–have significant doubts London Fletcher is getting anywhere near the HoF. His postseason profile is 0/1/none, which is about along the lines of Tedi Bruschi (0/1/none), Mike Vrabel (1/1/none), and Takeo Spikes (1/2/none).

–re coaches and the HoF. It’s pretty much a lock that Bill Belichick is getting in with 3 SB wins and “Games, Wins-Losses” stats of 240, 148-92. Tony Dungy has a moderately good chance at 208, 139-69 (a W-L percentage notably better than the Vermiel/Shanahan/Cowher/Holmgren group below) with 1 SB win, plus being the first head coach of color to win a SB. Otherwise, there are long service coaches with no SB success such as Chuck Knox at 334, 186-147 and Dan Reeves at 357, 190-165 and Marty Schottenheimer at 327, 200-126 in a logjam and another group of recent coaches in Dungy’s range that aren’t eligible yet, including Dick Vermiel at 229, 120-109 (1 SB win) and Mike Shanahan at 244, 146-98 (2 SB wins) and Bill Cowher at 240, 149-90 (1 SB win) and Mike Holmgren at 272, 161-111 (1 SB win), all of whom may cancel each other out. Lou Saban at 201, 95-99 (2 AFL titles) and Tom Flores at 184, 97-87 (2 SB wins) don’t appear to be worthy of significant consideration given their shorter careers and lack of career regular season W-L success. And that likely is why Don Coryell didn’t get a sniff last year — he’s at 195, 111-83 with no postseason success and a reputation for fielding defenses as bad as his offenses were good. Coryell’s best chance at the HoF may be as a contributor somewhere far down the road.

Does Lou Saban of AFL fame have a shot? I think he was one of the better coaches in his day. What about Chuck Knox? All he did was win every where he went with less than stellar QB’s.

Any idea who would be the least deserving HC in the HOF?

The best argument for Herschel Walker, and it’s not an entirely unreasonable one to make either, is his lifetime total yardage stats while in the NFL, which are more impressive than some remember. And note well that any USFL player in the PFHoF would likely be in even if one only takes their NFL stats into account. One can legitimately argue that the USFL’s level of play was sufficiently weak that any numbers put up there are suspect.

Jim Marshall’s Career AV is 107 and that ranks 83rd all time since 1950. He only made the Pro Bowl 2 times and he has no 1st Team APs.

What does this Career AV mean?

The only reason that I have trouble adding his KR stats into the consideration (at least at the same value as rushing stats) is that even an average KR is going to get 18-22 yards on average per kick return. It’s the same reason that I look at a Brian Mitchell’s career yardage total and say “Meh” when it comes to HOF consideration for him.

As for an award for the longest, most verbose comment in our history…I think you might be close, but you’d have to see some of the posts on our Hall of Fame threads–Tony Parslow in particular would probably give you a run for your money…

I hope you’ll add Zoneblitz to your regularly read blog list–I added Frumpzilla to my RSS reader…even though your affliction with NC State bothers me (being a Gophers fan, I wasn’t shocked by the 2000 Micron PC Bowl second half, but I still hold it against them–that and Koren Robinson’s driving habits on the streets of Minnesota…)

The all-purpose yardage is relevant, IMO, when you consider the fact (also highlighted in the article) that Dorsett has nearly 1,000 more career carries than Walker, despite the same number of NFL seasons, and their YPC is a wash (4.3 to 4.2, respectively). It’s not expressly stated in the argument, but the implication was supposed to question the dynamics of how players are utilized, or perhaps under utilized, and, more importantly, how pundits/voters subsequently view, weigh and analyze the corresponding statistical output.

When you consider Dorsett’s team situations compared to Walker’s, and the fact that Tony has only 6 more TD’s (despite, again, the 982 more carries), it becomes even more interesting. The point of it all being, of course: No one would ever really question that Tony Dorsett is a sure fire HOFer…so why does someone that was, at worst, ultimately quite statistically similar never receive even remote consideration?

I hesitated including the USFL aspect to the piece, because I knew it would open the door to arguments and diversions that really don’t strike the heart of the matter, IMO. I obviously don’t think Herschel’s USFL stats should be taken into consideration for purposes of The Hall, at least not directly. After all, for purposes of acknowledging the disparity in competition, I did suggest to cut them in half. I also alluded to the question of whether they’re even necessary to make him a legitimate candidate (given the comparison to Tony, amongst other things I didn’t delve into). Still, I think they are important in the sense that, if nothing else, they serve as a tragic reminder of what might have been.

I mean, in retrospect, the poor guy essentially wasted 3 of his prime production years (especially for RB’s), because of a failed business model (to the victors go the spoils, I suppose). Sure, he only has himself to blame for that, and it will in all likelihood end up costing him a spot in Canton, but still…given how marginal a candidate he is, I think it’s worth noting.

Now, onto this something called Zoneblitz.com. If I don’t win the award for longest, most verbose comment in the site’s history, I’m going to be bitterly disappointed . Thanks again for reading.