWR5yDave WaymerDB4yJoel SmeengeDE4yQuinn EarlyWR4yRueben MayesRB4yLonzell HillWR4yGreg ScalesTE4yJohn KasayK3yBrian HansenP3yWesley WallsTE3yKerry CollinsQB3yMark CarrierWR3yJimmy SpencerDB3yBrett PerrimanWR3yBennie ThompsonDB3y
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1997final season
Last recorded season with CAR
- 1995team change
Joined CAR (from NO)
- 1986signing
Entered the NFL with NO
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 12-season peers. See all →
81
peak 80
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
B1986
C+1987
B+1988
B+1989
B+1990
B+1991
B+1992
B+1993
A1994
B+1995
B+1996
B+1997
Availability
Era Translator
Tackles 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 Tackles | Tackles/G | → 2025 Tackles | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 92 | 7.1 | 101+9 | 5.9 |
| 1987 | 58 | 4.8 | 70+12 | 4.1 |
| 1988 | 105 | 6.6 | 99-6 | 5.8 |
| 1989 | 95 | 6.3 | 107+12 | 6.3 |
| 1990 | 112 | 8 | 143+31 | 8.4 |
| 1991 | 102 | 6.4 | 104+2 | 6.1 |
| 1992 | 130 | 8.1 | 127-3 | 7.4 |
| 1993 | 85 | 12.1 | 177+92 | 10.4 |
| 1994 | 155 | 9.7 | 139-16 | 8.2 |
| 1995 | 110 | 6.9 | 103-7 | 6.1 |
| 1996 | 122 | 7.6 | 121-1 | 7.1 |
| 1997 | 99 | 6.2 | 101+2 | 5.9 |
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
300 career value over replacement — #134 all-time of 4,642. 25/season above a replacement-level LB.
Fan Rating
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