Last fall I was asked to be on a show that talked about the upcoming class of the NFL hall of fame. The Obvious two players Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were going in no matter what. They have hardware and records that will never be touched. They have rings and performances in the biggest games that make them true Hall of Famers. There are at least ten guys that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame that seem to be no brainer's if people are basing their vote on performance. Plus there are a couple of guys who deserving because they were integral parts of teams that won titles. Jerry Kramer was voted to the all half century team and is not in Hall for some crazy reason. His center Forrest Gregg is in and maybe some voters feel that he was the reason that the Packers was so successful. Offensive lines are hard to gauge unless you really standout. The funny thing s that if you watch NFL films you never see any highlights of Forrest Gregg blocking for Taylor, Hornung or Starr. You always see Kramer. John Hannah is an example of a blocker that stood out on his own and is a Hall of Famer. Mike Webster was the center for all of the great Steeler teams in the 70's and he stood out. Gen Upshaw and Reggie Mckenzie stood out. Every highlight of O.J. Simpson showed Mckenzie blocking and creating holes for the juice. Who the hell did Dermonti Dawson block for? Barry Foster, Jerome Bettis? Russ Grimm blocked for John Riggins. He did not stand out more than Joe Jacoby or George Starks did? These guys were not better than Mark Stepnoski from the Cowboys or Bart Otes from the Giants!!!! What the hell is going on?
Charles Haley should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. He was a major contributor to 5 championship teams. Since Lawrence Taylor and Mike Singletary were 1 and 2 as far best defenders of there generation, guess who was in top 5? Haley, Lott, White. You can argue Derek Thomas, but (may he rest in peace) he never played in a super bowl. Teams game planned around Haley. Ask Steve Young Phil Simms what player would drive them crazy aside from the other big three. Rickey Jackson was not even the best defensive player on his team. Pat Swilling and Sam Mills would be way over Jackson. Haley was better than John Randle too!!! Now they are saying that he was a prick to interview and that is why he is not getting the support. That is a joke. He was a star on both Dallas and San Francisco and should be in to the Hall.
Chris Carter, Tim Brown and Shannon Sharpe are getting no support because the voters feel that the 16 game schedule has helped their numbers. Also they think that Sharpe was more of a receiver than a tight end. Sharpe is the all time leading receiver for tight ends and he has three rings. He was a major contributor to both Denver and Baltimore's title run. He had that 96 yard catch to defeat the Raiders in the championship game for the Ravens. Andre Reed is another sad story. He was the third cog in the threesome of the Bills. He played in four losing super bowls but it was not his fault they lost. Yes against Redskins he had the unsportsmanlike penalty that hurt his team, but come on he was the best receiver in the AFC. Tim Brown was the second best. Steve Largent was great but he never played in a super bowl. Reed has more catches and yards than him. So did Tim Brown. Maybe they wanted Rice to go in as the exemplary player and gauge every one after this ballot.
Floyd Little was a great Bronco for 7 years. He was the franchise and played hard deserves to be in the Broncos ring of honor but not the Hall of Fame. The two greatest Broncos are John Elway and Terrell Davis and Davis is not getting in the Hall unless there is a public outcry for him. Little played when there was 14 games and not many great backs. O.J. was just becoming a star and Jim Brown had just retired to be an actor. Leroy Kelly and Larry Brown were good too. Calvin Hill and Larry Csonka were leading teams to titles. I am so confused on what it takes to get in the Hall. I think the voters are too......
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