Hall of Fame Archives - Page 26 of 31

Florio rips Montana for nothing

by Andy | Apr 22, 2010 | Hall of Fame, NFL Draft, NFL Random Thoughts

Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk.com trashed Jim Kelly a few weeks ago when the old Bills quarterback said he’d have no problem recommending Florida quarterback Tim Tebow to the Bills.

Florio criticized Kelly for the recommendation because Kelly has never been a scout – despite the fact that Kelly acknowledged in his answer to a question that he had never been a scout and couldn’t guess where Tebow should be drafted (Then just a few days later Florio chipped in with draft advice of his own … who are you going to listen to more? Florio or Kelly? I thought so.).

Today Florio puts 49er Hall of Famer Joe Montana in his sites. Montana was asked by NFL.com about Jimmy Clausen, the Notre Dame quarterback who could fall in the draft due, at least in part, to concerns about his attitude.

Montana’s response? “He came in with a little bit more of an attitude than most people wanted, but if you don’t have an attitude, you don’t make it in the league,” Montana told NFL.com. “You can’t be timid and shy.”

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2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductees

by Tony & Andy | Feb 9, 2010 | Hall of Fame

***UPDATE: 2011 Hall of Fame Finalists Announced Here***

Well, for better or for worse the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees have been named. The debates over the merit of those inductees are taking place on other articles on this site.

Now, as per normal, it’s time for us to start looking ahead to next towards 2011.

Many great candidates – Shannon Sharpe, Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Tim Brown, Dermontti Dawson, Charles Haley, and Richard Dent, among others – were held over for at least another year.

Meanwhile the 2011 crop brings several more first time nominees. The most oft-mentioned of that crew is Deion Sanders, the brash, trash-talking cornerback who played in Super Bowls for Dallas and San Francisco after being drafted by Atlanta in 1989. In his first year of eligibility he could join three other top five picks from that 1989 draft in the Hall – Troy Aikman, Derrick Thomas and Barry Sanders.

A trio of upper echelon running backs in Marshall Faulk, Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis also will take their first turns in front of the Hall voters. Each is in the top 10 all-time leading rushers and both Faulk and Bettis have Super Bowl rings.

Among offensive linemen Willie Roaf gains eligibility.

The list would have been even more crowded if Priest Holmes and Junior Seau hadn’t changed their minds on retiring after 2005. But there’s plenty of competition for slots in the Hall again next year.

Do any of these guys make it on their first go-around? Or do the voters make this collection of players, which is good but not quite as star-studded as this year’s Emmitt Smith/Jerry Rice class, wait while clearing some of the logjam that has collected in recent years?

As always, we’re looking forward to seeing your thoughts. But first, here’s ours:

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Brees MVP moves him closer to HOF

by Andy | Feb 8, 2010 | Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts, Super Bowl

Drew Brees, not Peyton Manning, displayed the poise and leadership of a Super Bowl champion Sunday night in Miami, leading his New Orleans Saints to their first Vince Lombardi trophy.

Brees completed 32 of 39 for 288 yards and two scores, winning the MVP trophy in the meantime.

His career is far from over and he’s got a lot more history to write in the years ahead. But I asked the question two weeks ago – will Drew Brees make the Hall of Fame? His last four seasons have certainly been trending in that direction.

Super Bowl performances like the show he put on tonight certainly won’t hurt his cause. Sure, it took Tracy Porter’s pick of Manning late in the game to seal the deal. And Sean Payton’s onside kick was a gutty call. But Brees’ performance was nearly flawless. My guess is he leads the Saints to many more playoff victories over the next few years as well.

If he does it’d be hard to keep him out of Canton in a decade, give or take a year or two.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Announced

by Andy | Feb 6, 2010 | Hall of Fame

Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were the two shoe-ins for election into the NFL Hall of Fame this year. The rest of the class was a crapshoot. But in the end another deserving class of players got the call they had been waiting for.

Stephen A. Perry, the president and executive director of the Hall of Fame, made the announcement this afternoon on the NFL Network.

The Class of 2010 is:
WR Jerry Rice
RB Emmitt Smith
DL John Randle
LB Rickey Jackson
OL Russ Grimm
RB Floyd Little*
DB Dick LeBeau*
*Senior candidate

While the entrants are deserving some of the guys who didn’t make it are surprising. Cris Carter was left out again, not even making the list of 10 finalists. Neither did Tim Brown. Shannon Sharpe made the final 10, but didn’t survive the final cut. Charles Haley and Richard Dent also have to wait at least another year.

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NFL announced Team of the Decade for 2000s

by Andy | Feb 1, 2010 | Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts

The NFL Hall of Fame Selection Committee announced its Team of the Decades for the 2000s last night during the Pro Bowl. There weren’t a ton of surprises on the list.

Comments at a few sites have made cases for guys like Priest Holmes and Torry Holt. I can see their points but I also have little disagreement with the players that were picked. Theirs seems largely in tune with the one we published a year ago.

Any major disagreements (Real ones, not complaints about the timing of the list being off because of the calendar starting at year one and not year zero)? Guys you think should have been on the list?

Here’s the list:

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