2017 Football Hall of Fame Inductees

by Tony | Mar 9, 2016 | Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

We’ve been doing this now for eight years, and we’ve seen a lot of changes to the Hall of Fame induction process—mostly around the coverage the event receives, as the league utilizes it’s NFL Network to add more hype to the election process.

Still, at the end of the day, the formula has remained largely consistent over the years—25 gets cut to 15, then to 10, and most of those 10 make their way back to the 10 the following year, with only one or two possibly missing out if there is a special first year eligible player. Generally speaking, someone knocked out in the 11-15 spots in one year won’t jump past someone to the final five—but they’re usually a good bet to make the final 10 themselves.

So who does that give us in 2017? Well, the final five eliminated in the 2016 election were QB Kurt Warner, T Joe Jacoby, RB Terrell Davis, S John Lynch, and coach Don Coryell. In my personal estimation, not the most awe inspiring class ever—but that’s what we’re looking at.

Following them, eliminated in the 11-15 spots were K Morten Andersen, S Steve Atwater, WR Terrell Owens, G Alan Faneca, and RB Edgerrin James—perhaps more star power in Owens and James, and probably a better offensive lineman in Faneca than Jacoby, but still facing a difficult road to jump into the top.

As for first year nominees, there are five names that would appear to stand out above the rest in RB LaDanian Tomlinson, DE Jason Taylor, S Brian Dawkins, WR Hines Ward and QB Donovan McNabb. Tomlinson and Taylor are probably the most likely to not only jump into the top 10, but even possibly make the finalist ballot. Dawkins has the profile (9/4) to the finalist round for sure, but with Lynch and Atwater already there, and a position that’s never gotten a lot of love, top 10 might be a stretch in his first year. Undoubtedly some Steeler fans will argue that Ward deserves first ballot consideration (he doesn’t), but he has a chance to make the finalist round, and an outside chance at the top 10. McNabb…well…

Finishing outside the top 15 in 2016 were some other interesting names, that could possibly push to make the rare leap past a player like Andersen or Atwater—names like Kevin Mawae, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Ty Law and of course Jimmy Johnson.

Our guess?

Finalists:

• Warner
• Jacoby
• Davis
• Lynch
• Coryell
• Atwater
• Faneca
• Andersen
• Owens
• James
• Tomlinson
• Taylor
• Dawkins
• Mawae
• Johnson

We see Andersen, Mawae, James, Atwater and Johnson getting dropped in the first five. From there…

(more…)

2016 Hall of Fame Class unveiled

by Andy | Feb 6, 2016 | Hall of Fame

It reportedly took the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s voting board less than a minute to determine that Brett Favre

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

would be a first-ballot enshrinee in the class of 2016.

Favre headlines a class that also includes coach Tony Dungy, WR Marvin Harrison, DE/LB Kevin Greene, T Orlando Pace, contributor Edward DeBartolo Jr. and senior candidates Dick Stanfel and QB Ken Stabler.

Voters started the day by whittling a group of 15 finalists down to 10. Those eliminated on the first cut were K Morten Andersen, S Steve Atwater, WR Terrell Owens, G Alan Faneca and RB Edgerrin James, meaning the five modern era candidates who made the final 10 but were not selected were QB Kurt Warner, T Joe Jacoby, RB Terrell Davis, S John Lynch and Coach Don Coryell. The group of 15 finalists was unveiled last month.

Once the five modern-era finalists had been selected, selectors voted yes or no on each of those candidates and on Stanfel, Stabler and DeBartolo. Each needed 80 percent yes votes to earn enshrinement. The class of 2016 hits the max number of eight that can be inducted in any given year. (more…)

Megatron’s Call From Canton Should Come Fast

by Andy | Feb 2, 2016 | Hall of Fame

Calvin Johnson reportedly has informed friends and coaches that he will retire after nine seasons in the NFL rather

Photo by Kevin810, via Wikipedia

than rejoin Detroit for the 2016 season.

While his quiet, low-key approach to announcing the end of his career would be fitting for the way he acted when he played, I hope this is not the case. Johnson has spent the last decade being one of the very few reasons to tune in to watch the Lions.

If he is, however, serious about stepping away, he would first become eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2021. I think it’s just short of inarguable that he gets in eventually.

I don’t think he should have to wait.

You can certainly qualify Megatron’s impact by saying it’s a passing era, no question. He’s played in the most pass-heavy era of NFL football on mostly bad teams that had to throw the ball. Did that inflate his numbers? Perhaps. But I would argue that Johnson was also part of the reason Detroit should have been throwing the ball all along. (more…)

Johnson, not Dungy, should be next coach in the Hall of Fame

by Andy | Jan 8, 2016 | Hall of Fame

In our Hall of Fame prediction post a few months back, Tony picked Tony Dungy as one of his five enshrinees for the class of 2016, citing the momentum the former Bucs and Colts coach has garnered in recent years.

He’s not wrong. Dungy has momentum in recent years and he was, last night, named a finalist in the quest to become a part of this year’s class.

But that doesn’t mean Dungy SHOULD be the next coach to make the Hall.

I like Dungy “the man” more than I like Jimmy Johnson “the man.” Johnson’s got a huge ego, which ultimately was part of the reason his tenure in Dallas was so short – it couldn’t co-exist with the equally massive ego of owner Jerry Jones. And those Cowboys teams he coached were a smug, arrogant bunch in a lot of ways – not that they didn’t deserve to be proud of their accomplishments. That was a seriously great team.

And Johnson was clearly their leader. (more…)

Pro Football Hall of Fame voters select 15 finalists for 2016

by Andy | Jan 7, 2016 | Hall of Fame

Nine of the 15 finalists for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2016 class were offensive players, including

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

three first-time eligible players: Alan Faneca, Brett Favre and Terrell Owens.

Just three finalists played defense. One was a kicker and two were coaches.

The 15 finalists were:

• K Morten Andersen
• S Steve Atwater
• Coach Don Coryell
• RB Terrell Davis
• G Alan Faneca
• QB Brett Favre
• LB/DE Kevin Greene
• WR Marvin Harrison
• T Joe Jacoby
• RB Edgerrin James
• S John Lynch
• WR Terrell Owens
• T Orlando Pace
• QB Kurt Warner

(more…)

Charles Woodson to Retire: 1st Ballot Hall of Famer?

by Tony | Dec 23, 2015 | Hall of Fame

Nearing the end of his 18^th season, Charles Woodson announced on Monday that 2015 would be his final season. With the Raiders eliminated from playoff contention, barring injury, his final game in Oakland will be this Sunday, and final game overall will be 1/3/16 in Kansas City.

He most likely retires in the 5^th overall spot for interceptions, with 65 (and an outside chance of catching Night Train Lane, who has 68, and tied for second overall in interceptions returned for touchdowns, one behind Rod Woodson. Barring injury, he will have played in 254 games, and also amassed 18 fumble recoveries, 20 sacks, 155 passes defensed, and at least according to Pro Football Reference, just under 1,000 career tackles.

He has 8 Pro Bowl appearances—four in his first four seasons, then four more consecutively with the Packers from 2008-2011, and three First Team All-Pro selections (and for those that care, he was also a three time 2^nd Team All-Pro). He was the 1998 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, the 2009 AP Defensive Player of the Year, and was on the 1^st team for the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-2000s Team.

Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Argues that he is a Hall of Fame lock, and the kind of player that shouldn’t have to wait five years to be tabbed. He has even argued that Woodson is the greatest defensive back of all time. For my money, I’m not even sure that Charles is the best defensive back named Woodson of all time–and I would still put Deion Sanders (and maybe a couple others) ahead of him for pure coverage skills, but as an overall defensive back, he’s certainly in the top tier, and probably top 5 in the last 20 years. I’m not sure he’s a lock for his first ballot, but I don’t think he’ll be waiting long.

But let’s hear it Zoneblitz regulars—is he a first ballot HOFer, given the position change, and the difficulty some DBs have had making the Hall?  Is he in your Hall of Good, but not quite Great, due to those years from his injury in 2002 through 2007, before his resurgence in Green Bay?

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