On Tuesday, the NFL announced the finalists for the 2009 Hall of Fame class, a list that contains the NFL's all-time sack leader, a current owner, a former commissioner, and six first-time finalists.
The voters will select a minimum of four and a maximum of seven new members on January 31. The complete list of finalists after the jump.
Bruce Smith, DE
Rod Woodson, DB
Shannon Sharpe, TE
John Randle, DE
Dermonti Dawson, C
Cortez Kennedy, DT
Cris Carter, WR
Andre Reed, WR
Richard Dent, DE
Russ Grimm, OL
Bob Kuechenberg, OL
Randall McDaniel, OL
Derrick Thomas, LB
Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner
Ralph Wilson, Buffalo Bills Owner
Claude Humphrey, DE
Bob Hayes, WR
Humphrey and Hayes are the senior nominees selected by the Senior Committee, while Tagilabue and Wilson are listed under as contributors.
In my opinion, Smith, Woodson, Carter and Sharpe seem like pretty solid bets.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Derrick Thomas.
Derrick Thomas not a lock??
Ken Stabler's not even a finalist??
whats going on
check out nfl.coms top 10 not in the HOF
http://www.nfl.com/halloffame/story?id=09000d5d8099cc39&template=with-video&confirm=true
Bob Hayes changed the way that WRs are defensed. As a Browns fan from the 60s, I watched the zone defense being created to defense him.
Bruce Smith..
As a Steeler fan, I am shocked to see that LC Greenwood was dropped from the list. And how many more years will Steeler Nation have to wait for Jerome to get in?
Gary, Bettis hasn't been retired long enough to be considered for enshrinement.
However, if we're going to complain about yinzers that should be in the Hall, the guy who deserves more love is Dawson. A fantastic center, his ability to pull was intergral to some very good Steeler lines (it's hard to remember that the Steelers used to have a good offensive line).
Of course the NFL Hall of Fame is really the Hall of Famous RBs, QBs, WRs and Pass Rushers. So I don't expect any lineman to actually get in.
Don't forget Luz Mike Webster is in the Hall of Fame. This year, however, because of the list he probably won't get in. It would be nice if coaches and former Comissioners had to wait 5 years to get in as well.
There are at least 8 I would pick from this list along with maybe 1 or 2 others after doing more research on them i.e Bob Hayes. They are as follows:
Bruce Smith
Shannon Sharpe
Rod Woodson
Dermonti Dawson
Chris Carter
Andre Reed
Richard Dent
Derrick Thomas
I believe that justly or not Paul Tagliabue will get in for sure.
The list has too many glamor position candidates, IMO. Dawson and Grimm are the only offensive linemen, and both have Steeler connections (Grimm coached there).
Bruce Smith...for sure!
Rod Woodson...definitely!
Andre Reed....Touchdown!
Derrick Thomas...even his premature death could not cheat
his greatness and hall of fame credentials!
"Bullet" Bob Hayes...the quintessential super fast wide receiver who
forever changed the vertical passing game!
Hmmmmm......
Claude Humphrey....helped make sorry Falcon Teams a little better
and their defense respectable. A tireless pass
rusher. (roll out the old films)
Shannon.....lucky he had a QB named Elway......a good TE
nevertheless. Although brother Sterling was the bomb
(great one) until injury ended his career.
Cris Carter would have had trouble making Bob Hayes' Cowboys as a receiver back in the day. Also he got cut in Philadelphia by Coach Buddy Ryan (not a genius move...probably more so based on a personality clash than Cris' ability)
I vote for the next two years only offensive line men, fullbacks, and kickers should be allowed in.
Bruce Smith didn't just role up stats. His best plays always seemed to come at the exact time to change the momentum of the game. They just don't come any better than Bruce. Lots of other good names on the list too.
Where is Ray Guy name .People with class down to earth
person is always left behind.
In looking at the top 10 players list for those not in the HOF, I am shocked to see Ken Anderson NOT in the Hall, thought he was in a long time ago. Damn, he was a 4 time NFL passing champion, two of them were in back to back seasons. And, he broke Sammy Baugh's record of pass completion percentage in a single season. He must have pissed off some people on the selection committee because I remember Coach Bill Walsh saying that Anderson was the best forward passer he ever saw.
Whatever happened to Otis Taylor (Chiefs)?
How about Ralph Wilson; The guy is ninety years old and started the AFL,and help fianace Miami and Oakland. With out him alot of the players in the hall would not be there. He deserves to go.
Where to begin?
1. Otis Taylor and L.C. Greenwood are only eligible as Seniors, and thus no longer regular finalists. They have to be nominated from the huge Seniors pool, where there are no shortage of deserving options. It could be next year or an eternity for either.
2. One more time: zone defenses were *not* created to stop Bob Hayes. They date from the early '50s and were apparently created by Steve Owen to try and stop Cleveland Browns WRs of the time.
3. Jerome Bettis is not eligible yet and won't be for a couple more years.
4. If one looks at HoF finalists over the years, Ray Guy has tended to be one most often in years with a relatively weak field. Same pretty much for Ken Stabler, who has been a finalist only 3 times in all his years of eligibility. There's been ample discussion here before about punters in general and Guy in particular regarding the HoF.
5. a Google search will turn up no shortage of informed opinion (including mine) that the NFL Network's Top 10 Not in the HoF List is a pretty poor one.
6. no, Derrick Thomas is not a lock, as he has been a finalist four times before and not gotten in. A large part of that is likely because, while he was a terrific pass rusher, he was not strong against the run or in pass coverage -- and the HoF voters seem to prefer LBs to have more complete skill sets for fast-track election.
The only locks I can see from this list are Rod Woodson, Bruce Smith, and Senior candidate Claude Humphrey. Shannon Sharpe will certainly be elected soon enough, but note that no TE has ever been elected in their first eligible year. Most of the other candidates are indeed varying degrees of deserving and I'd guess the maximum number of candidates will likely make it in, but at most only 5 regular candidates and 2 seniors can be elected. Beyond these three, it could be anybody.
What about Art Modell? Paul TagliaBUTT has had a case for Mr. Modell ever since Mr. Modell moved his team to Baltimore. It seems TagliaBUTT conveniently forgot about a doofus named Irsay moving the Colts out of town in the wee hours of the morning using Mayflower Moving Vans to take our team, name and all of our memorabilia and records with him. The team should be named the Indiannapolis Pilgrims instead of the Colts. When he gifted Cleveland with another team, they kept their name, records, and memorabilia. Johnny U (God Bless Him) and all his records are ensconsed in the stadium in Indiannapolis. It took years of cowtowing to that jerk TagliaBUTT before we finally were given another team. If you know anything about football, you know the history of Art Modell and his place in football history. Unfortunately, Mr. Modell isn't in the best of health so I guess TagliaBUTT is going to wait him out. (I miss football already - can't wait for camp - my hubby gave me the NFL Network/Package as a birthday gift so at least I have that) Boy, would I like to "present" Paul TagliaBUTT when he's inducted - I'd tell him a thing or two!!!