1 final Tim Brown WR 1988 2004 0 9
2 final Cris Carter WR 1987 2002 2 8
3 final Don Coryell Coach
4 final Roger Craig RB 1983 1993 1 4
5 final Dermontti Dawson C 1988 2000 6 7
6 final Richard Dent DE 1983 1997 1 4
7 final Russ Grimm G 1981 1991 3 4
8 final Charles Haley DE 1986 1999 2 5
9 final Rickey Jackson LB 1981 1995 0 6
10 final Cortez Kennedy DT 1990 2000 3 8
11 final John Randle DT 1990 2003 6 7
12 final Andre Reed WR 1985 2000 0 7
13 final Jerry Rice WR 1985 2004 10 13
14 final Shannon Sharpe TE 1990 2003 4 8
15 final Emmitt Smith RB 1990 2004 4 8

Looks to me like Doleman, Greene, Guy, Branch and Aeneas Williams got short shrifted. I thought Williams should go into the HOF on the 1st ballot.

16 semi Cliff Branch WR 1972 1985 3 4
17 semi Terrell Davis RB 1995 2001 3 3
18 semi Chris Doleman DE 1985 1999 2 8
19 semi Kevin Greene LB 1985 1999 2 5
20 semi Ray Guy P 1973 1986 3 7
21 semi Lester Hayes DB 1977 1986 1 5
22 semi Art Modell Owner
23 semi Paul Tagliabue Commissioner
24 semi Steve Tasker WR 1985 1997 0 7
25 semi Aeneas Williams DB 1991 2004 3 8

26 senior Dick LeBeau DB 1959 1972 0 3
27 senior Floyd Little RB 1967 1975 1 5

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Seems odd that Jackson never made the All-Pro Team. He’s got a shot since he’s made it this far and maybe the Saints good feelings will get him over the line. Greene starred with three teams and would be my pick.

Correction on my previous comments about Johnny Robinson. Of course he excelled as a Safety not CB for most of his Pro Career and to be more correct he was a flankerback for the Texan’s Offense from 1960-61.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=4837

It’s in fact quite damning, and I think very rightly so, of the HoF worth of the two Senior nominees. Good reading, with lots of specifics to back things up.

These three folks in fact have very similar postseason honors numbers (Greene and Haley 2/5, Jackson 0/6) and only Greene is a member of an all-decade team from this group. For what it’s worth, Haley also has fewer career sacks and fumble recoveries that the other two. I can get behind any and all of them for the HoF, but don’t see a clear standout from this logjam.

“You don’t make any money if you block. They call you a servant if you block. You make minimum plus tips.”

Source:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1024197/index.htm

That being said, I think he belongs in the HoF, and may get elected as early as this year. The TEs in the HoF all have a specialty in pass catching relative to their era’s norms — and some could block pretty well while others weren’t much in that department. There’s plenty of good precedent for Shape being elected.

My theory is that LeBeau had such a great Defense in front of him that the pressure led to many of ints. If you have a QB under pressure all the time you can play a little more centerfied as ducks and poor throws come your way. Also who played opposite LeBeau? They must of thrown on him a lot for him to get all of those ints. Maybe he wasn’t the best cover guy. I’m just playing devils advocate. 3 PB’s aren’t many. You would think he’d get 1 AP along the way. He was only a 5th rd pick.

Krause was an 8/3 and Tunnel was a 9/4 and clearly deserving of the HOF. Even at that Krause waited forever. LeBeau played half of his career in the Detroit secondary alongside two great HOFers in one of the scariest hitters of all-time in Dick Night train Lane 7/3 and the versatile Yale Lary 9/3. No doubt LeBeau got a lot of noteriety playing beside the HOFer for 7 years. Are we going to have 3 HOFers from the same secondary. That might be a first? If Lebeau gets in what about Jake Scott and Dick Anderson? Ints make that big a difference? Yale Lary only had 50 ints. No doubt with two HOFers in the secondary that LeBeau was getting picked on all the time. I wonder how many times he got burned in his first 4 or 5 years?

You know I believe Johnny Robinson with his 57 ints was a much better player than LeBeau. He was drafted number 3 in the 1st rd by the Lions a year later. Of course he was a Halfback than and not a CB until later. He played both ways for LSU and was a great athlete. I don’t want LeBeau to get in but maybe I should if it help Johnny to make it.

Richard Dent was a big part of the Bears Defense in the 1980′s. He has 137.5 sacks vs Haley’s 100.5. He has led the NFL in sacks in 1985 with 17.0. He has 2 seasons with 17+ sacks. Haley had a season with 16.0 sacks and 12.5 sacks in another. For what it’s worth, Dent has 8 Int’s as a DE vs Haley’s 2 Ints as a LB/DE. Dent has 677 tackles vs Haley’s 498 tackles. Dent has a Super Bowl MVP. I understand Haley has 5 rings. But thats mostly a team award. SB MVP is an individual award. And the HOF is about the individual, not what team he was on. Charles Haley and Richard will both make the HOF IMO

The reasons why i picked Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Dermonti Dawson, Shannon Sharpe, Richard Dent, and Dick LeBeau:

Jerry Rice: If I were to list half of his accomplishments, It would be forever. Enough said.

Emmitt Smith: Read what I wrote for Jerry Rice.

Dermonti Dawson: He has 7 Pro Bowls, along with 6 1st Team All Pros. He barley missed games for the most part. He was the successor of Mike Webster(Hall of Famer).

Shannon Sharpe: He was regarded as one of the greatest TE’s ever to play. He made 8 Pro Bowls. He has 3 Super Bowl Rings. At the time of retirement, he held virtually every TE record. He was a great blocker.

Richard Dent: Read above if you haven’t already.

Dick LeBeau: He had 63 Int’s which ranked somewhere around 4th all time at the time of retirement. The only players ahead of him are in the HOF( Dick Night Train Lane, Paul Krause, and Emlen Tunnell). His career AV is 83 which is 304th all time since 1950. I guess thats good? I don’t know. Plus, its been over 30 years since he played. I think you induct him because he was a work horse, and the younger guys will have a chance to get in. But, you induct the veterans first.

I’d prefer Charles Haley over Dent.