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?
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by Andy | Aug 4, 2012 | Hall of Fame
Terry Bradshaw was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989 and during his speech, he famously proclaimed a wish: “Oh, what I would give to put my hands under Mike Webster’s butt one more time.”
In 1997, Webster, arguably the best center to ever play the game, earned his own induction into the Hall. When Bradshaw introduced Webster, the two made Bradshaw’s eight-year fantasy come true. Hundreds of Steelers fans went crazy as Bradshaw pulled a football from beneath the podium and took a snap.
Webster was going through some highly-publicized personal issues at the time and he would later become one of the first examples of NFL retirees suffering from brain damage and other post-career issues. And five years later he would pass away at the young age of 50.
But for that afternoon in Canton, Ohio, Webster was the star – probably more the star than he had ever been, since playing on the offensive line rarely leads to receiving much publicity. (more…)
by Tony | May 29, 2012 | 80's, By the Numbers, Hall of Fame
We’ve reached the dog days of the NFL–I consider myself a pretty big fan of the NFL, and even I can’t get that jazzed up about OTA’s. And it’s not just because my team went 3-13 last year–seriously, if you get excited about OTA’s, you might need professional counseling. Or you might be a Packer fan.
While there’s some great debate going on in our annual Hall of Fame thread, we’ve decided to fill the dead space with a series of posts that has been kicking around in my head for some time, and recently came back to the front of my brain when I heard a local radio host discussing the uniform number choice of a highly touted rookie (in this case it was hockey, but that doesn’t matter).
A few years back I bought a book that discusses, across all professional sports, who the best players to wear each number was. Of course, some of the numbers skew towards football (50-98, where fewer athletes in other sports wear numbers that high regularly), but I also thought some of the lower numbers tended to focus more on baseball/basketball than I would have expected.
So I figured we would start a series of posts discussing each number in the NFL (randomly) and who wore that number the best in the history of the league (we’ll gladly consider AFL, and even some CFL and USFL where applicable), and allow the fans to vote for who they think was the best.
The first number up is one that has had a significant tradition of star players: #81
(more…)
by Tony | Apr 20, 2012 | Hall of Fame
Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of discussion about the Pro Football Hall of Fame voting process being flawed. We’ve discussed it. People thinking their specific guy (Will Shields, Jerome Bettis, Bill Parcells, Cris Carter) deserves to be there have discussed it. Even people thinking the entire league are being blacklisted discuss it.
But what are some possible solutions to the problem? Here’s one that apparently shouldn’t be on the list – let the players vote.
For Eagles, Redskins and Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb, during an appearance on a FoxSports.com show, said he would vote for himself for the Hall of Fame: (more…)
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I might sue the Pro Football Hall of Fame on behalf on those who’ve been snubbed for so long and…
Paul well said but we’ll just see what happens
Voters will not care about a feud between Bill and Kraft, and those two respective BRPs (neither of whom got…
Brian she finished third in her state beauty pageant
Brian we’ll just see what happens and your right about Jordon Hudson