by Andy | Nov 30, 2012 | Hall of Fame
Six first-year candidates are among the 27 modern-era semifinalists still alive for potential induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2013.
Offensive linemen Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen, defensive linemen Michael Strahan and Warren Sapp, kicker Morten Andersen and safety John Lynch make up an incredibly deep pool of first-year candidates still in contention. Another first-time semifinalist is Kansas City defensive back Albert Lewis, a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time First Team All-Pro who retired after the 1998 season.
Otherwise there were few major surprises in the announcement. The survivors also include three wide receivers, each of whom many voters and observers believe are qualified for Hall enshrinement, who seem to be canceling each other out in the final voting process: Andre Reed, Cris Carter and Tim Brown.
Disappearing from last year’s semifinalist lists from recent years include linebacker Clay Mathews, defensive back Donnie Shell and contributor Ron Wolf. One notable absence from the list is Steve Sabol, one of the forces behind NFL Films, who died from brain cancer in September. Sabol’s father, Ed Sabol, founded the company in 1962 and was enshrined in Canton in 2011.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee culled the list of nominees to 27 from 127, which had been comprised of 89 former players, 14 coaches and 24 contributors.
Semifinalists
RB Jerome Bettis, Roger Craig, Terrell Davis
WR Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Andre Reed
OL Larry Allen, Will Shields, Joe Jacoby, Jonathan Ogden
DL: Charles Haley, Warren Sapp, Michael Strahan
LB Karl Mecklenburg, Kevin Greene
DB: Steve Atwater, Albert Lewis, John Lynch, Aeneas Williams
K Morten Andersen
Special Teams: Steve Tasker
Coaches Don Coryell, Bill Parcells
Owners Edward DeBartolo Jr., Art Modell
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue
Contributor George Young
These modern-era candidates will be reduced to 15 finalists that will be announced in early January. That list will then be cut to 10 and then to five on the Saturday before the Super Bowl. Those five will be voted on individually for inclusion, as will two senior-era candidates, Curly Culp and Dave Robinson.
Between four and seven enshrinees will be selected for enshrinement. The final voting process takes place prior to the Super Bowl.
The inductees for the class of 2013 will be announced at the Super Bowl. They will be enshrined in August 2013. (We made our predictions here.)
by Andy | Nov 28, 2012 | 2012 season, Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts
Pride of Detroit wrote this week that Calvin Johnson is on pace to come within 20 yards of breaking the all-time single season receiving yardage record this year, which surprised me because it seemed like until a couple weeks ago he was having a somewhat down season compared with the number he put up in 2011.
As it turns out, Johnson is on pace for an 1828 yard season – just off the pace of Jerry Rice, who had 1848 in 1995. He’s just not getting in the end zone as much – he’s been tackled at the one yard line a ridiculous number of times – but he’s still having another monster year.
After seemingly taking a couple seasons to get acclimated to the NFL game after spending his college days at the wishbone stalwart Georgia Tech, Megatron has been on fire the last couple seasons. In 2011, he led the league in receiving yards with 1681, was second in touchdowns to Rob Gronkowski with 16 (Gronk had 17) and had 96 catches.
His stalwart numbers through the first six years of his career made me wonder how he stacked up with a couple of the league’s all-time greats. And yes, it appears as though these last couple amazingly prolific seasons have put Johnson right in the mix with the likes of Randy Moss and Jerry Rice, whose careers were compared on this site previously.
Barring injury, Johnson will eclipse Rice’s reception total for their first six years. Rice had 446. Johnson has 439 right now with five games left in the regular season for Detroit. He’ll likely fall just short of Rice in yardage, though he’s got a shot to catch him (7,129 with five games left to Rice’s 7,866). Rice’s 79 touchdowns through a half-dozen years has both Moss (77) and Megatron (53). (more…)
by Andy | Nov 16, 2012 | Hall of Fame
With the gay marriage amendment defeated during the election in Minnesota earlier this month, outspoken Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has found a new topic on which to opine: Ray Guy’s omission from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The arguments have gone both ways. He revolutionized the punter position. So he should be in. He’s just a punter, so he should stay out. He was great at pinning teams inside the 20 yard line so he should be in. His gross average wasn’t all that great so he should be out. As this Pro Football Reference blog post states, few players’ cases stir “as much passion and disagreement as Ray Guy.”
The topic came up again earlier this week when a Yahoo! Sports story featured the 62-year-old Guy, who now works at Southern Mississippi with former athletes from his alma mater, where he also helps raise funds. (more…)
by Andy | Sep 27, 2012 | Hall of Fame
There are 13 first-time nominees, including a handful of high profile players with a chance to be inducted on their first attempt, among the 127 nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2013.
Those first time nominees include offensive linemen Larry Allen and Jonathan Ogden, defensive linemen Warren Sapp and Michael Strahan, safety John Lynch, kicker Morten Andersen and running back Priest Holmes.
There are 53 offensive players, 31 defensive players, five special teams players, 14 coaches and 24 contributors on the list of nominees. From the 127, the Hall of Fame Selection Committee will select 25 candidates who will advance as semifinalists.
The semifinalists will be narrowed to 15 modern-era finalists plus two senior nominees – defensive tackle Curley Culp and linebacker Dave Robinson, who were selected by the Senior Selection Committee last month.
The voting where the actual Class of 2013 will be selected is conducted at a meeting on Feb. 2, 2013, the day before Super Bowl XLVII, at the Superdome in New Orleans. Bylaws call for between four and seven new members.
The other first-time nominees include defensive tackle Sam Adams, wide receiver Keenan McCardell, quarterback Steve McNair, center Tom Nalen and defensive tackles Ted Washington and Bryant Young.
Tony and I made predictions on who we think might be selected after the 2012 class was announced. You can read about that here.
The Hall of Fame’s announcement can be read here.
by Andy | Sep 7, 2012 | Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts
Tributes and recollections of former Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell have been pouring in since word of his death broke Thursday.
For decades, Modell was one of the most visible of the NFL owners, having taken a lead role in negotiating the league’s first major television contract and in establishing Monday Night Football.
Not one to shy away from controversy, Modell bought the Cleveland Browns in 1961 and fired the team’s namesake coach Paul Brown two years later.
Later on, Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, leaving the football-intense Ohio city without a team for several years.
It was reportedly a move Modell felt he had to make, but it’s also the move he is most closely associated with and it has left him with many detractors.
Eric Edholm, senior editor with Pro Football Weekly, told ESPN-1500 in Minneapolis Thursday that the story of the NFL’s history could not be told without mentioning Modell’s name and that he thinks the owner should be in the Hall of Fame.
“The fact that he is not in the Hall of Fame does not make sense to me,” Edholm told listeners.
The move to Baltimore left an entire region bitter and bought Modell a number of enemies, however. And that issue alone, according to Edholm, is keeping him from being enshrined.
I think he probably should be in the Hall, though the backlog of players we’ve discussed time and again makes it unlikely he’s selected anytime real soon. It lends some credence to the argument made a few years back by Sports Illustrated reporter Peter King that “contributors” should be considered separately from players and coaches.
I’m sure his death will revive discussion of his merits as a candidate. It may already be doing so. His contributions to the game were more great than bad. What are your thoughts? Will he get his day?
by Tony | Aug 22, 2012 | Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced that Defensive Tackle Curley Culp and Linebacker Dave Robinson are the senior committee nominees for the Class of 2013. They will be voted on with the five other finalists on the Saturday before the Super Bowl.
Culp was drafted in the second round out of Arizona State by the Denver Broncos in 1968, but actually started his career in the AFL with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he was an important cog in the defensive line that shut down the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. With Culp having signed t play in the World Football League in 1975, the Chiefs traded him to Houston (for John Matuszak), where he was a four time Pro Bowler (on top of two times with the Chiefs) and one-time All-Pro. He finished his career in Detroit for the final season and a half, retiring after the 1981 season.
Robinson was a first round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1963, playing Linebacker for all five of Vince Lombardi’s championship teams. He was selected to three Pro Bowls in his career, one time All-Pro, and was named to the NFL all decade team for the 1960’s.
From a Zoneblitz perspective, in the 370+ comments left on our 2013 Hall of Fame Prediction post, Culp and Robinson have both been mentioned at least a few times, although not nearly as often as another Packer (Jerry Kramer) or another Robinson (Johnny), and never appeared to be favorites for the nominations.
So what say you Zoneblitz, will Culp and/or Robinson get in, and are they worthy nominees?
Loading ...
Loading ...
Robert we’ll just see who the finalists are
Very possible
Could we see one of the following replace rivers in the final 15 Lomas Brown Richmond Webb Kevin Williams Steve…
Paul I remember I watched it last year we’ll just see what they do
perhaps they flip it back to a prime time show on NFL Network (as was case in Dec 2023 as…