Tony Parslow, one of our regular Hall of Fame commenters, sent us over an idea for a kind of contest post, as it relates to the Hall of Fame and the fact that they are behind in electing some qualified players.
To be honest, I’m not sure I agree with 100% of the list that Tony and other commenters have put together–I think all the guys on the list are very, very good, but not necessarily Hall of Fame worthy.
But, at the same time, we always love a good contest–and while Tony offers the prize of sending the winning entry to the Hall of Fame committee for veterans committee consideration, I’ll take it a step further and offer some Zoneblitz.com memorabilia for the winning entry–because who doesn’t like free t-shirts?
Explanation of the contest & rules are after the jump…and good luck (especially finding punters worthy of Hall of Fame consideration)!
From Tony P.:
Based on the Players already in the HOF from their respective decade; I see the HOF Voters still needing to vote a specific number of players into the HOF.
I’ve created a game . Please play the game by filling in the best (HOF
caliber) player in the Decade at the quantities needed. To play- copy and paste the numbers below than just add your players to the side.
Have fun, take your time!! Copy the format and work off a sheet of paper before you add to ZoneBlitz. Anyone who wants to make a team (Please lots of people!!) has until Sept 1st to complete their team and post on ZoneBlitz.
After Sept. 1st when the teams have been created everyone should review all of the teams and rank the best one. No, you can’t pick your own team. :) I’ll send the team voted the best by the ZoneBlitz voters to the HOF voters in Canton for review.
Only rule is you must put in the correct number of players for each positions even if you don’t think some deserve the HOF. Maybe you’ll pick someone who’ll get support? Also take note that each player is only from that decade if the player began his career in that decade. I based my previous HOF research on this criteria. For example Troy Aikman is an 1980’s player based on beginning his career in 1989.
Explanation: 60 is the decade 1960-69 year (1) is the number of players needed at the position.
1950’s,1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s are the decades covered.
HOF Offensive Unit
Quarterback
60(1)
70(1)
90(5)
Running Back
60(1)
70(1)
80(2)
90(4)
Wide Receiver
70(3)
80(3)
90(4)
Guard
60(1)
70(1)
80(3)
90(3)
Tackle
70(2)
80(2)
90(3)
Center
60(1)
80(2)
90(2)
Tight End
70(1)
80(2)
90(3)
HOF Defensive Unit
Defensive Tackle
70(3)
80(3)
90(4)
Defensive End
60(1)
70(1)
80(2)
90(5)
Linebacker
60(1)
70(2)
80(1)
90(5)
Cornerback
70(3)
80(2)
90(3)
Safety
60(1)
70(3)
80(2)
90(3)
Punter
50(1)
60(1)
70(1)
80(1)
90(1)
Place Kicker
50(2)
60(1)
70(2)
80(2)
90(2)
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Thanks, Tony. You know I’ll be working on my list soon.
Sorry but I need everyone to make an amendment to the team by adding one more QB to he 70’s decade making the requirement 2.
There are only 3 QB’s who began their careers in the 70’s and I really, really see the voters adding 2 very deserving QB’s to reduce the disparity to one with the 6 QB’s the 1980’s already have.
Thanks.
Last comment-maybe:) To clarify GAME better-
EACH PLAYER WILL GRADE HIS OPPONENT’S TEAM BY TELLING THEM THE NUMBER OUT OF THE 111 PLAYER TEAM THAT YOU THINK WOULD RECEIVE 80% OF THE HOF VOTERS SUPPORT FOR ELECTION INTO THE HALL OF FAME ANYTIME IN THE FUTURE.
PLEASE ENTER NO GRADES BEFORE SEPT. 1ST OR UNTIL A SUFFICIENT NUUMBER TEAMS HAVE BEEN ENTERED. THE CONTESTANT WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE OF PLAYERS SELECTED IS THE WINNER!!!
In case of a tie we’ll meet for a duel. :) NOT!! WE’LL COME UP WITH SOMETHING BEFORE THAT TIME.
For statistical reference I suggest using http://www.pro-football-reference.com and of course google for players you’re not familiar with.
Hey, Tony, You’ve never seen my HOF list. Everything has been basically chit chat up until now. :) Like our Senior support letter was to hilight players that weren’t getting enough exposure. And my most recent team was kind of a dream / all-star team. Kind of I’ll put up my team against yours. Only problem is nobody challenged me. I assumed my team was so great I left everyone speachless. :) This is the real deal. Should I give you my address now? I’m an X-Large.! What color is my t-shirt? LOL!!
I hope there are a few serious football geeks out there. :)
Decent website to work off of if you don’t have MS Word to write letter /document / HOF List.
http://writeboard.com/
“…and good luck (especially finding punters worthy of Hall of Fame consideration)!”
Ever hear of Jerrel Wilson or Ray Guy?
I’ve heard of Guy, but not Wilson. Even if you consider them both HOF worthy (I tend to side with the voters to date, and say they’re not), my comment was more directed at finding a punter from each decade. If you go Wilson/Guy, that covers the 60’s and 70’s–you might even find one from the 50’s, but what punter from the 80’s or 90’s deserves it?
If you’ve never HEARD of Wilson, how can you say he’s not ‘HOF worthy”?
This is the problem facing many of the “backlogged” players. Writers (Hall of Fame selectors) in the 1960’s and 1970’s were infuenced by the ‘Tex Maule school of journalism’ – the NFL was everthing, the AFL sucked. Many of THEM never saw an AFL game, yet they denigrated the league and ignored its stars.
Today’s writers never heard of those AFL stars because the writers were too young to have seen them play, and even if they try to research those players, the news records remaining from that era were generated by mostly pro-NFL writers.
See http://www.conigliofamily.com/TexansChiefs.htm#JERRELWILSON and http://www.remembertheafl.com/TexMaule.htm
Easy–I looked him up on ProFootballReference.com, saw that he was primarily just a punter, and decided I didn’t think he’s HOF worthy. It has nothing to do with him being in the AFL, nothing to do with him not being a fine player–I just personally don’t think any punter deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, unless getting in on the merits of some other position played.
I have no doubt that several of the AFL players you champion deserve to be in Canton–just as I believe that several players that you champion (and several players that played in the NFL exclusively but who are mentioned in Senior Selection Committee threads here on Zoneblitz.com) don’t belong in Canton, because they were good, not great.
I have no doubt that there was some prejudice in the day against AFL players–although, at the same time, if they played just in the AFL, that means at most they played 8 years, which also makes it more difficult to get into the HOF.
Given that these days, any AFL player has to go through the Senior Selection Committee, and they are limited to 2 recommendations per year, it makes it difficult for them to “catch up,” so to speak. Some on this site have recommended splitting the seniors into a separate process, and separate enshrinement–but I think that tends to cheapen the whole process. I’d like to think that the selectors that are on the seniors committee do more than just look at the old press files written about the league–that they would look at local press articles (which in theory would have been more positive), and talk to plenty of contemporaries, etc, to form their own opinion. Without digging deeper on each of the electors on that committee, I couldn’t say for sure that it IS happening that way, though.
And if it’s not, then frankly the whole system needs to be blown up–frankly, I’m not sure it doesn’t need to be anyway–I think it’s ridiculous that a guy like Len Pasquarelli, who has moved on to be a national writer (and has his own issues, in my opinion, from a conflict of interest stand point) still represent local markets like Atlanta.
“if they played just in the AFL, that means at most they played 8 years”
There were twenty men who were in the AFL for all of its ten years. And there were dozens who started in the AFL, played several years there, and then several more in the NFL.
There are about twenty PFHOF enshrinees who played eight or fewer years (as did the AFL’s all-time yardage leader Abner Haynes, a non-enshrinee); and about six or seven who played seven or fewer years (as did Tom Sestak, another AFL non-enshrinee).
“I’d like to think that the selectors that are on the seniors committee do more than just look at the old press files written about the league–that they would look at local press articles (which in theory would have been more positive), and talk to plenty of contemporaries, etc, to form their own opinion.”
Problem is, just as the AFL players are dying off, so are their contemporaries, so younger selectors simply don’t know enough about them. Looking at a player’s stats on-line tells the barest part of the story of how that player performed under pressure, etc. Your post about the flawed HOF system and the responses to it are good, but don’t go far enough.
Why should a selector from the player’s town automatically be assumed to be the best proponent for that player’s enshrinement? Maybe the player never spoke to that reporter, or maybe the reporter had a slanted view (for or against) that player.
Some of the comments selectors make in defending choices (or non-choices) are weak: “We have enough wide receivers”; “He’ll get his turn”; “Too many players from (name the team)”, etc. Because of the six-per-year limit, they also get into discussions of whether a defensive back is more deservng than a coach, when there’s only one slot left to be filled.
As far as “cheapening the whole process”, I believe that putting a player in who has every bit as good stats and accomplishments as one who is already in doesn’t cheapen the process, it validates it. Unless you’re going to go through the current enshrinees and weed out the “good” from the “best”, the fair thing would be to put in all players whose “quality” is as good as players already in. Backlog and annual limits be damned.
The Baseball Hall of Fame several years ago admitted by its actions that the Negro Leagues had been unfairly ignored, and admitted a group of its players EN MASSE. The Pro Football Hall of Fame should revamp it selectors and its selection process, and in doing so, call a temporary moratorium on annual limits, and get rid of the backlog. It should then consider eliminating annual limits, reviewiing nominees more thoroughly and fairly, and either voting someone in on the first ballot or not at all. If eight outstanding, incomparable players reach eligibilty in the same year, why shouldn’t they all go in?
I believe that would get rid of the “He’ll get his turn” mentality, and at least if a player didn’t get in on the first ballot, he wouldn’t be kept dangling on a string for forty years and more!
Professional Football has been in existence for ninety years. For the first half of that period, it averaged about ten teams. Six players a year might have fit that scenario. With thirty-two teams contributing to the player pool, maybe it’s ime to increase or eliminate the annual limit.
Ange Conigilo I love what you do with your website. Clearly a whole generation of football fans need to be educated about the AFL experience. The lack of recognition the AFL has recieved from the NFL is a joke IMO.
IMO you’re definetly in the majority when it comes to wanting to increase the number of players into the HOF each year. Many of us want an increase of Seniors nominated along with their own ceremony. I just keep asking “why are there so many HOF player from the 1950’s compared to every other decade?”. Are the voters becoming overly critical?
About the Punters :) I didn’t mean to create a debate. Punter is one position that can really hold it’s own against today’s brand. I wouldn’t have a problem with Punters being elected into the HOF. My major problem is so many folks talk
like Guy was the end all be all when there were so many great ones including Jerrel Wilson and Paul Maguire before him.
Lets play the game and debate after :) I’m building a heck of a team if I do say so myself. Lol!! I hope others are too!!
get in on fantasy NFL foorball before the season starts. Tony P. plays here at http://www.fanball.com/ and it’s free except for trade. Win up to $5,000 if your a wiz. I usually win my 10 team league and year end points. Always hoping for more!!
How’s your HOF Team coming along for the contest? Don’t make me be the first one. Lol!!
I’m currently working on my Guards. I wouldn’t pick Floyd Little :)
Been busy like everone else. The new deadline to have your team submitted is on Friday September 4th. Of course if not enough play we have no game. It’s up to you guys????
I would think we need at least 6 teams to have a fair game. It would be better the more we have to play.
I overlooked Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith on the team totals. Daaaa!! So increase Wr and RB total by one. Those two will be an easy two points. I’m pretty sure they’ll be in the HOF one day. Lol!!
Team update – eliminate 1950’s Punters and Kickers from your teams. They will be disregarded.
I’m Done!!! Is anyone else ready to show their Team?
You have until Midnight on Friday. Friday evening is when I’ll show my Team. :)
When we grade the other Team we only want to judge if you think the Player could be a HOFer one day and not who might of been left out of a position. I found some positions had more possibilities why others few players to fill a given position.
OK!! It’s time to see if ZoneBlitz has any PLAYERS!! :) Who did their homework and who didn’t? I know I did and what I found is that to equal the past numbers of past decades in certian positions will be difficult while others positions will leave a glut of super players scatching their heads when HOF door doesn’t open for them. Of course I don’t need to tell you players that. Lol!!
However, with so little feedback on this thread I’m feeling like I’m the man who created the game no one played. Lol! I hope not. I guess in that case I’ll be wearing my ZoneBlitz T-shirt around my hometown of Burnet, TX. :)
I anyone has a Team- please turn them in now.
Before I submit my team I’d like to point out the total lack of DT’s in the HOF from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s due to the HOF Voters not recognizing the Nose Tackle’s contributions to their teams success. The 3-4 Defenses came about in the 1970’s, and more and more teams have used it through the years. The HOF voters are screwing up royaly by not recognizing great NT’s of the past because they don’t have the glitzy stats . Both the NT and the DE’s are reduced to more of a containment responsibility while the LB’s are the aggressors.
Here’s something pertinent to what I’m saying written by a Denver supporter.
” RUBIN CARTER – Nose Tackle – 1975-86
It may not seem like that big of deal nowadays, but back in October 1977, it was huge. A Denver Bronco was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It wasn’t Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson or Craig Morton that stared out from newsstands across the country; instead, it was nose tackle Rubin Carter. Anchoring the center of the Broncos defensive line, he was the lynchpin in defensive coordinator Joe Collier’s revolutionary 3-4 defense. It was the classic underappreciated role, occupying blockers in the middle of the field so others can shine. But it was Carter’s presence that allowed Gradishar to register more than 200 tackles per season, turned Lyle Alzado and other defensive lineman loose, and helped turn the Broncos defense from average into the “Orange Crush
Actually I do think it would still be a big deal. LOL!!
At some point a NT player will be put into the Hall of Fame. The truth is that all of the great DT’s of which their are few except for the rare ones with a ton of sacks like John Randle many times are even passed over IMO for Pro Bowl slots. So on my team I’ve included great NG’s. Be open minded. :) Though not on my team I can think of more than a few which include Jerry Ball, Michael Carter and Casey Hampton. No one should doubt their greatness because of their don’t have huge sacks or tackles. If they are great many time they are double or triple covered clogging up the middle which allows their teams great success. The 3-4 if you have the right personnel works well. just ask the Steelers. :)
A statement about what my research revealed. The 1990’s has turned out the thinnest group of star DE’s of any decade since the 1950’s or possibly further back. I was amazed but it was damn hard to find 5 great ones. Too many duds like Javon Kearse I suppose? That said the 2000’s should make a nice comback. Also on the flipside, the 1980’s turned out more star LB’s than any decade IMO and the 1990’s produced lots of high quality RB’s. I won’t be surprised if the HOF voters curtail the number of HOFers there will be some very deserving players and fans crying injustice. I sincerely doubt you’ll see 10 players from the HOF from one position from one decade ???
So here’s my very well research team of potential HOFers keeping in mind the number of positions filled is based on the numbers in the HOF from the 50’s and 60’s. It seems fair to me to think the following decades could receive an equal amount.
HOF Offensive Unit
Quarterback
60(1) Billy Kilmer
70(2) Ken Anderson and Phil Simms
90(5) Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair and Kurt Warner
Running Back
60(1) Floyd Little
70(1) Chuck Foreman
80(2) Roger Craig and James Brooks
90(5) Emmitt Smith, Marshall Faulk, Curtis Martin, Ricky Watters and Edgerrin James.
Wide Receiver
70(3) Drew Pearson, Cliff Branch and Stanley Morgan
80(4) Jerry Rice, Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Henry Ellard
90(4) Issac Bruce, Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens
Guard
60(1) Jim Tyrer
70(1) Bob Kuechenberg
80(3) Russ Grimm, Bill Fralic and Nate Newton
90(3) Larry Allen, Will Shields and Allen Faneca
Tackle
70(2) Leon Gray and Russ Washington
80(2) Lomas Brown and Joe Jacoby
90(3) Jonathan Ogden, Wille Roaf and Richmond Webb
Center
60(1) Mick Tinglehoff
80(2) Jay Hilgenberg and Bart Oates
90(2) Kevin Mawae and Tom Nalen
Tight End
70(1) Riley Odoms
80(2) Shannon Sharpe and Keith Jackson
90(3) Tony Gonzalez, Jay Novacek, and Ben Coates
HOF Defensive Unit
Defensive Tackle
70(3) Joe Klecko, Fred Smerlas and Bob Baumhower
80(3) Steve McMichael, Ray Childress Jr and Neil Smith
90(4) Cortez Kennedy, Warren Sapp, John Randle and Bryant Young
Defensive End
60(1) L.C. Greenwood
70(1) Harvey “Too Mean” Martin
80(2) Richard Dent and Chris Doleman
90(5) Jason Taylor, Michael Strahan, Simeon Rice, Hugh Douglas and Aaron Smith
Linebacker
60(1) Bill Bergey
70(2) Isiah Robertson and Randy Gradishar
80(1) Rickey Jackson
90(5) Ray Lewis, Derrick Brooks, Junior Seau, Zach Thomas and Joey Porter
Cornerback
70(3) Lemar Parrish, Louis Wright and Ken Riley
80(2) Deion Sanders and Eric Allen
90(3) Aeneas Williams, Ronde Barber and Champ Bailey
Safety
60(1) Johnny Robinson
70(3) Jake Scott, Cliff Harris and Donnie Shell
80(2) Steve Atwater and Joey Browner
90(3) LeRoy Butler, Brian Dawkins and Darren Sharper
Punter
60(1) Jerrel Wilson
70(1) Ray Guy
80(1) Reggie Roby
90(1) Tom Rouen
Place Kicker
60(1) Garo Yepremian
70(2) Mark Mosley and Pat Leahy
80(2) Morten Anderson and Gary Anderson
90(2) Adam Vinatieri and Jason Elam
Please DON’T judge this team based on who’s not on it but rather if you think the player may some day be in the HOF. I tried to pick the player I thought had the best chance. I’m not viewing players left off as not being worthy. Some positions have multiple good choices.:)
Give me the number of players you think won’t make the HOF. If go against a player, please suggest a replacement. No explanation needed!! However the team owner is allowed ONE rebuttal to change the mind of the grader. :)