Johnny Robinson Named Class of 2019 Senior Finalist for Hall of Fame

by Tony | Aug 20, 2018 | Hall of Fame

In news that will likely satisfy (assuming a positive vote in February) many regulars here at Zoneblitz, Kansas City Chiefs Safety Johnny Robinson was announced as the Senior Candidate for the 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame on Friday. Despite a career that included seven Pro Bowls, six First-Team All AFL/Pro selections, a Super Bowl championship and selection to the All-Time AFL team, this will be Robinson’s first time as a senior candidate for the Hall of Fame. Robinson was a finalist six times during his initial eligibility window, the final time in 1986.

Robinson was drafted 3rd overall in the 1960 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, but decided to play for the Dallas Texans (later the Kansas City Chiefs) who had also drafted him in the first round of their initial draft (the details of which are a bit cloudy, as far as where he was technically selected). He spent his first two seasons playing flanker for the Texans, before moving to safety in his 3rd season. After suffering a career ending injury on December 25th, 1971, he retired in 1972 with 57 interceptions, and was the all-time winningest player in AFL history.

Senior Finalists for the Hall of Fame are chosen by a special Seniors Committee, made up of nine veteran members of the overall Selection Committee. A list of candidates is compiled including carry-over nominations from the previous years, first-time eligible candidates, and nominations from any outside sources. Through a mail ballot, the list is reduced to 15 Senior Finalists, and a rotating sub-committee of five of the nine members of the Senior Committee meet in Canton, Ohio, to choose the finalist.

The Senior Candidate will be forwarded to the full Selection Committee, along with a Contributor Finalist two Contributor Finalists (chosen in a similar process) for final vote, prior to the committee narrowing the list of 15 modern-era finalists to the final five along with up to five modern-era candidates. The seven candidates at that stage are given a final yes/no vote.

The last Senior Finalist to not be elected to the Hall of Fame was Dick Stanfel in 2012–after being previously rejected in 1993–who was finally elected in 2016. Prior to that, Claude Humphrey was given a no vote in 2009, then elected in 2014. The last Senior Finalist to not be elected to the Hall of Fame was Marshall Goldberg in 2008, after being previously rejected in 1979. The last Senior Finalist to not be elected to the Hall while being the only Senior Finalist (from 2004-2014, two Senior Finalists were selected each year, to relieve some of the backlog of deserving candidates) was Jerry Kramer, in 1997. Kramer was enshrined in the Hall of Fame earlier this month.

The Contributor Finalist for the Class of 2019 is expected to be announced later next week. Final voting for the full class of 2019 will take place and be announced on the Saturday before the Super Bowl.

Modern-Era nominees for 2018 Hall of Fame class unveiled

by Andy | Sep 12, 2017 | Hall of Fame

Eleven first-year players, including WR Randy Moss, LB Ray Lewis, LB Brian Urlacher and DB Ronde Barber highlight the list of 108

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

modern-era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2018.

Other first-year candidates include WR Donald Driver and (the other) Steve Smith; OL Matt Birk, Jeff Saturday, Steve Hutchinson; and DL Richard Seymour and Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Of the first-year guys, the first four would seem to be locks for enshrinement – presumably Lewis as a first-ballot HOFer and the rest in years to follow (Moss had a first-ballot career, but likely falls into the trap Terrell Owens and others have with logjams and politics).

Without spending a great deal of time studying their respective cases, my inclination is that Driver and Smith are solid nos, Hutchinson is a yes, Birk and Saturday are maybes, Seymour is a yes and Vanden Bosch is a no … your thoughts?

The entire list can be found here. It consists of 53 offensive players, 38 defensive players, five special teamers and 12 coaches.

As you can see by the link, there has been a fair amount made of the nomination of Smith. In reality, as most of you are aware, anyone can nominate a player for this stage of the process. Thus, over the years, many non-candidate candidates have had their names brought forward.

The group will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November and then to 15 finalists in January.

Those 15 finalists along with Senior Candidates Jerry Kramer and Robert Brazile and Bobby Beathard, who was nominated as a contributor, will be voted on during meetings held during Super Bowl weekend.

Brazile, Kramer named senior candidates for 2018

by Andy | Aug 24, 2017 | Hall of Fame

We’ll have more on these selections later, obviously, but day jobs and travel are getting in the way at the moment…

But we wanted to provide a space to start discussion on the 2018 Senior nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame: LB Robert Brazile and G Jerry Kramer.

Both of these guys have been oft-discussed at this site. It seems to me, without having a full list in front of me, they are quality candidates, particularly in comparison with some more recent offerings.

What are your thoughts?

2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class (Prediction)

by Tony | Aug 4, 2017 | Hall of Fame

With Morten Andersen, Terrell Davis, Jason Taylor, LaDainian Tomlinson, Kurt Warner, Kenny Easley and Jerry Jones set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame tonight, figured we were just a bit overdue for our annual Hall of Fame prediction for next year.

Of course, we start with the finalists that didn’t make the cut in 2017.

The final five cut:

Tony Boselli, T, Jacksonville Jaguars

Brian Dawkins, S, Philadelphia Eagles/Denver Broncos

John Lynch, S, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Denver Broncos

Ty Law, CB, New England Patriots/New York Jets/Kansas City/Denver Broncos

Kevin Mawae, C, Seattle Seahawks/New York Jets/Tennessee Titans

Our take: No reason these five won’t be finalists again in 2018.

The first five finalists eliminated:

Isaac Bruce, WR, LA/St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers

Don Coryell, Coach, San Diego Chargers

Alan Faneca, G, Pittsburgh Steelers/New York Jets/Arizona Cardinals

Joe Jacoby, T, Washington Redskins

Terrell Owens, WR, San Francisco 49ers/Philadelphia Eagles/Dallas Cowboys/Buffalo Bills/Cincinnati Bengals

Tony’s take: Although interest in Coryell seems to ebb and flow, he has been a finalist for three straight years (4 overall), so it would seem unlikely that he will drop. It took Joe Jacoby years to make the finalist list, but after being a semifinalist seven times, he’s finally been a finalist the last two years. He faces his final year as a modern-era candidate, so he’s unlikely to drop.

Faneca and Owens have each made the finalist list twice, and although Owens’ attitude after last year’s “snub” could turn some more voters off, it’s unlikely to cost him his spot as a finalist. Isaac Bruce was a finalist for the first time last year—if anyone were to drop from the list this year, it’s likely him—but we don’t see that happening.

Andy’s take: I don’t agree on several of these. Bruce, to me, is not even the most worthy WR off the Greatest Show on Turf. Torry Holt, who dropped out as a semifinalist last year, deserves it more. I’ll predict voters realize the error of their ways and replace Bruce with Holt.

I also think, right or wrong, that Coryell will start to fade from view a bit. I still believe Jimmy Johnson should have been inducted before Tony Dungy and I’ll suggest the former Cowboys coach will knock Coryell from the final 15. It may be an argument for later, but I think coaches need to be considered with contributors or as their own separate category. There are a number of head guys and assistants who would be solid, legitimate Hall candidates who will never get noticed under the current system.

I also think there are others who could get bumped from this list, as there is a solid group of first-time eligible players coming up this year too. Jacoby jumps out at me. I think there’s a good chance it’s going to be up to the senior committee to ultimately determine his fate.

Semifinalists

There were actually 11 additional names cut between the Semifinalist and Finalist stage:

Steve Atwater, S, Denver Broncos/New York Jets (finalist in 2016)

Roger Craig, RB, San Francisco 49ers/Los Angeles Raiders/Minnesota Vikings

Chris Hinton, T/G, Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts/Atlanta Falcons/Minnesota Vikings

Torry Holt, WR, St. Louis Rams/Jacksonville Jaguars

Edgerrin James, RB, Indianapolis Colts/Arizona Cardinals/Seattle Seahawks (finalist in 2016)

Jimmy Johnson, Coach, Dallas Cowboys/Miami Dolphins

Mike Kenn, T, Atlanta Falcons

Clay Matthews, LB, Cleveland Browns/Atlanta Falcons

Karl Mecklenburg, LB, Denver Broncos

Hines Ward, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Darren Woodson, S, Dallas Cowboys

Tony’s Take: Despite what I’m guessing Steelers fans will say about Hines Ward, I personally see Holt, James and possibly Atwater as the most likely to ascend to the finalist stage — possibly with Jimmy Johnson as a wildcard, although in recent years I’ve backed off on my opinion of his worthiness to the Hall.

The bigger issue that many in this list face are some of the first-time eligible players coming into the list:

Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore Ravens – Basically a sure thing finalist, and by far the best bet to make it all the way to Canton in his first year. In fact, probably higher on the list than any of last year’s finalists.

Randy Moss, WR, Minnesota Vikings/Oakland Raiders/New England Patriots/Tennessee Titans/San Francisco 49ers – Likely a lock to make the finalist list, but not as sure of a lock to make the Hall in his first as many make him out to be. His attitude, combined with the uphill battle that many WR face in being elected may leave him on the outside for a few years, just like Owens.

Brian Urlacher, LB, Chicago Bears – I’m on the record repeatedly as saying that Urlacher was overrated, as he seemed to disappear when he didn’t have great defensive tackles clearing the path for him. That being said, he had a great career, and is likely to make the finalist cut at a minimum.

Ronde Barber, CB/S, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Along with Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks (already both in Canton) and Lynch, Barber was part of the nucleus that brought a Lombardi Trophy to Tampa. Not sure it’s enough in year one, but his numbers will almost assuredly get him there someday—along with his brother Tiki (of course, Tiki will have to buy a ticket).

Steve Hutchinson, G, Seattle Seahawks/Minnesota Vikings – Hutch will not make the Hall of Fame this year, as there are several other Offensive Lineman ahead of him on the list, and interior lineman struggle in their first couple of years, possibly due to the anonymity of their job (heck, Hutchinson’s write up on the Hall of Fame site isn’t even accurate). He should crack the semi-finalist list, and might sneak into the finalist list, although it wouldn’t be a travesty if he had to wait a couple of years—even Randall McDaniel had to wait.

Richard Seymour, DL, New England Patriots/Oakland Raiders – Not likely to make the finalist list, but another solid semi-finalist that will likely start to make a push in a few years.

Other first-year eligible: Matt Birk, Keith Brooking, Plaxico Burress, Nate Clements, Leonard Davis, Donald Driver, Casey Hampton, Jason Hanson, Jeff Saturday, Takeo Spikes, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Adrian Wilson, Antoine Winfield

Our picks for Finalist:

And our picks for the final five (who, per usual, will all be elected):

Andy’s take: Lewis is a no-brainer and Owens has probably served his time. Mawae was clearly the best center of his era. I’d be fine with Lynch but with the struggles safeties have getting in, I’m going to call it a victory as long as either he or Dawkins gets in. I’ll throw in Alan Faneca and his nine Pro Bowls as my one disagreement with Tony.

I’m sure several of you have left your thoughts on our other posts, but let’s hear it again in the comments–who does everyone have on their Class of 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame List?