Does the Hall of Fame Really Exist?

by | Sep 14, 2011 | Hall of Fame

I somehow just stumbled across a new (to me) sports related site (Grantland.com) that is somehow tied to The Sports Guy (my 3+ year ESPN embargo may have had something to do with my not hearing of it sooner).

In checking out some parts of the site, I saw a name that is somewhat familiar to me, Chuck Klosterman. Now, I readily admit that I don’t really know why I’ve heard the name–something makes me think it has something to do with the time I used to spend as a commentor at RandBall. But that really isn’t a part of the story.

In looking at Klosterman’s recent articles, I saw that he recently posted an article about the Hall of Fame induction–and I found the article to be a somewhat interesting read, and was wondering what our audience of regular Hall of Fame commenters would have to say about it.

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Fred Taylor: Canton Bound?

by | Sep 1, 2011 | Hall of Fame

Just read the news that Fred Taylor will be retiring as a Jacksonville Jaguar on Friday, and figured (especially after an amusing couple minutes of conversation at a draft last night during which a neighbor of mine tried to convince me that Fred Jackson would be voted into the Hall of Fame–took a couple minutes to figure out he meant Taylor) that it’s worth putting the question out to the experts on our site.

The numbers:

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Hall of Fame Names 2012 Senior Nominees

by | Aug 24, 2011 | Hall of Fame

Two players from the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1950’s have been named the two senior finalists for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a part of the 2012 class.

Cornerback Jack Butler was an undrafted free agent that signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1951-1959, earning Pro Bowl honors from 1956-59 ad being named first-team All-NFL in the final three seasons of his career.  He recorded 52 interceptions in nine seasons with the Steelers, including a career high 10 during the 1957 season. He retired after suffering a knee injury in 1959. This is his first nomination as a senior candidate for the hall.

Guard Dick Stanfel was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round (19th overall) in the 1951 NFL Draft, which to date has produced four Hall of Fame players (Bill George, Mike McCormack, Jack Christiansen, and Andy Robustelli) and one Hall of Fame coach (Don Shula) from it’s 30 rounds.  Stanfel won two NFL Championships with the Lions in 1952 and 1953, and was chosen as the team’s most valuable player in 1954, before being traded to the Washington Redskins in 1956. He retired following the 1958 season, having earned Pro Bowl honors in all three of his seasons with the Redskins to go along with his two Pro Bowl seasons in 1953 and 1955. He was also named first-team All-NFL four times in his career, twice with the Lions and twice with the Redskins.

Stanfel was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, and was named interim head coach for the final four games in 1980, going 1-3 in preventing the Saints from having the first ever 0-16 season. He was then an offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears from 1981 to 1992, including their Super Bowl win 1986. He was named a senior nominee previously in 1993.

Butler & Stanfel were chosen as the senior nominees from a list of finalists that according to commenter Boardgame included Ken Anderson, Maxie Baughan, Cliff Branch, Roger Brown, Butler, Curly Culp, Mike Curtis, Ray Guy, Cliff Harris, Lester Hayes, Chuck Howley, Claude Humphrey, Alex Karras, Jerry Kramer, Bob Keuchenberg, Eddie Meador, Tommy Nobis, Dave Robinson and Johnny Robinson.

So what say you, Zoneblitz nation–are Butler & Stanfel worthy nominees? Others from the list of finalists that made more sense? Surprise omissions from the finalists (looking at you, Mick Tingelhoff)?  Let us know in the comments.

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Pro Football Hall of Fame Names Class of 2011

by | Feb 5, 2011 | Hall of Fame

As I’m sure most of you have seen or heard, the Hall of Fame officially announced the Class of 2011 tonight.  Making the final cut were:

DB Deion Sanders
RB Marshall Faulk
Contributor Ed Sabol
DE Richard Dent
TE Shannon Sharpe
LB Chris Hanburger (Senior Candidate)
LB Les Richter (Senior Candidate)

So our thoughts on the class?

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@WhitlockJason Is Going to Cry

by | Feb 5, 2011 | Hall of Fame

“http://bit.ly/gnNRyE Compelling argument by @WhitlockJason for W Roaf. Disagree w/ him on Derm. Dawson, but good read”

The above was tweeted earlier tonight–on the Zoneblitz.com account, by my brother Andy. Not the first, and probably not the last, but I’ve got to disagree with my brother on this one–it really wasn’t that good of a read.

Now, before I get too far in, let me preface this by saying that I do agree with Whitlock that Willie Roaf should be (and will be) a Hall of Famer.  I just disagree with some of his arguments around it, and the degree to which he seems to be taking it personally.

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