Fred Taylor: Hall of Famer?

Correct.

 

As far as being a dependable, durable, everyday running back, I would put Fred Travalena in the NFL Hall of Fame before Fred Taylor.

 

Stabler was always the guy I compared to Simms, and another guy I was stunned wasn't in until he finally did get the nod. Their careers were pretty similar. Stats were about the same, team arcs about the same (great teams overshadowed by even greater teams almost every year), both won only one Super Bowl, etc.
There's quite a few QBs who get the benefit of the doubt because they directed championship teams. Always figured Simms would wind up being one of them.

 

I don't know if Craig is off the radar -- he has been a finalist, once, in 2010 and been in the final 25 nine times.

 

For who? For what?

That's one reason Ricky will never get in.

 

Where Stabler for me sets himself apart is in winning NFL MVP in 1976, when he led the league in completion pct, TD passes, TD percentage, yards per game, QB rating, and net yards per attempt. Simms never had a season approaching that. Even when he passed for more than 4000 yards, he was just third in the league. The highest he ever ranked in TD passes was 5th. Stabler, to me, was a clearly superior candidate to Simms.

 

For years, I was solidly in the no-Simms camp, but have come around in the past few months --- basically he was better than his career numbers made him appear.

-- First? And I am being serious here, look at his offense weapons when he was in his prime: Joe Morris was a midget, Tony Galbreath and Ottis Anderson were over the hill, Phil McConkey was a Navy washout (as in he got seasick on ships so he left the Navy to go to the NFL....he had not been a college standout), Bobby Johnson was a crackhead (seriously) and Bavaro was always injured. Compare to that what Marino, Montana, and Fouts (who were his contemporaries) had and its sort of amazing the numbers he was able to put up. Compare to that what any Redskins QB of that era, Danny Whit, e Ron Jaworski and Neil Lomax , and he is started each season with the least amount of offense talent in his division
-- He had iconic moments, which count heavily in PF Hall consideration (not saying they should, but they do). Ie, first QB to do "going to Disney World," the near perfect Super Bowl win, he retired "on top" in that he had one of his best seasons when he was 38.
-- He had a great rookie year until he got injured in 1979 (great by the standards of that time). They went 6-5 with Simms, 0-5 without.
-- He lost most of his 20s to injuries. He is likely the only QB who can say he threw twice as many touchdowns in his 30s than he did in his 20s.
-- Simms "prolonged" his career as a big-name sportscaster (which doesnt always help a guy, but can by keeping their name out there)

While I don't feel it is a major injustice if Simms never gets to the Hall, I also won't be upset/shocked if he does.

 

An addendum to my previous post, I still feel it shouldn't be a question of is a guy is qualified, but if he is the best qualified. To me, Ken Anderson is the best QB out there who has been completely overlooked and forgotten by the Hall. Not sure where Simms goes on a list of best qbs not in the Hall...near the top with the likes of John Brodie, Roman Gabriel in that mix as well.

 

I think Anderson deserves to be in.

 

The USFL's level of play was much closer to that of the NFL than the CFL was at that time.

 

Simms also played for a coach that was happy to get a lead and then spend the rest of the game using the defense to grind the opponent into dust. On one of the NFL Films documentaries, I remember Simms saying that the Giants got a 10-0 lead or something like that in the first quarter and he looked over and saw Parcells pointing to his watch with a finger gun.
Hard to match the Marino/Montana/Fouts numbers when your coach is trying to run the ball and burn the clock.

 

Fred Taylor was great for my Madden game. Madden HOF