The 8 new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame will have their day in Canton today. Actually, seven of the 8 new members will be in Canton. Terrell Owens is doing his own thing but I've had my fill of that nonsense. Today is for all of them.
Here are some of my thoughts on each new Hall of Famer.
Randy Moss
I'm in Canton today to see Randy Moss step into football immortality. I made the trip in 2013 to see Cris Carter take that step. I had to return for Moss. I've thought a lot about Moss since he got elected on his first Hall ballot in early February. I've thought a lot about Moss since the Vikings lucked into him in the 1998 NFL Draft. Hell, my thoughts of Moss go back even further than that. I first became aware of Moss when I heard about this "freak" receiver out of DuPont High in West Virginia. Every college knew about him. Every college probably wanted him. Notre Dame got him but they let him go after a fight in high school. A fight in high school? Are you kidding me? Who wasn't involved in a high school fight? Then it was Florida State but they cut him loose after a positive pot test. Then it was back home to West Virginia. It only took two seasons for him to put Marshall on the college football map. His highlights and exploits were legend and itty-bitty Marshall had a Heisman trophy finalist. The 1997 Heisman finalist group of Moss, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson is arguably the best there's ever been. Ryan Leaf becomes a further punchline for being a part of it. As a life-long Vikings fan, the 1998 NFL Draft was the most tense and thrilling of all my years following the event. If I recall correctly Vanderbilt safety Corey Chavous was the player I most wanted the Vikings to draft at #21. There was no way that Moss would drop out of the top 10, let alone the top 5. He was too damn great to drop in the draft despite a couple of off the field flaws. I forgot all about Chavous when Moss actually did fall out of the top 10. When the Tennessee Oilers took a receiver other than Moss at #16 I decided that I was witnessing a miracle. Kevin Dyson had his NFL moment in Super Bowl XXXIV but he'll always be remembered as the receiver that was drafted ahead of Randy Moss. When the Detroit Lions selected Tennessee corner Terry Fair at #20 I knew hat Moss' fall had ended. I've always been amused with the Lions' pick. They selected a 5'9" corner to cover a 6'4" receiver. And not just any 6'4" receiver. Moss wasn't a fan of his draft day plunge. He pledged to rip the league apart. He did. He's the most physically gifted receiver the NFL has ever seen. He's arguably the most physically gifted football player the NFL has ever seen. I loved watching Cris Carter and Randy Moss on the same team. Today, I'll see them become teammates once again. And this time it's forever.
Ray Lewis
Despite being the team that was ripped out of Cleveland the Baltimore Ravens were an easy team to like in the early 2000s. Unless you're a fan of an AFC North team. Or a fan of any team that had to face the Ravens defense. Ray Lewis was the heart, voice, legs, emotion, center of that defense. I've seen few football players compete with such raw emotion on every snap. From the moment he came out of the tunnel (and smoke) to the moment he left the field he was all effort and fury.
Brian Urlacher
Initially I didn't think of Brian Urlacher as a first ballot Hall of Famer. Perhaps it was because he was on the same ballot as Lewis. Hall voting isn't supposed to be a competition between two candidates because it's based on each candidates career as a singular thing. It's supposed to be "Is this player a Hall of Famer?" It's a good theory. So, initially I had difficulty thinking about Urlacher's career without thinking about Lewis. Urlacher: 13 years, Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, 4 1st Team All-Pros, 8 Pro Bowls, and a Super Bowl loss. Lewis: 17 years!, 2x Defensive Player of the Year, 7 1st Team All-Pros, 13 Pro Bowls, and 2 Super Bowl wins. Lewis has a decided edge in career numbers. Then I started recalling watching Urlacher play football. In particular, I started recalling Bears-Vikings games. Two games a year for 13 years. It feels like Urlacher made a game-changing play, sometimes plays, in each of those games. In a few of those games, he took over. Sometimes you see a pass rusher take over a game. It's not often that you see a cover-2 middle linebacker take over a game. Urlacher often did. I most easily recall the Vikings games that he turned the wrong way because I was most invested in those but he often took over games. He was that sort of football player. Hall of Fame decisions too easily come down to numbers. Perhaps I did that with my knee-jerk judgement of Urlacher's candidacy. When I thought of him turning, and sometimes deciding, Vikings games I knew that I had witnessed a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Brian Dawkins
The only thing going against Brian Dawkins being honored in Canton was the position that he played. The voters don't seem to know what to do with the safeties. Johnny Robinson should've made it long ago. The voters corrected their mistake with Kenny Easley last year. Maybe they'll go back and consider Eddie Meador, Bobby Dillon, Cliff Harris, Charlie Waters, Nolan Cromwell, Joey Browner, Darren Woodson, Steve Atwater, Dennis Smith, etc. John Lynch has been hanging around the voters room for a few years. Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed will soon be part of Hall of Fame discussions. Hopefully, the voters figure out the safety situation soon. They did get it right with Dawkins. Just as Lewis was the emotional leader and heart of the the great Ravens defenses Dawkins was that for the aggressive Eagles defenses. He was great against the pass and the run. At times it felt like there were about five #20s racing around the field. Eagles fans loved him. Opposing fans hated him.
Terrell Owens
I've said enough about Terrell Owens.
Bobby Beathard
Bobby Beathard is best remembered and in the Hall of Fame for being the personnel architect of the remarkable Washington Redskins teams of the 1980s. Except for a couple of Oakland/LA Raiders teams the NFL was dominated by the NFC in the 1980s. The Redskins, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, and New York Giants all won Super Bowls. The Redskins were remarkable in that they were able to win multiple Super Bowls with different quarterbacks. Beathard was also involved in putting together the great Miami Dolphins teams of the early 1970s. And if that's not enough to merit a bust in Canton he put together a San Diego Chargers team quarterbacked by Stan Humphries that made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
Robert Brazile
The late 1970s Houston Oilers was one of the most entertaining NFL teams of that decade. Earl Campbell, Bum Phillips, Earl Campbell, Dan Pastorini, Earl Campbell, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Earl Campbell, Curley Culp, Earl Campbell, Elvin Bethea, Earl Campbell. Did I mention Earl Campbell? I liked watching Earl Campbell play football. I also really liked watching Robert Brazile play football. How could a kid not like a football player nicknamed "Dr. Doom." The Steelers defense of that era was one of the best in NFL history. Despite four titles and a load of Hall of Fame players it never felt like the Steelers defense had that much of an edge over the Oilers defense. That was because of Bethea, Culp, and Dr. Doom. If Lawrence Taylor hadn't come around a couple years later and turned the league upside down, Brazile might've been remembered as the first difference-making, pass rushing linebacker. He certainly would've been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago.
Jerry Kramer
All I can really say about Jerry Kramer's Hall of Fame induction is IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME. There are a lot of great football players that have been overlooked, skipped, avoided, missed, forgotten, whatever by the voters. Lavvie Dilweg, Al Wistert, Mac Speedie, Alex Karras, Johnny Robinson, etc. Kramer had been the face of the forgotten but deserving Hall of Famer for decades. For a while the argument against Kramer's inclusion was the number of Lombardi Packers already in the Hall. That was always a stupid argument but then Dave Robinson made it. He deserved to make it. So did Kramer. Some voters voted against him simply because voters had voted against him in the past. That was also a stupid argument. Why confirm a past mistake? And then keep confirming it? There once was a group of Hall voters that voted Kramer the best guard of the NFL's first 50 years. That's saying something. Why not confirm that voting act? Anyway, Kramer played football at a Hall of Fame level. He was critical part of a dominant, championship-churning offensive line. Offensive linemen don't generate a lot of stats and Hall of Fame voters lose their minds if they don't have stats. Here's a Kramer stat: 5 NFL titles. I'm in Canton today to see Randy Moss take that step but I'm thrilled to be here to see Jerry Kramer finally get his due.
Congratulations to all of the new Hall of Famers.
No comments:
Post a Comment