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

Knowing how the voters usually work, I'm wondering how many running backs they'll put in during the same year. All three will eventually make it, but I think Faulk is the only lock to go in this year.

 

Deion could not tackle the kicker but in the days when they played the traditional pro-set on 3rd down and there was only one team running the run 'n shoot, he was a huge difference maker as he played one receiver one on one and let the rest of the defense handle the other 2-3 receivers which was devastating. Deion was probably the reason why people starting using the phrase "shutdown corner." In 1994 he truly did that for the Niners and it was fascinating to watch. I believe that had he stayed in 1995, the Niners, not the Cowboys, would have won the Super Bowl.

Even though I watched Tim Brown for many years here, he just never struck me as anything but a very good player. He's got some good numbers but he wasn't dominant to me.

No doubt I believe Faulk is in.

Haley? Only 5 Pro Bowls, but 5 Super Bowl Rings and he was a major reason why.

 

Tim Brown is a tough one. I don't think he's nearly as good as some of the receivers who have gotten in recently. I don't think he's as good as Cris Carter.

 

I remember in Deion's prime if he was covering a certain receiver, the QB would throw virtually nothing in that direction. When he was with the Falcons, he gave Jerry Rice fits.

If I could vote for only one player on that list, it would be Deion.

 

Rice vs. Falcons
----------------
1989 | 6-113-2
1990 | 21-396-6
1991 | 13-182-1
1992 | 11-228-3
1993 | 9-138-0

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RiceJe00/splits/1989/

 

Here's my five...

1. Deion Sanders
2. Ed Sabol (should have happened years ago)
3. Shannon Sharpe
4. Cris Carter
5. Dermotti Dawson

 

Since that's two games a year, I'd say he did a great job during 3 of the 5 seasons, an OK job one season and got schooled in 1990.

 

In at least one of those 1990 games, Rice was matched up with CB Charles Dimry and burned him for 5 TDs. Sanders must have been on Taylor (or maybe he was hurt).

It's No. 4 on this list of Rice's top career moments:

http://www.csnbayarea.com/pages/landing?blockID=285338&tagID=15075

 

I remember Dimry. Larry Munson used to call him not Dimry, but 'Little Dimry.'

 

A Hall of Fame without Curtis Martin shouldn't even exist.

 

And yet it might for a year or two. But yes, he will get in.

 

Seriously, Martin deserves to get in, at some point, and I wouldn't argue if he got in this year. But please explain how Martin is, in your view, a slam dunk. Good player for a long time who put together an amazing season late in his career, but he wasn't the kind of back that put fear into defenses. Please, explain yourself, baseball fan.