Hall of Fame Considers Creating Contributor Category

by | May 21, 2013 | Hall of Fame

From the quotes offered up by Pro Football Hall of Fame Vice President of Communications and Exhibits Joe Horrigan this may technically be in the category of “Non-News News,” but the Hall of Fame appears to be considering changing the process for the election of Contributors to the game.

The change would presumably remove owners, broadcasters and other personnel (and possibly even coaches) from the regular voting process that elects players into the Hall. This would remove the need to figure out how to compare a Steve Sabol or Paul Tagliabue to a Ray Lewis or Ronde Barber, a difficult (if not impossible) task. Only three of the last 40 modern era inductees elected since 2006 have been “Contributors”–Ralph Wilson Jr. in 2009, Ed Sabol in 2011, and Bill Parcells in 2013.

What may make this non-news, though, is that it appears it isn’t the first time the idea has come up:

“I can’t tell you we’re real close to a solution, but as we do every year, we do discuss the possibility,” Horrigan told Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

This could make for an interesting scenario where in theory an individual could come up for election as both a player and as a contributor–Mike Ditka and Dick LeBeau being two players inducted who some might argue could gain election as coaches. However, whether the “Contributor” label was technically a separate wing in Canton, or the individual just got a second bust (one in their youth as a player, one more aged as a coach (just envision Ditka’s bust with a cigar and/or Ricky Williams dreadlocks), would seem amenable to me.

What say you, Zoneblitz faithful?  Separate category for contributors, or leave well enough alone? Vote below and give us your thoughts in the comments…

Should the Pro Football Hall of Fame add a separate category for electing Contributors?

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NFL Playoffs: Divisional Weekend Picks and Bets

by | Jan 20, 2013 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Picks

It’s Championship Game day, which means it’s time for our picks. Last week, my picks were significantly better than in Wildcard Week, as I picked up 13 points in our format. Unfortunately, Andy picked up 13 points as well, so he still has a 24-20 lead. To keep things interesting (and to give me a shot at catching up), we’re going to up the ante with fewer games this week, and make regular picks worth 2 points, and best bets worth three.

Andy Tony
Baltimore @ New England
Straight up New England New England
Spread Baltimore +9 New England -9
Over/Under Over 51.5 Over 51.5
San Francisco @ Atlanta
Straight up San Francisco San Francisco
Spread San Francisco -4 Atlanta +4
Over/Under Over 49 Under 49
Best Bets: Baltimore @ New England: over 51.5 New England -115
San Francisco -4 San Francisco -115

Our game takes:

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NFL Playoffs: Divisional weekend picks and bets

by | Jan 12, 2013 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Picks

After a week of rather lackluster Wildcard games, the NFL playoffs are back at it today with a slate of games that at least appears to be a lot more appealing. In our new pick format last week, Andy kicked my butt, going only 7-5 with his picks, but getting two best bets for 11 total points. I went 5-7, and finished with 7 points.

Andy Tony
Baltimore at Denver
straight up Denver Denver
spread Baltimore +8.5 Denver -8.5
over/under over 45 over 45
Green Bay at San Francisco
straight up San Francisco San Francisco
spread San Francisco – 3 San Francisco -3
over/under under 45 under 45
Seattle at Atlanta
straight up Seattle Atlanta
spread Seattle +2 Atlanta -2
over/under under 44.5 over 44.5
Houston at New England
straight up New England New England
spread New England -9.5 Houston +9.5
over/under over 47.5 over 47.5
Best Bets Baltimore at Denver over 45 Baltimore at Denver over 45
San Francisco -3 Green Bay at San Francisco under 45
Seattle +115 Seattle at Atlanta over 44.5
New England -9.5 Houston at New England over 47.5

Our game takes:

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Hall of Fame Class of 2018: Ray Lewis

by | Jan 2, 2013 | Hall of Fame, NFL News

Assuming Ray Lewis follows through on his plans to retire, the only likely hurdle between him and a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction in five years would be the memory of legal issues he faced in 2001 after two individuals were killed in a fight with Lewis and his companions after the Super Bowl.

While the most serious of the charges we’re dropped in exchange for his testimony against others, he pled guilty to obstruction of justice, avoiding prison time and ensuring that he’d be able to continue what ended up being one of the best careers a linebacker has had in NFL history.

That career included 13 pro bowls, seven first-team All-Pros, a Super Bowl MVP award, two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, three AFC Defensive Player of the Year awards, being named to the 2000’s All-Decade team, and a host of other awards and records (see the sidebar here). So while his legal troubles may be a discussion point in the Hall of Fame conversation (even if they’re not supposed to be), the debate isn’t whether or not he will get in, it’s only a possible debate about when.

And the bigger debate, in many people’s eyes, is where exactly he falls in the list of “Greatest of all-time” for Linebackers (realistically, probably inside or outside ‘backers).

Personally, while I’ve always thought he was great, I also thought he also was greatly aided by usually playing on teams that had a system (and the players up front) to funnel traffic his way and keep blockers off of him–so I would be hesitant to put him ahead of guys like Lawrence Taylor, Dick Butkus and possibly even a few more (Ray Nitschke? Mike Singletary? Jack Lambert or Jack Ham?).

So we put the word out to you (especially our regular Hall of Fame commenters)–we’ve got the poll going, is Lewis the greatest of all time, or who would you rank ahead of him? Let us know in the comments.

Who is the best linebacker in NFL history?

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NFL Best Bets: Week 17 – 2012

by | Dec 29, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling

As we’ve mentioned time and time again, our bets have sucked all season. We maybe had a two or three week stretch where it looked like things were coming around, but for the most part it’s a good thing our time in Vegas this season was limited to one three night stretch for Andy.

That said, we both did pretty well last week, recovering if only briefly from terrible stretches, posting 3-1 marks in week 16. That improves Andy’s record to 29-34-1. Tony rebounds from back-to-back 0-4 weeks, improving his season record to 27-37.

As we wrap up the regular season, here are our bets for week 17. Use these at your own risk:

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