Any Hall of Fame induction class now without Cris Carter is a disappointment. But, I can still find a way to get interested, even excited. All of the players are deserving, although Shannon Sharpe should have followed Carter. Finally seeing a Cal player, Les Richter, enter Canton certainly adds some personal pizazz. It has certainly taken a while. For Richter and for Cal. Tony Gonzalez will certainly join Richter one day. Nnambi Asomugha and Aaron Rodgers are on the Hall path.
Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders highlight this 2011 class. They would highlight most any class. Both were fantastic players. Baltimore Colts great Lenny Moore is the only back, that I can think of, that could match Faulk's extraordinary skills as a receiver. A phenomenal player. His ideas for those great Rams offenses may have equaled, they certainly enhanced, those of Mike Martz. Faulk would make an excellent coach if he could handle players not having his football skills. Primetime! Deion Sanders has his lovers and haters. I loved his football abilities. Jimmy Johnson, Willie Brown, Mike Haynes and today's Darrelle Revis may have come close to the cover skills of Sanders, but I don't think that they touch him.
Shannon Sharpe certainly deserves induction. He took the bar from Kellen Winslow and Ozzie Newsome and raised it even higher for tight ends. This induction should be seen as a family honor as Sterling Sharpe would have made it if not for an injury. Sterling Sharpe and Brett Favre would have made a frightening tandem. Shannon Sharpe was a fantastic tight end. A prominent part of three championships, he was the only receiving threat for the Ravens in 2000. I still feel that this spot should have been Cris Carter's, but that's just me.
Richard Dent was a great player, but I would place him in that gray area just outside of the Hall. For part of his career, Dent was a no doubt Hall of Famer. For the majority of his career he was just below. Dent's induction makes greater the argument for Alex Karras, Jim Marshall and others. Chris Doleman played the same position as Dent at about the same time and, I think, had the better overall career. Dent was an MVP in a Super Bowl. I guess that won over the voters.
It seems a stretch to consider a Hall of Famer as underrated, but I always felt that former Redskins linebacker Chris Hanburger was just that. Like the recently inducted Floyd Little, Hanburger was a star at about the time I was discovering the NFL. Both were among the best in the league at their positions. As a kid, I thought that Chris Hanburger's name was hilarious. Just too much like hamburger.
Les Richter was covered in the previous Throwback Thursday. He should have been inducted much, much earlier. At the very least, he should have been inducted while he was alive.
Now, Ed Sabol is an NFL jewel. I'm so glad that his baby, NFL Films, is viewed with the reverence that it deserves. Football fans and non-football fans can appreciate the NFL Films product as the art that it truly is. It's just great, creative filmmaking. The NFL would not be where it is today, in the public eye, if not for Ed and Steve Sabol and their movies. Steve Sabol deserves a spot in Canton as well.
Joe Horrigan has one of the best jobs. To be able to work and create in the Hall of Fame would be a dream. In listening to him it's obvious he treasures his work, the Hall and the legacy of professional football. I would love to have his access to the players and to the history of the game. I would love to sit and listen to the players, coaches and everyone involved in building this game.
Congratulations to Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe, Richard Dent, Chris Hanburger, Les Richter and Ed Sabol.
Cris Carter had better be joining all of you next year.
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