Clark Judge says attitude should keep T.O. out of the HOF

Clark comes across as a guy who would've voted for Steve Largent, Fred Biletnikoff and Lance Alworth.

 

When the time comes, I suppose you'll be arguing against Aaron Rodgers, Calvin Johnson, and Drew Brees because "the game became more pass oriented."

Enjoy that.

 

"Three teams didn't want him when he was at his best..."

I dispute this... San Fran got rid of him as a part of a salary dump. They couldn't afford him, they couldn't afford Garcia. His agent screwed up the paperwork and the Niners were able to trade him to Baltimore and later Philly, but the notion that San Fran didn't want him was bullshit.

Yeah, he ran himself out of Philly while still in his prime. He feuded with a quarterback, who wasn't that well-liked either... He also got them to the Super Bowl and played with a broken leg.

Does anyone think he was still in his prime after that third season at age 35 in Dallas? I sure as hell don't... The Bills basically rented him to try to sell tickets. Hell even that season in Cincy where he missed a couple games, he was still near 1,000 yards.

 

You don't put guys in because of their numbers. If that was the case, there would be a shitload of receivers going into Canton in the next decade.

Owens and Moss were the best players at their position for the better part of a decade. They were dominant difference-makers and were head and shoulders better than the other guys at that position.

You don't put a guy in because he had several 1,000-yard seasons in a league that is passing the ball a ton, but if you score 153 touchdowns, it's a safe bet you were a dominant player for a long, long time...

 

Owens kept himself in elite shape deep into his 30s, and McNabb was burping up burritos on the sideline and was so putrid during his stints with the Redskins and Vikings that both teams just flat quit on him too.

There are different ways to be a destructive teammate. They don't fit an easy narrative. I'm always reminded of the Kobe/Shaq thing when I think of Owens/McNabb. Kobe would spend entire offseasons shooting 1,000 jumpers a day and Shaq would sit on couches getting fatter and fatter, and then declare he was getting toe surgery the first day of camp and that he would "play" his way back into shape. Who was seen as the person who blew up that team because of ego? Who did the press almost universally side with?

Remember why Owens left San Fran? Because his dumbass agent forgot to file the paperwork that would have made him a free agent, and let him cash in on the payday he was going to get from the numbers he'd been putting up. Then he, understandably, didn't want to catch passes from Kyle Boller. Then he and McNabb were fine for quite awhile until McNabb frustrated his whole team by being out of shape in the biggest game of their lives while Owens was playing with a broken ankle.

There are so many players in the NFL who are selfish pricks who don't have the reputation that Owens did, simply because Owens was an emotional person who wore it all on his sleeve. That's why these kind of judgements are so silly.

 

I remember talking with Mariucci when he was still coaching the Lions right around the time that Owens was on his way out of San Francisco and he said, "He and I definitely did not see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but he was one of the hardest workers and best receivers I've ever seen."

Nevermind that Owens was also one of the best blocking receivers in the league.

His reputation is well-earned, but you can't discount a spectacular career just because the last couple years ended badly.

 

A good case can also be made that Owens had treatable emotional/psychological issues and should have been getting help from his teams and the league to deal with them.

 

If SJ was around at the time, I'm sure there would have been a "Joe Montana, HOF?" thread. And some would have argued against it.

 

Michael Vick, HOF?

 

This is bullshit reasoning. You have no way of knowing how much effort he's giving, that's just your biased guess. IMO, those who vote on this criteria don't deserve votes.

Bottom line, the guy caught more touchdown passes than any player in the history of the sport not named Jerry Rice, and has a statistical resume that places him amongst the five greatest receivers ever--not sure how you accomplish that without providing serious effort "on a consistent manner." Is it not possible that your perception of his effort level might've been somewhat clouded by personal bias?

 

Joe Montana was a system quarterback. Hell, give Chris Chandler Bill Walsh, Jerry Rice and Dwight Clark and he'd have four rings. I don't think the Niners missed him too much when Steve Young took over... Plus, he never got the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.

 

He played with a broken leg and was still dominant against the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Is that "going all out"