King wants more “contributors” enshrined in the Hall of Fame

by | Dec 20, 2010 | Hall of Fame, NFL History, NFL Media, NFL Random Thoughts

We’ve had some spirited debates over the past couple years about who should and shouldn’t be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, many of them relating to senior nominees who in some cases were surprisingly overlooked years ago.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King devoted a good chunk of his Monday Morning Quarterback today to finding a way to get more “contributors” to the game enshrined in Canton, Ohio as well. He makes a compelling case that many non-players deserve to be enshrined. I think he’s probably right — I particularly agree with the case he made for the Ed Sabol, who founded NFL Films.

I’m not sure, however, if the three alternatives he proposes for making the change to ensure more contributor honorees make the most sense to me (though at first glance I don’t have an obviously better answer, either).

Stolen directly from his column, King’s three proposed options include:

1. Take one of the two Seniors slots and give it annually to a non-head coaching contributor to the game, which wouldn’t mean a contributor wouldn’t get in every year, but rather that one contributor’s case would be heard every year.
2. Take one of the two Seniors slots every other year and give it annually to a contributor.
3. Take the two non-modern-era-candidate slots and make them fit for all other candidates — seniors, scouts, etc.

I admit, I’m not an expert on how the voters would go about changing the process. I do know that the limit on modern era candidates is five and the  limit on senior committee candidates is two, for a maximum of seven inductees to the Hall in any given year. To me, as the NFL Hall of Fame prepares to expand its physical footprint anyway, it seems like you could simply add one more slot each year for a “contributor” and make the maximum number of entrants each year eight – with no requirement that number be voted in, of course.

But as I said, I don’t know for sure what the procedure is for making a change like this. So, I’m asking our readers for thoughts. Should more contributors be recognized? If so, how would you suggest changing the voting process? If not, why?

And while you’re sharing your thoughts on this topic I’ll see if I can’t find some clarity to the process under which such a change to the voting could be made.

Mole & Meares Show hits big time at least for a week

by | Dec 19, 2010 | NFL Fans, NFL Media, NFL Random Thoughts

Those of us who start blogs, podcasts and video shows, I think, do so dreaming of hitting the big time, though most of us also realize it’s quite a long shot.

“The Mole and Meares Show,” however, hit the jackpot recently, if only for a week. The duo was contacted  by a producer at NFL Films for a piece Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” show is doing on social media and its influence on sports.

Showtime sent correspondent Susannah Collins to the basement studio where Christopher Meares Greg Molyneaux, have filmed “The Mole & Meares Show” since 2008.

The site includes weekly video, where Mole and Meares pick winners for their four games of the week. They then refer viewers to their website, www.moleandmeares.com, where they unveil the rest of their picks, publish their power rankings and host a contest where visitors can pick games and win prizes.

NFL Films shot footage of “The Mole & Meares Show” and Collins did a guest spot. In exchange, Mole and Meares shed their jerseys for suits for a week and used the NFL Films studios to tape their Week 15 show.

“They wanted to show the transformation of a basement show to a professionally created show,” Meares writes, adding that Showtime’s staff filmed the makeup process, the suiting up and the meetings with a director.  Showtime also did all the editing for the show.

When Meares, who also blogs on CBS Sports, contacted me about the segment, which he says is scheduled to air Wednesday, December 22, I told him he could consider me jealous. He indicated that I shouldn’t be, that the opportunity likely arose more from the duos’ proximity to the studios — they’re 20 minutes away.

Doesn’t matter. I’m jealous anyway. Congratulations to Mole & Meares. I hope your segment leads to big things. Best of luck.

Randy “Woody” Moss? Weird season getting weirder

by | Dec 17, 2010 | 2010 season, NFL Random Thoughts

Let’s see, Randy Moss allegedly was run out of New England this season because he wasn’t getting along with teammates and/or coaches.

He was run out of Minnesota, after Bill Belichick stole a third round pick from the Vikings for him, when he allegedly tried to get then-coach Brad Childress fird and berated a catering company serving lunch to team players and officials.

And he’s been nearly invisible, even getting benched, in five games with the Tennessee Titans.

Has he sunk to calling a radio show under the pseudonym “Woody” and ripping another coach, Jeff Fisher?

The recording isn’t entirely conclusive to my ears. But Clay Travis from Fanhouse believes it probably was Moss who called a show co-hosted by Travis ripping Fisher for a multitude of perceived sins (There’s a recording of the show linked to the story linked above that contains the audio in question).

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NFL Hall of Fame announces expansion plans, 2011 semifinalists

NFL Hall of Fame announces expansion plans, 2011 semifinalists

by | Dec 10, 2010 | Hall of Fame, NFL History

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced plans to renovate a portion of its existing structure and expand from 83,000 square feet to 124,000 square feet in a $23.6 million project that will take two years to complete.

The “Future 50 Project” will wrap up during the 50th Anniversary of the hall’s opening and will lay the foundation for the building’s next 50 years of operations, according to a statement.

“The growth and accomplishments of the Pro Football Hall of Fame during its first 50 years are widely acclaimed,” said Steve Perry, president and executive director. “It’s great that we are able to build upon the success of the past and initiate this major project to set the stage for success in the future.”

The project will include: (more…)

Real or not, new uniform possibilities are hideous

by | Nov 21, 2010 | Business of Football

Soon after my wife and I moved into the same house I was watching an NFL game in front of the basement television when she sat down beside me. She watched silently for a few minutes, then said “Who designed those terrible outfits?”

I don’t remember who was playing during that game. It might have been Detroit and Tampa Bay or some other out-of-market game I had on after watching the Vikings complete their game for the day.

With Nike taking over NFL uniforms sometime during the next couple seasons, there is a good chance any time she sits down with me to watch a game (a rare occurrence) that she’ll be saying the same thing more emphatically.

I found out recently that Nike was to soon take over the production of NFL jerseys from a post on the website for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, which indicated that the company planned to “dramatically” change the Vikings’ jerseys – and likely those of the other NFL teams.

This scared me a bit because Nike is responsible for the yellow/green/checkerboard hideous things resembling jerseys that the Oregon Ducks wear for their NCAA games. The different combinations could not possibly be more disgusting, ranging in ridiculousness from banana yellow to something (I think) slightly darker than baby poop green, some of which have checkerboard designs on the shoulder pads and knees. I think the Ducks are the best team in college football this season. I think their uniforms are the worst college football has seen since I’ve been watching football.

Well, something called BusinessInsider.com has published potential uniforms for each of the NFL’s 32 teams. Reportedly they are fake, according to sports business reporting guru Darren Rovell’s twitter status.

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