Predicting the 2015 Hall of Fame class

by Andy | Feb 16, 2014 | Hall of Fame

The last two classes of modern era players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame have been, from top to bottom, as

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

solid as they come. Not everyone I would have picked myself got in, but none of the people who did were borderline cases, at least in my eyes.

Voters knocked several of the most deserving players off the list, meaning predicting the finalists and then the class of 2015 might be slightly tougher this year.

As we did last year (when we actually hit 14 of 15 finalists), we’ll start by picking a final 15.

The first 10 players should be fairly easy. Look at who made last year’s list who were not ultimately enshrined in the Hall. They were Morten Andersen, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Edward DeBartolo Jr., Tony Dungy, Kevin Greene, Charles Haley, Marvin Harrison, John Lynch and Will Shields.

That’s 10 of 15 spots. Those guys are really pretty easy. They won’t likely all make the Hall, but there are legitimate cases for all of them and there aren’t any legitimate reasons for them to fall out of favor.

Then you’ve got first-year candidates. The eight biggest names, as I see it, whose clocks start in 2014 are QB Kurt Warner, RB Edgerrin James, WRs Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, T Orlando Pace, C Kevin Mawae, CB Ty Law and LB Junior Seau.

There will be discussion, I believe, on three as potential first-ballot HOFers: Warner, Pace and Seau. I think Holt and his seven Pro Bowls could legitimately find his way into the semifinalist list of 25, but I think he ranks a distant third behind the holdover receivers Tim Brown and Marvin Harrison among the crop of those eligible at the position. (more…)

Hall needs separate category for contributors

by Andy | Feb 2, 2014 | Hall of Fame

Overall I think the Hall of Fame selection committee did a pretty good job in picking the 2014 class of inductees. The class is illustrative, however, of one problem the voters seem to have these days.

When they narrowed the candidate list from more than 100 down to 25 in November, there were six coaches and contributors on the list. When they narrowed it down to five on Saturday, none of them came from those categories.

And that’s a good thing, at least to the extent that there is a long, healthy list of players who warrant induction into the Hall of Fame and, put head-to-head against owners, referees, coaches and other oddball contributors, I prefer that the players get the tiebreakers.

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Official 2014 Hall of Fame Class Announced

by Tony | Feb 1, 2014 | Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

The 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class consists of:

LB Derrick Brooks, WR Andre Reed, CB Aeneas Williams, T Walter Jones, and DE Michael Strahan, along with senior candidates Claude Humphrey and Ray Guy, the first punter to be elected.

Brooks and Jones were first ballot elections to the Hall of Fame, while Humphrey was a two-time senior candidate, after being a finalist three times. Guy was a first year senior candidate.

Reed’s induction got him in before Marvin Harrison and a collection of wide receivers whose eligibility will be coming soon. Their stats now outpace Reed, though the Bills wideout put up what were great numbers in his day.

Jones’ selection put him in over Kansas City guard Will Shields, among the most decorated offensive linemen of his time.

With NFL Network passing on a Hall of Fame announcement segment this year in favor of more overhyping pregame of the Super Bowl, rumors started swirling around 5 p.m. central time about who was going to make the final class. Comments started coming in on various Hall of Fame posts on this site at about the same time.

The final five to be cut were Charles Haley, Jerome Bettis, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Will Shields. Unscientifically, reaction on Twitter seems to be that Haley was the biggest snub, followed by Bettis.

For what it’s worth, Andy predicted four of the five modern-era candidates to make the Hall, missing only on Walter Jones. He predicted Shields would get the call. Tony got three. He also picked Shields over Jones and also picked Tony Dungy instead of Aeneas Williams.

What are your thoughts on the class of 2014? And, though I think this was a pretty strong class, there always is someone who got a raw deal. Vote here on who you think received the biggest snub from the HOF voters.

Carter induction didn’t break Hall of Fame voters’ wide receiver logjam

by Andy | Jan 31, 2014 | Hall of Fame

A couple years ago I wrote a post discussing the difficulties that Tim Brown, Andre Reed and Cris Carter were having

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

getting the support necessary to earn the votes needed for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

It seemed, based on comments from voters and analysis by a number of pundits, that the voters couldn’t decide which one to put in the Hall first – so all of their candidacies suffered.

In that post, I made the argument that Brown warranted being inducted first, but added that all three ultimately should be inducted – and that voters better get it together fast because a new class of wide receivers are on their way.

Carter finally got in last year. While I remain convinced that Brown and Reed are both worthy of being inducted, I think their candidacies – at least pre-senior committee – may be in some trouble if one of them doesn’t get in this year.

The problem is that starting this year, guys who played during the heavier passing era the NFL has moved to are now becoming eligible for the Hall. That starts with Colts wideout Marvin Harrison.

When I went to compare Harrison to the three receivers I wrote about previously, I was stunned at how close Harrison’s numbers were to Carter’s during their respective careers. They went to the same number of Pro Bowls. Harrison had three All Pro first team awards to Carter’s two. Harrison had one more catch and 681 more receiving yards. They had the same number of 1,000 yard seasons and Harrison reached the 10 touchdown season plateau two times more than Carter. (more…)

Who would you like to see make the 2014 Hall of Fame class?

by Andy | Jan 19, 2014 | Hall of Fame

We’ve written a lot about the Hall of Fame over the years. And we’ve gotten a fair amount of debate from readers over the strengths and weaknesses of the selection system, who should be in that isn’t and whether there are teams who are underrepresented in Canton.

I’d like to start taking greater inventory of those opinions and maybe start looking more deeply into some of the individual cases that people discuss.

We’ll start here. Below is a poll on which you can vote for who you would like to see enshrined in 2014. This is based on the finalist list announced a few days ago. Please take a moment to vote for up to five modern-era candidates.

Then, if you have time, in the comments section I’d like to know why you made the selections you did. I’d also like to see who you think are the one to three most deserving candidates for the Hall who never made it in during their modern-era eligibility. Present a brief case for them if you’d like.

I think our site has had some pretty solid discussion on these issues over the years. I’d like to take this to the next level. Thank you, in advance, for your time and input.

2014 Finalists for Hall of Fame Announced

by Andy | Jan 9, 2014 | Hall of Fame

Derrick Brooks, Walter Jones and Marvin Harrison are first-time eligible finalists for induction into the Pro Football

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame. Their candidacies and those of 12 other modern-era candidates unveiled this evening will be debated and voted on until the group is narrowed down to five finalists who, along with two senior candidates, will receive up or down votes on whether they will be enshrined in 2014.

The announcement was made Thursday night on NFL Network. The final voting takes place during Super Bowl week and the final class will be unveiled in the days leading up to the big game.

Joining Brooks, Jones and Harrison as finalists are Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Andre Reed, Will Shields, Michael Strahan, Kevin Greene, Charles Haley, John Lynch, Aeneas Williams, Morten Andersen, Edward DeBartolo Jr. and Tony Dungy.

The group will be voted down to 10 and then to five. The final five and two senior candidates will be given yes or no votes. Up to five modern-era and two senior candidates can be inducted in any given year. This year’s senior candidates are Ray Guy and Claude Humphrey, who were selected by the Hall of Fame’s senior committee. They advance directly to the final vote. (more…)