Hall of Fame Thoughts

The Hall of Fame Class of 2014 is the second in a that's filled with players that played in my football fan lifetime. I saw all of these guys play the game. I'm afraid that will become an annual occurrence in the coming years. There are still many deserving players from the earlier years that the Senior Committee appear to have forgotten. That's a complaint for another day. These days are for the seven football players that were honored yesterday.

Derrick Brooks
Walter Jones
Michael Strahan
Aeneas Williams
Andre Reed
Claude Humphrey
Ray Guy

This is an excellent group. Ray Guy's presence on it probably has the most critics simply for the position that he played. With Guy, or any deserving specialist, it isn't so much the position that he played but how he played the position that should decide whether he's deserving. Guy was a football player. He was one of the eleven football players that stepped on the football field for his team. I don't expect a run on punters now that Guy has broken through just like I didn't expect a run on kickers when Jan Stenerud was inducted in 1991. It's more of a surprise that Stenerud made it in his second year of eligibility than Guy making it in his twenty-second.

Here are some Flea Flicker  thoughts on the seven new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Derrick Brooks
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played in the same division as the Minnesota Vikings during the first seven years of Brooks' career. It was a nightmare and a treat to watch him play against the Vikings offense twice each season. It often seemed like there were about ten #55s running around the field. The weak-side linebacker in Tony Dungy's Cover-2 (Tampa-2?) was made for Derrick Brooks. It was evident early that he would one day be honored in Canton. That defense came from Dungy's days in Bud Carson's Pittsburgh Steelers defenses of the 1970s. Dungy urged Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks to become his Joe Greene and Jack Ham. They succeeded.

Walter Jones
In his 13-year career, Jones was called for nine(!) holding penalties. I think that I've seen Bryant McKinnie called for nine holding penalties in one game. You know that you have a great left tackle when you just put him out there and not worry about that side of the field for a decade. Mike Holmgren called him the best offensive football player that he'd ever coached. Jones is with Art Shell, Anthony Munoz, and Jonathan Ogden as the best tackles that I've seen in my lifetime.

Michael Strahan
For about a half dozen years Strahan was the most complete defensive end in the game. He was equally great at rushing the passer and stopping the run. Ends usually excel at one or the other. There are very few that excel at both. Too many people are critical of Strahan because Favre took a dive. That was hardly Strahan's fault. Every defensive player with a bunch of sacks will have more than a few that weren't too difficult to get. There was just a huge spotlight on this one.

Aeneas Williams
Williams was one of the best corners in the game for more than a decade. He would probably have strolled into the Hall as a first-ballot inductee if he played on a better team. In ten years with the Cardinals he played in one playoff game and that game was about eight years into his career. He saw some team success after being traded to the St. Louis Rams. Walter Jones could protect one side of the field on offense. Aeneas Williams could shut down one side of the field on defense.

Andre Reed
The Buffalo Bills offenses of the early 1990s were some of the best in league history. Reed was a big reason for that. So smooth. So consistent. So reliable. In an era with Jerry Rice, Cris Carter, Michael Irvin, and Sterling Sharpe, Andre Reed was one of the best receivers in the game. It was simply awesome to see Reed catch one more pass from Jim Kelly.

Claude Humphrey
I remember Humphrey best as a Philadelphia Eagles defensive end. That was the last three years of his 14-year career and he was still a nightmare for offensive linemen. As with Aeneas Williams, Humphrey experienced little team success until the end of his career. He had 14.5 sacks in 1980 as the Eagles made their Super Bowl run. He was one of the best pass rushers in the league throughout the 1970s. The "Grits Blitz" Falcons defenses of the 1970s were terrific despite seeing few team wins.

Ray Guy
Even as a little kid, it was evident to me that Guy was a special punter. The term "hang-time" became a staple for NFL broadcasts because of him. Football has always been a battle for field position. Guy shifted that battle in favor of the Raiders. His unique ability to do so changed the game. He showed that punters could be weapons. 19 punters were on hand in Canton to support Ray Guy. Jeff Feagles, Sean Landetta, Bryan Barker, Mitch Berger, and Darren Bennett among them.

Congratulations to all seven of the very deserving new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

We've got a game tonight. Buffalo Bills and New York Giants. Starting with the game this weekend there will be NFL games every weekend into February. Football is back. That's a very good thing.