Pro Football Hall of Fame: Class of 2012 Picks

by | Feb 4, 2012 | Hall of Fame

Announcement day has arrived, we’re less than 12 hours from knowing who has made the cut. I’m not sure if we’ll find out which of the 15 finalists make the cut to 10 in advance of the 5:30 announcement show or not, but hopefully you’ll check back with us here for more discussion around this year’s class.

And, of course, our Class of 2013 predictions, which we promise will be posted a lot sooner than November this time around.

Below are the final 2012 hall of fame class predictions that we’ve been able to scrape from the comments–let me know (tony(at)zoneblitz.com or in the comments section) if you’d like to be added to the list…

Zoneblitz Martin Dawson Roaf Reed Parcells Stanfel Butler
Billy Martin Dawson Carter Reed Haley Stanfel Butler
Brad Martin Dawson Roaf Reed Kennedy Stanfel Butler
Paul Martin Dawson Roaf Reed Kennedy Stanfel Butler
BSLO Martin Dawson Parcells Reed Kennedy Stanfel Butler
Robert Ewing Martin Doleman Roaf Reed Haley Butler
Chris Martin Dawson Doleman Reed Kennedy Stanfel Butler
boknows34 Martin Dawson Roaf Reed Kennedy Stanfel Butler

Comparing likely Hall of Famers: Brown, Carter & Reed

by | Jan 28, 2012 | Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts

We’re getting close to learning who the 2012 inductees will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this August. Much of the discussion on one of our other Hall of Fame posts revolves around which of the three wide receiver finalists — or whether any of them — will get chosen for the honor this season.

Four-time finalist Andre Reed seems to have gained the most momentum, based on his near miss last season. Three-time finalist Cris Carter and one-time finalist Tim Brown are the other two wideouts in the mix for this year’s honor.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Website did a comparison of these three players and how they fared up against the other 21 wideouts already enshrined in Canton, Ohio. But I wanted to do some analysis of my own.

Let me start with this. All three of these guys had great careers and they definitely are strong candidates, at least in the eyes of Zoneblitz. They all would be in the top five in receiving yards, touchdowns and receptions among receivers already in the Hall. Even as we move into a heavy passing era, Reed, Carter and Brown all continue to match up strongly with the other candidates they’ll be compared with in the near future.

But as the competition gets stronger in the years ahead, as guys like Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, Torry Holt, Terrell Owens and a host of others retire, it’s going to be more and more challenging for the current group of finalists to get in. That makes the voting over the next couple years that much more important. And frankly, after doing some analysis, I think the current wide receiver finalists might be gaining momentum in the wrong order.

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Hall of Famer Ward? Hines looking at retirement

by | Jan 9, 2012 | Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts

This could be turning into a pretty good year for big-name retirements. There’s Jason Taylor for sure. Seems LaDainian Tomlinson is considering hanging it up. And if reports from around the Interwebs are true, Steelers wideout Hines Ward is about to say goodbye to the NFL, as well. (EDIT: Or perhaps not …)

Taylor and Tomlinson would seem to be sure thing inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at this point. But Ward is an interesting case. He’s close — right on the borderline either way. His numbers were very, very good, but was he that good? Or did he benefit from playing in the NFL as the game — and the long-time run-heavy Steelers — transitioned more and more toward the pass? (more…)

Pro Football Hall of Fame Names 2012 Finalists

by | Jan 7, 2012 | Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame named its 15 finalists for the Class of 2012, with guard Will Shields and coach Bill Parcells being first time finalists (Parcells was technically a finalist before, when coaches did not have to wait the five years, and is apparently considered a first time candidate again).

Joining Parcells and Shields as finalists from the modern era:

  • Jerome Bettis, RB
  • Tim Brown, WR
  • Cris Carter, WR
  • Dermontti Dawson, C
  • Eddie DeBartolo, Jr., Contributor
  • Chris Doleman, DE
  • Kevin Greene, OLB/DE
  • Charles Haley, DE
  • Cortez Kennedy, DT
  • Curtis Martin, RB
  • Andre Reed, WR
  • Willie Roaf, T
  • Aeneas Williams, CB

    • The only two we missed on were Aeneas Williams (who we had as a finalist last year), and DeBartolo, Jr. In their places we had picked coach Bill Cowher (who wasn’t even a semifinalist, presumably due to the belief he will resume coaching) and RB Terrell Davis.

    All five of our picks for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2012 are still in the running.

    Missing the cut from the 2012 Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist list were:

  • Steve Atwater
  • Don Coryell
  • Roger Craig
  • Clay Matthews
  • Karl Mecklenburg
  • Donnie Shell
  • Paul Tagliabue
  • Steve Tasker
  • Ron Wolf
  • George Young

    • The list of finalists will be narrowed to 10, and then down to five on the Saturday before the Super Bowl, and those five will be voted on individually for inclusion along with Senior Candidates Jack Butler and Dick Stanfel.

    Follow up in the comments with your thoughts on the finalists…

    Jason Taylor: Hall of Fame Bound

    by | Jan 5, 2012 | Hall of Fame

    Recently in our Hall of Fame coverage we seem to be adding individual posts and polls for individual players that are worthy of conversation for the Hall of Fame (ignoring sure things like Brett Favre).

    Before last week’s game, Dolphins DE/LB Jason Taylor confirmed that he would retire at the end of the season. He finished his career with 139.5 sacks (6th all-time) in 233 games, 6 Pro Bowls and 3 First Team All-Pro selections. He recovered 29 fumbles (25th all-time) for 246 return yards (2nd all-time) and 6 TDs (1st all-time), and added 8 interceptions, of which 3 were returned for TDs.

    The numbers here make me think that it’s less of a question of whether he makes the Hall of Fame, but rather when he makes it–is he a first year guy, or does he have to wait a few years?

    Is Jason Taylor heading to the Hall of Fame?

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    NFL Hall of Fame names 26 semifinalists

    by | Nov 22, 2011 | Hall of Fame

    Will Shields and Bill Parcells are the two first-time semifinalists among the 26 candidates still alive and awaiting word of their potential enshrinement in the NFL Hall of Fame.

    Parcells had been a finalist before in 2001 and 2002, but the Hall is not counting those in its announcement because the rules have since changed, requiring coaches to be retired for five seasons.

    Normally the list would have been whittled down to 25 at this point, but the Hall’s bylaws allow for more when votes result in ties. (more…)