|
HOF voters rattle Planet Pigskin
Cold, Hard Football Facts for January 16, 2008
Shockwave 1! – There are more offensive lineman on the list than offensive skill position players. You read that right, folks. Four Offensive Hogs – including one of the original Hogs himself, Russ Grimm – made the semifinal cut. The others are Bob Kuechenberg, Randall McDaniel and Gary Zimmerman. The semifinalist list includes only three offensive skill position players. It’s like the HOF voters got a clue transplant or something.
Shockwave 2! – There are just as many linebackers on the list as wide receivers – three each. Again, you read that right, football folks. The linebackers who still have a shot at being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year are Randy Gradishar, Derrick Thomas and Andre Tippett. The wide receiver list is composed of Cris Carter, Andre Reed and Art Monk. That’s it among offensive skill position players on this year’s list of semifinalists. Apparently, all the worthy – and some of the unworthy – QBs and RBs have already been inducted and now Hall voters are sifting through the scrap heap of other positions.
Why the shock among the Cold, Hard Football Facts crew?
Well, after years of registering a 10.0 on the Richter scale of ignorance, it's pretty clear the men who issue football immortality are finally accepting the wisdom of the Cold, Hard Football Facts and acknowledging the error of their ways.
Quite frankly, Hall of Fame voters over the past 30 years – since the dawn of the Live Ball Era in 1978 – have fellated offensive skill-position players like pigskin porn stars. Conversely, they’ve treated defensive players like crack-baby orphans, dumping them on the stoop of anonymity.
Those of you familiar with the issue know the numbers:
- Offensive players are inducted into Canton at a rate of 2 to 1 over defensive players in the two-platoon era
- The discrepancy is even more shocking – nearly 3 to 1 – among those who spent their careers in the Live Ball Era (1978 to present)
To highlight the prejudice Hall of Fame voters have against defensive players, all you need to know is this (repeat to anyone who will listen):
Ronnie Lott is the only defensive back in the Hall of Fame among all the players who entered the league since the dawn of the Live Ball Era!
That’s it, folks. Ronnie Lott and nobody else. To put his loneliness into perspective, remember that five running backs and seven quarterbacks who entered the NFL in the Live Ball Era are already enshrined in Canton. It's a f*cking joke.
Do you think you’ve seen one or two other HOF-caliber defensive backs enter the NFL over the past 30 years? Of course you do. So do all knowledgeable football fans.
But not the folks charged with issuing football immortality. As we’ve noted several times, while shaking Hall of Fame voters out of their offensive-fellating stupor: defensive players need love, too.
We're happy to report, thought, that this year’s list of semifinalists give us hope. Seventeen men are on the list.
- One is former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
- One is punter Ray Guy
- One is senior committee candidate and one-platoon era player Marshall Goldberg (who was actually considered the first great defensive player).
For the sake of the issue here, let's dismiss these three players. That leaves us with 14 modern-era offensive and defensive players among the semifinalists. (Former Chiefs defensive back Emmitt Thomas is also a senior committee candidate. But he played from 1966 to 1978, spending his final year in the Live Ball Era, and playing his entire career in what the HOF defines as the “Modern Era” so, in our largesse, we including him in our test group here).
So this year's list of semifinalists gives us hope that the Hall of Fame voters’ clue transplant will result in more equitable treatment for defensive players.
There's still a long way to go before Hall of Fame voters can look themselves in the eye and know that they've treated football history, football fans and football players themselves with respect they deserve.
***
HALL OF FAME BIAS (by era)
Modern Era (c. 1950 to present)
109 offensive players
63 defensive players
Ratio: 1.7 to 1
Dead Ball Era (c. 1950-1977)
55 offensive players
35 defensive players
Ratio: 1.6 to 1
Crossover players (careers spanned Dead Ball & Live Ball Eras)
35 offensive players
22 defensive players
Ratio: 1.6 to 1
Live Ball Era (1978-present)
19 offensive players
6 defensive players
Ratio: 3.2 to 1
CHFF CHRONICLES HALL OF FAME BIAS
Here's a look at some of the key pieces in the Cold, Hard Football Facts "Bias in the Hall of Fame" chronicles.
CLASS of 2008 SEMIFINALISTS (here's hoping they get it right)
The HOF Class of 2008 semifinalist list is probably the most equitable list of candidates in decades. Here's hoping the actually class of inductees finally starts to make amends for the years of bias against defensive performers. The 2008 semifnalist list includes:
- Four offensive linemen (Russ Grimm, Bob Kuechenberg, Randall McDaniel, Gary Zimmerman)
- Three wide receivers (Cris Carter, Art Monk, Andre Reed)
- Three linebackers (Randy Gradishar, Derrick Thomas, Andre Tippett)
- Two defensive linemen (Fred Dean, Richard Dent)
- Two defensive backs (Darrell Green, Emmitt Thomas)
- One punter (Ray Guy)
- One one-platoon era old-timer (Marshall Goldberg)
- One administrator (Paul Tagliabue)
|
