Which senior candidates will the Hall of Fame voters consider for 2014?

by | Aug 7, 2013 | Hall of Fame

With the 2013 induction ceremony in the books, it’s time to start looking into who the 2014 class will include. The list of modern-era nominees is likely a ways off, but the senior committee will likely be announcing its pair of contenders sometime within the next few weeks.

The Pro Football Researchers Association, led by Ken Crippen, plans to promote four candidates:

Al Wistert, an offensive tackle who played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1943 to 1951. Pro Football Reference lists him as a one-time Pro Bowler and a four-time First Team All-Pro on the Associated Press list. His overall resume is even more decorated when you take into accounts organizations like United Press International, Pro Football Illustrated and others.

Laverne “Lavvie” Dilweg, an end with the Milwaukee Badgers in 1926 and the Green Bay Packers from 1927 to 1934. Dilweg was an AP First Team All Pro five times and he graded out well compared with the best players of the era, including Don Hutson, according to a fact sheet published by the PFWA.

Frederick Wayman “Duke” Slater, a tackle who played 10 years of pro football after a stellar college career at the University of Iowa. He played for the Badgers in 1922 and then with Rock Island Independents from 1922 to 1926 and then joined the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL as one of just five black players in the league. He lasted in the NFL through 1931, often as the only African American player in the league. He participated in a game during which Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns and achieved All-Pro status six times, though his playing days preceded the Associated Press list.

Mac Speedie, an end with Cleveland during a seven-year run from 1946 to 1952. Speedie was a two-time Pro Bowler and a three-time AP All Pro first teamer who led the league in catches four times in that span. (more…)

Patriots still top dog in AFC East

by | Jun 26, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Random Thoughts

With news that Aaron Hernandez was finally arrested today in conjunction with the murder of Odin Lloyd, the outlook changes for both our fantasy football tight end rankings and for the offense of the New England Patriots.

But there still isn’t anyone in the AFC East that is going to be able to dethrone Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and crew.

Yes, Wes Welker is in Denver, Rob Gronkowski is living out of the local operating room and Hernandez is facing the possibility that his next several years will be spent in a prison camp rather than training camp. (more…)

ZoneBlitz teams with Maggio, world’s 17th foremost fantasy expert

by | Jun 12, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Since Tony and I started ZoneBlitz.com nearly five years ago now we’ve debated how to approach the fantasy football world. There are dozens of sites out there offering advice, and while we consider ourselves to be pretty solid fantasy football players, we’ve never had the time to devote to doing it in a way that we thought we would stand out.

So we’ve done the occasional post and we’ve interviewed several industry experts on fantasy football, but we’ve largely avoided diving head first into the hours upon hours of research and writing that it would take to put quality fantasy content together.

That changes today. Recently we met with someone we’ve connected with over the years who IS a bona fide fantasy football expert. Together we decided to put our brains together to figure out how to take ZoneBlitz’ fantasy coverage to the next level.

Anthony Maggio served as an associate editor for the extremely popular but now defunct Fanball (Maggio takes very little responsibility for its demise) and he is widely considered the world’s 17th-foremost fantasy football expert. He co-hosts Fantasy Football Sunday from 9 to 10 a.m. central time on 1500 ESPN in the Twin Cities. Listen live on Sundays during the football season by clicking here.

Maggio also is a regular Associated Press contributor whose other editorial credits (full-time, part-time, freelance or otherwise) include KFAN, Fox Sports North, Star Tribune and ESPN-Dallas/Ft. Worth, to name a few.

Follow Maggio on Twitter @MplsMaggio. And check back here for preseason rankings by position, which we will start posting later this week.

Urlacher becomes latest NFL star to retire

by | May 22, 2013 | Hall of Fame

Brian Urlacher announced his retirement Wednesday morning via a statement linked to his Twitter account and in so doing, he joins a parade of former NFL stars who have called it quits before the 2013 kicks off in a couple of months.

Urlacher indicated that while he could continue playing “I’m not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that’s up to my standards.”

Photo credit: Wikipedia user Jauerback

While I can’t speak to his passion, it was clear to anyone watching the last couple seasons that he is no longer the player he was when he arrived in the Chicago 13 seasons ago. So even though there were rumors of interest in his services from Minnesota and Denver, I suspect his decision to retire may have had something to do with a weak market for his services.

Nonetheless, he leaves the league a highly decorated star. He and Ray Lewis, who announced during the 2012 season that it would be his last, both exit as franchise cornerstone linebacker superstar players who lasted double-digit seasons with just one team.

Congratulations to Urlacher, who now only has to wait to see when he should show up in Canton for his inevitable induction and enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In a typical year, Urlacher’s eight Pro Bowl appearances, four first-team Associated Press All Pro awards and 1,052 tackles (according to Pro Football Reference’s stats) would make him a fairly sure bet to be a first ballot enshrinee. He also was a member of the Team of the 2000s. (more…)

Ronde Barber’s retirement spurs discussion of Hall of Fame cred

by | May 9, 2013 | Hall of Fame

Ronde Barber announced this week that he would join a collection of high profile group of his contemporaries in retiring from the NFL. The highly-decorated cornerback, who became the first player ever to achieve at least 40 interceptions and 25 sacks during his career, spent all 16 of his seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Barber joins Ray Lewis, Steve Hutchinson, Matt Birk, Jeff Saturday, Donald Driver and Jason Hansen, among others, who have decided that the 2012 season will be their last. The clock starts this season on the five year wait to see when – or if – they will eventually be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Barber’s pursuit of immortality in Canton will be an interesting one. In addition to the 47 interceptions and 28 sacks he finished with, he went to five Pro Bowls and was named first team All Pro by the Associated Press three times. That puts him a notch ahead of Ty Law, who profiles at a 5/2 in those same categories. (more…)