Football Hall Finalists for 2011: How do you pick just 7?

If you talk about impact on the league - Sabol should be number 1. Then I'd add Faulk, Sanders. The rest? All pretty even. Haley, Doleman and Dent are all great but tough to rank one over any of the others. Same with Reed, Brown and Carter.

 

Haley should have been in years ago. He was a nasty jerk when he played and it has hurt him.

 

Faulk, Martin, Carter, Haley, Sabol

Bettis is an almost. Maybe after the herd thins out.

Agree that Sanders should wait. As soon as he actually tackles someone, he's in.

Would love to see Brown, and think he and Reed are deserving, but the numbers for this era are so inflated I think voters are figuring out how to deal with that.

Roaf? Dawson? Sure, why not?

Haley has five rings and was usually an impact player on each of those defenses. Wasn't just along for the ride.

Dent? Doleman? Just wait a few years, I guess.

No on Cortez Kennedy. The only good player on some bad Seattle teams, but not quite enough.

I'm always surprised Sharpe isn't in, but then I hear him talk. Of course, if being annoying on TV was a killer, Dierdorf wouldn't be in.

Sabol and The Greatest Propaganda Machine In U.S. History should be recognized.

 

I wonder if the knock on Sabol has more to do with the NFL writers being so inside the bubble that they don't appreciate what NFL Films has meant to the game.
I doubt a lot of them have spent a lot of time watching NFL Films highlights - to them it might be like watching someone elses videos of a vacation that they went on as well.

 

Dent, Coleman, and Kennedy are the only ones I didn't immediately say yes to.

 

I agree but I'd add Dawson to your list. He was very good, but still

Very deep class of finalists

 

Sabol absolutely should be in.

 

I think he is going to get in eventually, though maybe not with a class this deep. The thing that set Dawson appart was his ability to block on the move. I have never seen a center who was able to pull so often and so effectively. Most teams don't even try to do that with their centers.

 

If Sabol made it to the final 15, it's hard for me to think he won't be elected. At least, I hope he is.
I expect Faulk and Sanders to get in. I again hope that Martin, Roaf and Haley are elected, in that order.

 

If what Pearlman wrote about Haley is true (and I have no reason to believe it's not), he will never be elected to the Hall of Fame while he's alive.

 

I don't remember all of it, but should being a whacko keep a great player out of the Hall of Fame?

 

I don't think it's fair to people like Sabol to be lumped in on the ballot with players.

I absolutely agree he should be in but I'd have a hard time voting for him if it meant leaving a player off of my ballot.