**EDIT: This article was originally posted on October 24, 2022. Given the news that Jason Kelce is retiring, we thought it relevant to push back to the top of the page.**
In the interest of keeping some Hall of Fame discussion ongoing and fresh, hopefully I’ll be a bit more proactive about posing these questions when I see/hear them out in the wild. I came across this one over the weekend when working on another football related project:
To be honest, another player I wouldn’t even have thought to ask the question about–obviously I know who he is, and I knew he was decent, but I was surprised when I looked up his profile on Pro-Football-Reference.com to see that he is a four-time First-Team AP All-Pro, and five-time Pro Bowler (interesting as well that two of his All-Pro seasons were not Pro Bowl seasons). He’s playing in his 12th season, and has started/played in every game in nine of those seasons, including the last seven seasons.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame released it’s list of Semifinalists Tuesday morning, knocking the list down to 25 names for consideration for the final 5 in the Class of 2024. The biggest surprise? Likely that it wasn’t turned into an hour long prime time special for NFL Network </snark>.
The list of semifinalists, straight from ProFootballHallofFame.com:
Eric Allen, CB – 1988-1994 Philadelphia Eagles, 1995-97 New Orleans Saints, 1998-2001 Oakland Raiders | (Times as a Semifinalist: 4 – 2021-24)
Jared Allen, DE – 2004-07 Kansas City Chiefs, 2008-2013 Minnesota Vikings, 2014-15 Chicago Bears, 2015 Carolina Panthers | (Times as a Semifinalist: 4 – 2021-24)
Willie Anderson, T – 1996-2007 Cincinnati Bengals, 2008 Baltimore Ravens | (Times as a Semifinalist: 4 – 2021-24)
Tiki Barber, RB – 1997-2006 New York Giants | (Times as a Semifinalist: 1 – 2024)
Anquan Boldin, WR – 2003-09 Arizona Cardinals, 2010-12 Baltimore Ravens, 2013-15 San Francisco 49ers, 2016 Detroit Lions | (Times as a Semifinalist: 3 – 2022-24)
Jahri Evans, G – 2006-2016 New Orleans Saints, 2017 Green Bay Packers | (Times as a Semifinalist: 2 – 2023-24)
London Fletcher, LB – 1998-2001 St. Louis Rams, 2002-06 Buffalo Bills, 2007-2013 Washington Redskins | (Times as a Semifinalist: 2 – 2023-24)
Dwight Freeney, DE – 2002-2012 Indianapolis Colts, 2013-14 San Diego Chargers, 2015 Arizona Cardinals, 2016 Atlanta Falcons, 2017 Seattle Seahawks, 2017 Detroit Lions | (Times as a Semifinalist: 2 – 2023-24)
Antonio Gates, TE – 2003-2018 San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (First Year Eligible)
Eddie George, RB – 1996-2003 Houston/Tennessee Oilers/Titans, 2004 Dallas Cowboys (Times as a Semifinalist: 2 – 2022, 2024)
James Harrison, LB – 2002-2012, 2014-17 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2013 Cincinnati Bengals, 2017 New England Patriots | (Times as a Semifinalist: 2 – 2023-24)
Rodney Harrison, S – 1994-2002 San Diego Chargers, 2003-08 New England Patriots | (Times as a Semifinalist: 3 – 2021, 2023-24)
Devin Hester, PR/KR/WR – 2006-2013 Chicago Bears, 2014-15 Atlanta Falcons, 2016 Baltimore Ravens | (Times as a Semifinalist: 3 – 2022-24)
Torry Holt, WR – 1999-2008 St. Louis Rams, 2009 Jacksonville Jaguars | (Times as a Semifinalist: 10 – 2015-2024)
Andre Johnson, WR – 2003-2014 Houston Texans, 2015 Indianapolis Colts, 2016 Tennessee Titans | (Times as a Semifinalist: 3 – 2022-24)
Robert Mathis, DE/LB – 2003-2016 Indianapolis Colts | (Times as a Semifinalist: 3 – 2022-24)
Julius Peppers, DE – 2002-09, 2017-18 Carolina Panthers, 2010-13 Chicago Bears, 2014-15 Green Bay Packers (First Year Eligible)
Steve Smith Sr., WR – 2001-2013 Carolina Panthers, 2014-16 Baltimore Ravens | (Times as a Semifinalist: 3 – 2022-24)
Fred Taylor, RB – 1998-2008 Jacksonville Jaguars, 2009-2010 New England Patriots | (Times as a Semifinalist: 5 – 2020-24)
Hines Ward, WR – 1998-2011 Pittsburgh Steelers | (Times as a Semifinalist: 8 – 2017-2024)
Ricky Watters, RB – 1992-94 San Francisco 49ers, 1995-97 Philadelphia Eagles, 1998-2001 Seattle Seahawks | (Times as a Semifinalist: 4 – 2020, 2022-24)
Reggie Wayne, WR – 2001-2014 Indianapolis Colts | (Times as a Semifinalist: 5 – 2020-24)
Vince Wilfork, DT – 2004-2014 New England Patriots, 2015-16 Houston Texans | (Times as a Semifinalist: 3 – 2022-24)
Patrick Willis, LB – 2007-2014 San Francisco 49ers | (Times as a Semifinalist: 5 – 2020-24)
Darren Woodson, S – 1992-2003 Dallas Cowboys | (Times as a Semifinalist: 8 – 2015, 2017, 2019-2024)
From that list, 10 more names will be trimmed to get to the list of 15 Modern-Era finalists in early January, who will be considered alongside Coach/Contributor Buddy Parker, and Senior Nominees Randy Gradishar, Steve McMichael and Art Powell. At a meeting before Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas in February, the selection committee will trim that list to 10, and then down to the final five, who will then be given a final Yes/No vote alongside the Coach/Contributor and Senior Nominees. It’s been years since the full slate of Modern-Era nominees didn’t get elected, though, to my recollection.
The finalists from the Class of 2023 to not make the final five included (bold indicates they were in the final 10):
With three WR making the final 10 for the Class of 2023 but none making the final five–and only two first year semifinalists joining the list–this may be the year the voters clear up the logjam by getting at least 1-2 in.
Drop your thoughts/predictions in the comments below!
A couple weeks back, when the Minnesota Vikings beat the Carolina Panthers, Harrison Smith put up an insane stat line with 14 total tackles (8 solo, 6 assisted), 3 sacks and a forced fumble–apparently the first player in NFL history to put up that stat line. Being a lifelong Minnesota native & Viking fan, it started a lot of talk (or maybe amplified) talk locally about Smith being a Hall of Famer.
I’m not even clear a couple weeks later if I just never heard that talk before, or if it hadn’t really started until this season, which is very possibly his last season in purple (if not his last altogether). A lot of fans locally speculated that the team would move on after last season, given their salary cap woes–but Smith agreed to cut his salary from $14.7 million to $8 million (with $2 million in incentives) to play a 12th season with the Vikings, who brought in Brian Flores as their new defensive coordinator for 2023…a move that many saw as a perfect fit for a player like Smith.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know Smith was an amazing player–anyone regularly watching the team since he was taken 29th overall in 2012 knows he’s often been the lynchpin in the defense, with a penchant for making big plays when the team needed them most. He came into the 2023 season with 34 career interceptions, 16.5 sacks, and 946 tackles. While he has definitely slowed down, he finished the 2022 season with 85 tackles and 5 interceptions in 14 games, although was perhaps not used as aggressively in Ed Donatell’s new 3-4 scheme as he was in previous coach Mike Zimmer’s schemes. But I had never really given much consideration to whether or not he was Hall of Fame caliber…not to say I thought he wasn’t worthy of consideration–but that ultimately with so many top tier safeties in the league these days, he would be in that list of guys that would maybe be fringe HOF conversation after several years of debate.
But Tweets…err…Xs(?) like the one below after that Panthers game got me thinking–clearly a lot of Viking fans think it’s a forgone conclusion that Smith will get his gold jacket…so am I underrating him?
? 14 Tackles (8 Solo)
? 3 Sacks, 2 TFL
? 1 Strip Sack Returned for 6
? Game Sealing Sack
It’s easy to be a prisoner of the moment, but that was the BEST game of Harrison Smith’s HOF career. pic.twitter.com/mEszzUX5av
Another post I saw had this graphic, which made me think maybe I really was underrating just how good his career really has been:
Of course, we all know stats aren’t the only thing that will be considered for the Hall of Fame–and some stats like tackles are generally considered somewhat subjective, meaning they’ll have even less influence. His award profile according to ProFootballReference is 6x Pro Bowl, 1x All-Pro–which falls well short of Polamau’s 8x Pro Bowl, 4x All-Pro, 2x Super Bowl Champion, All-2000’s team, and 2010 Defensive Player of the Year award.
Not that it’s at all a perfect measurement, but the ProFootballReference “Similar Player” feature has Smith listed with Adrian Wilson, Eric Davis and Mark Carrier–solid players, but not exactly knocking on the door to Canton. Their HOF Monitor rating has him at 41.48–94th among DB, and compared to the average DB HOF score of 98.02. The lowest ranked player on that list of DB’s currently in the Hall of Fame is Dick LeBeau at 48.20. The lowest ranked more contemporary HOF player is John Lynch. Patrick Peterson, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Eric Weddle are all considerably higher than Smith–as are Chris Harris Jr., Stephon Gilmore and Tryann Mathieu
All of this makes me think that Smith has a much more difficult road to the Hall of Fame than many Vikings fans think–he’s a shoo-in for the Vikings Hall of Fame, possibly a Ring of Honor level player, and might even end up having his number retired (maybe sharing the honor with Paul Krause, who has been vocal about his belief that his number should be retired).
But what says the Zoneblitz.com readership, does Harrison Smith have any shot at Canton?
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the official list of 173 Modern Era Candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including nine first year eligible candidates.
Those nine include:
WR Brandon Marshall
WR Jordy Nelson
TE Antonio Gates
RB Jamaal Charles
OL TJ Lang
OL Josh Sitton
OL Max Unger
DL Haloti Ngata
DL Julius Peppers
The full list comprised of 94 offensive, 62 defensive and 17 special teams players can be seen on the Hall of Fame website. The list will be cut down to 25 semifinalists, announced in November.
On Zoneblitz, we obviously spend a lot of time thinking & discussing who should be elected to the Hall of Fame–but something I hadn’t really considered much was whether or not anyone should have their bust removed from Canton altogether. I’m not even sure if there is a way to go about doing that (given a couple people who haven’t been), although obviously there are some that are probably not really welcomed back each year for the ceremony, and likely not promoted in exhibits through the Hall.
What got me thinking about this was an article–or rather a listicle–that came up in my Facebook feed last week (although it was written back in January of 2022). It’s one of those articles designed to make you scroll for half a mile, see about 8-dozen ads, and then share it on your own socials–but I’m not going to make you go read the article (although you’re welcome to, if you’d like), unless you really want to see their logic.
While some of them <cough>OJ<cough> aren’t a big surprise, curious what you’ll think of the rest of the list. From SportScroll.com, here’s 30 NFL players that should be removed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
Came across a thread on Reddit about ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter going off on Mike Shanahan not being elected to the Hall of Fame this year. According to the article linked from DenverSports.com, Schefter’s rant was on the “Schlereth and Evans” show on 104.3 The Fan this morning. Schefter covered the Broncos early in his career, first at the the Rocky Mountain News and then the Denver Post.
“I think it’s a bunch of BS. Mike Shanahan is a Hall of Famer yesterday, today and tomorrow. I mean, its ridiculous. Who made these 50 people the voices of God and the deciders of fate? Like, who comes up with these stupid rules?”
Schefter said he does trust the voters, but he thinks there are other people who know even more about football. Ultimately, he feels the process feels unfair, and that unfairness is going to mean Shanahan waits longer.
“These are mistakes. Mike Shanahan is a Hall of Famer. He’s just not in the Hall of Fame. He belongs in the Hall of Fame, he should’ve been in before. He’s going to get in. But let’s just make him wait to 2024 or 2026… until the judges of the game, the arbiters of the truth, get to issue that pass to go to the Hall. Like, okay, give me a break.”
I generally don’t disagree that there could be tweaks to the process–but if I’m looking to make an argument for someone who hasn’t made it yet–especially as a non-player–I’m not sure Shanahan is the guy I hang that argument on. I have no issues with him making the Hall, but I also have no issues with him waiting while others get considered–and I don’t have a huge desire to make the Hall more inclusive, just to get some fringe guys that a small (but often vocal) fan base thinks belongs in because of what the player/coach/person meant to their team–it’s about what that person meant to the league and the game in general, and many players–even that we discuss on this site–just don’t fit that bill.
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Paul I don’t know what are you trying to say
Let’s say we had a lot more transparency during class of 2025 election - would it have changed outcome?
Paul what do you mean it doesn’t improves outcome
Zach Martin retires. The first potential candidate for 2030.
Not opposed but not really sure it improves outcomes