NFL Hall of fame finalists annouced, who's got your vote?

Spnited, if Tagliabue apologizes for not making sure at least one New York team makes the Super Bowl every year, will you forgive him?

Let's get this straight. The league has had revenue sharing pretty much as long as there have been large amounts of revenue to share.

The same goes for the draft order going in reverse order of the teams' finish the previous season, which has a much higher impact on football than baseball because the players taken are expected to contribute much more quickly.

So what changed? Expansion and free agency. You think the product isn't as good as it used to be? There are your reasons. More teams dilutes the talent pool and free agency hurts the overall level of play. Football is a team game. That's not just coachspeak. Players are better when they work together longer. Free agency disrupts that and hurts the overall level of play in the game.

Also, many big-money free agents are not as productive as they adjust to their new environments and teammates.

The overall talent level of the league is not hurt by the salary cap. Name ONE player who would be making an impact on the NFL, but he can't find a job because of his salary. I've asked for somebody on this site to do that four or five times now and never gotten an answer. Why? Because you keep throwing out a theory (the cap will cost good players their jobs) that is not based in fact. Yes, there are cap casualties, but the ones that can actually play end up on other teams.

The league is in great financial shape, and amazingly enough, every team has a realistic shot to win. Taking away the cap won't raise the overall level of play. It will just concentrate more talent on fewer teams and turn off fans in the other cities. But hey, nothing outside of New York matters, right?

 

Thurman Thomas, Derrick Thomas, Monk, Matthews.

 

OOP, I never said a cap wil cost players jobs... although it does every year when they sign bullshit 9-year contracts for $100 million that are really 1 year, $5 mill guaranteed because of... um, uh...oh yeah, "we need cap relief."

What I have said is teams can't keep enough good players or enough decent back ups because of the cap.
So everybody in the socialist state of the NFL gets their little piece of the mediocrity pie and the overall quality of the product sucks worse than ever.

And I still can't figure out why you would be voting for a former commissioner on the same ballot as former players.
Who had better career stats, Thurman Thomas or Paul Tagliabue? Damned if I can figure it out.

 

Guy deserves it, but one of the most respected football writers in the country, and a friend of mine, told me point blank several years ago he'd never vote for a kicker and would do his best to make sure no one else did. We were discussing Vinatieri at the time.

I don't get the hatred toward kickers/punters. Someone already said it in this thread, but if they don't impact the game, why does every team have them?

I believe there is still only one pure kicker inductee (Stenerud), and two others who kicked, but were prominent in other positions (Groza, Blanda). There are no punters in the Hall.

Kickers/punters can be every bit the weapon as anyone else on the field. If not for Vinatieri (who made the toughest kick ever - full blizzard, no timeout to set up, season on the line - in a crucial situation), how do we know Bill Belichick and Tom Brady go on to become the sure-fire Hall of Famers they have since become?

If Scott Norwood makes a 47-yard FG, does that make Thurman Thomas more of a lock because the Bills win a Super Bowl?

On a side note, Norwood caught way too much grief for that miss. 47 yards is hardly a chip shot.

 

And it's not like he really shanked it, a la Vanderjagt. He was only a couple feet off.

Still, a miss is a miss, and when you miss in the Super Bowl, you'll never live it down.

 

I hope to have a vote in my future. But just for hypothetical purposes I'm taking Art Monk, Derrick Thomas, Bruce Matthews, Richard Dent, and Paul Tagliabue. I'm not sure I could vote for the Pipesmoker...I mean playmaker.

 

Again, I just don't see this huge list of players out there who should be in the league but aren't. You'd think somebody on this board would be able to come up with one name, but that still hasn't happened.

I do agree that it is a bit strange to vote for everybody together. I can see how it would make more sense to vote on players separately from coaches, general managers, owners and league officials.

 

• Fred Dean, DE, 1975-1981 Chargers, 1981-1985 49ers
• Richard Dent, DE, 1983-1993, 1995 Bears, 1994 49ers, 1996 Colts, 1997 Eagles
• Russ Grimm, G, 1981-1991 Redskins
• Ray Guy, P, 1973-1986 Raiders
• x-Gene Hickerson, G, 1958-1973 Browns
• Michael Irvin, WR, 1988-1999 Cowboys
• Bob Kuechenberg, G, 1970-1984 Dolphins
• Bruce Matthews, G/C, 1983-2001 Oilers/Titans
• Art Monk, WR, 1980-1993 Redskins, 1994 Jets, 1995 Eagles (Fuck you Peter King, this will be the year)
• Andre Reed, WR, 1985-1999 Bills, 2000 Redskins
• x-Charlie Sanders, TE, 1968-1977 Lions
• Paul Tagliabue, NFL Commissioner, 1989-2006
• Derrick Thomas, LB, 1989-1999 Chiefs
• Thurman Thomas, RB, 1988-1999 Bills, 2000 Dolphins
• Andre Tippett, LB, 1982-1993 Patriots
• Roger Wehrli, CB, 1969-1982 Cardinals
• Gary Zimmerman, T, 1986-1992 Vikings, 1993-1997 Broncos

My selections in bold.

 

Tagliabue should not be in.

 

Just not too soon. Rozelle was an exception because of the major changes and innovations that took place under his administration. Tags kept things basically status quo and under control. In a way, Tags babysat the league and only took action if something was out of line.

 

WTF? No Art Modell? Damn. I was looking forward to marching with Cleveland protesters at Canton in August.

 

I think Monk deserves to get in before Irvin or Reed.

Monk, Matthews and Dent this year.

Irvin gets in next year, which is when I think Emmitt is also eligible.