by Andy | Feb 22, 2013 | Hall of Fame
Jeff Saturday & Matt Birk
Matt Birk announced his retirement today meaning that the 2012 season was the last for two of the NFL’s most prominent centers over the last decade and change.
Birk joins Jeff Saturday in hanging up his cleats. The Vikings and Ravens center goes out on top, having helped Baltimore to its second Super Bowl championship. It was his only ring despite having played for 15 years.
In addition to winning the Super Bowl once, Birk finishes his career with six Pro Bowl appearances. Saturday leaves the league after a 14 year career that was primarily spent in Indianapolis. He made six Pro Bowl appearances, though the last one this season (with Green Bay) was earned despite his having been benched toward the end of the season. Saturday adds two appearances on the Associated Press NFL All Pro First Team.
So, where do these two greats fall on the all-time list of NFL centers? Both of them were very good to great players but I’m uncertain whether they belong in the Hall of Fame. Using Pro Bowls as a comparative stat has its shortcomings because of fan involvement and all the guys these days who are getting appearances due to superior players pulling out of the game. But offensive linemen are particularly difficult to judge, so comparing their postseason profiles with respect to Pro Bowls and AP All Pro appearances with counterparts who were on the last three NFL All-Decade teams seems a logical place to start. (more…)
by Andy | Feb 4, 2013 | Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts
Critics, including Zoneblitz.com, have been hard on the Pro Football Hall of Fame committee over the past few years for perceived shortcomings in their votes. So I think it is only fair to give them credit for the class they chose to induct in 2013.
That’s not to say I agreed with every selection they made. There were others I thought should have gotten in, but the 2013 class included no borderline candidates and nobody who wouldn’t otherwise have gotten in within another year or two had it not happened this season.
Family responsibilities kept me from watching the announcement last weekend, so this is the first chance I’ve had to truly take an in depth look at their choices. And I think it’s one of the strongest in years. (more…)
by Tony & Andy | Feb 2, 2013 | Hall of Fame
The Class of 2013 Hall of Fame was announced Saturday, with Larry Allen, Cris Carter, Curley Culp, Jonathon Ogden, Bill Parcells, Dave Robinson and Warren Sapp making the cut.
The final 10 candidates were Michael Strahan, Parcells, Allen, Jerome Bettis, Carter, Charles Haley, Ogden, Andre Reed, Sapp and Aeneas Williams.
While several of the finalists were strong holdovers from previous votes, this was a strong class of former players who were in their first year of eligibility. In addition to finalists Ogden, Allen, Strahan and Sapp, first-year eligible candidates included safety John Lynch, running back Priest Holmes, quarterback Steve McNair and kicker Morten Andersen.
The finalists also again included three wide receivers – Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Andre Reed – who reportedly each have factions of support among Hall of Fame voters but who individually had not been able to garner enough support to be elected.
This year’s vote did/did not clear up that logjam, which only will/would have gotten tighter with Marvin Harrison gaining eligibility next year and guys like Terrell Owens, Torry Holt and Hines Ward waiting in the wings a few years down the road.
The enshrinees were selected from a list of 15 finalists that also included Tim Brown, Eddie DeBartolo, Kevin Greene, Art Modell, and Will Sheilds. Culp and Robinson were nominated by the Hall’s senior committee and went directly to the final stage for an up or down vote.
The process started in September, when the Hall of Fame announced 127 modern-era nominees for the Hall. In late November, the committee of voters narrowed that initial list down to 27 semifinalists. The 15 finalists were announced in mid-January. Voters held discussions throughout the day Saturday, first narrowing the 15 finalists to 10 and then from 10 to five. The last five candidates then received an up or down vote. The class of 2013 will be enshrined on Saturday, August 3 in Canton, Ohio.
The 2012 Hall of Fame class included Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf and senior candidate Jack Butler. The other senior nominee, Dick Stanfel, was not elected.
by Andy | Feb 2, 2013 | Hall of Fame, Where are they now
Willie Davis is probably best known for his NFL playing career, perhaps rightfully so. After all, it did span 12 years and six league championships, including 1966 and 1967, when Green Bay won the first two Super Bowls.
Davis, who is unofficially the all-time Packers’ sack leader, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.
But as good as he was on the field, Davis has led just as successful a life in his post-football days. He’s been a television commentator. He was president of All-Pro Broadcasting, which operates several radio stations. He was a successful executive in the beer industry. And he has served on the boards of nearly a dozen companies.
Davis grew up in Lisbon, La., where his mother hesitated to even let him play football. When he did get on the field, he parlayed the opportunity into a degree from Grambling State (where he played for the legendary Eddie Robinson) and a trip to the National Football League (where he played for the legendary Paul Brown and Vince Lombardi). He starred in the NFL, but he also nearly always had his eye on what he would do next.
With the help of co-authors Jim Martyka and Andrea Erickson Davis, Willie Davis wrote recently published a book, Closing the Gap, that covers the journey that is his life. He also recently joined Zoneblitz.com to share some of those thoughts.
Zoneblitz: What made you want to write Closing the Gap? (more…)
by Andy | Feb 1, 2013 | Hall of Fame
With Selection Saturday just a couple days off we’re again putting out the opportunity for the Zoneblitz faithful to officially guess who will earn induction to the Hall of Fame.
Put your picks in the comments section and we’ll add them to the table. We’re not sure at the moment if your prize will just be bragging rights or if there actually will be some Zoneblitz swag available for the person who gets the most correct. We’ll try to figure something out.
We made picks several months ago right after last year’s class was announced. Andy’s already lost at least one of his picks (John Lynch), so he’s going in at a disadvantage – meaning maybe Tony will finally be able to beat him in one of our prediction segments for the season.
If you want to get some background, feel free to check out our posts that came out when the senior candidates were named and when the committee announced its semifinalists and finalists. You also can see who we picked for 2013 going back to last year’s announcement.
Good luck everyone. And tune in Saturday, as we’ll have a post up shortly after the announcement is made. Thanks for reading. (more…)
by Andy | Jan 11, 2013 | Hall of Fame
Four first-year nominees, including defensive linemen Warren Sapp and Michael Strahan and offensive linemen Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen, are among 15 modern-era finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2013.
Three wide receivers, Cris Carter, Andre Reed and Tim Brown also are on the list.
Other offensive players in the running for induction are running back Jerome Bettis and offensive lineman Will Shields. Defensive players among the finalists include linebacker Kevin Greene, defensive end Charles Haley and cornerback Aeneas Williams.
The last three finalists are coach Bill Parcells and two owners, Edward DeBartolo and Art Modell.
The finalists were announced Friday morning on NFL Network.
The list of 15 modern-era finalists was culled from a list of 27 semifinalists that was announced in November. The 12 semifinalists who did not make the cut to 15 were: running backs Roger Craig and Terrell Davis; offensive lineman Joe Jacoby; linebacker Karl Mecklenburg; defensive backs Steve Atwater, Albert Lewis and John Lynch (another notable first-time candidate); kicker Morten Andersen; special teamer Steve Tasker; coach Don Coryell; former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and former Giants General Manager George Young.
Notable among the finalists are the three wide receivers. Brown, Reed and Carter all are seen as legitimate candidates for the Hall, but to this point they seem to be siphoning votes from one another, with none of the three able to garner enough support to earn enshrinement. (more…)
Robert we’ll miss you but I do have a point though maybe I’ll take a hiatus from posting here for…
Andy Can we please move on its getting old and stale because you wont stop on this topic im done…
I feel bad for all the voters who were removed
If only if Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft had been elected then these changes wouldn’t have happened
The Pro Football Hall of Fame will never be the same after these changes