Senior And Coach/Contributor Finalists For Pro Football Hall of Fame

The 12 Senior Finalists and 12 Coach/Contributor Finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 were revealed yesterday. 

12 Senior Finalists:

Ken Anderson

Maxie Baughan

Randy Gradishar

Chuck Howley

Cecil Isbell

Joe Klecko

Bob Kuechenberg

Eddie Meador

Tommy Nobis

Ken Riley

Sterling Sharpe

Everson Walls

Seeing the finalists list jump from Kuechenberg to Meador meant that Jim Marshall didn’t make the cut. As a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, I hoped that he’d make it. In reality, I’ve always questioned whether he should. Marshall is one of the most important players in Vikings franchise history. He was the leader, heart, and soul of the franchise’s greatest teams, the Super Bowl teams. He was a very good football player. Very good typically means not good enough for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I’ve seen some of the Vikings faithful claim that if the team had won even one of the four Super Bowls that Marshall would’ve been in Canton long ago. I’m not so sure. L.C. Greenwood played for a team that won four Super Bowls in the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Steelers. One of those wins was against Marshall’s Vikings. Despite those four titles, six Pro Bowls, two All-Pros, and a spot on the 1970s All-Decade Team, Greenwood has been shut out of Canton. By comparison, Marshall only made two Pro Bowls and a second-team All-Pro. Unlike most Hall of Fame candidates, Marshall’s bona fides aren’t about individual accolades. He was a football Ironman unlike any the league has ever seen. In 19 years with the Vikings, he never missed a game. As a defensive end. Many players are removed from Hall of Fame consideration for having a brief career. One would think that an incredibly long, remarkably durable, very productive career might push a player over the Hall of Fame finish line. Not for Jim Marshall. 

Anyway, Marshall didn’t make it to the finalist stage. Neither did Lavvie Dilweg. I don’t get it. He was the best end of his era. It shouldn’t matter that his era was the 1920s and 1930s. Dilweg excelled on offense and defense. He won three titles. He was named All-Pro eight times, missing only in his final season. Of those eight, five were first-team All-Pro. Of those five, four were by a unanimous vote. He was the best of his era. That and three titles are usually enough for a bronze bust. It’d be more than enough if he’d played since 1970. I don’t get it. Lavvie Dilweg is the player that the Seniors Committee was tasked to find. 

The voters did throw a bone to one of the leather-helmet players, Cecil Isbell is moving on. Should’ve been Dilweg.

The 12-person Seniors Committee will meet August 16. Each committee member will discuss one of the Finalists in detail. The final vote will send three Seniors to the full 49-member Selection Committee for final consideration. Dilweg should’ve made it to that stage as well.

Of the 12, I’d go with:

Cecil Isbell

Randy Gradishar

Sterling Sharpe

I believe that the Seniors Committee will land on the following:

Chuck Howley

Randy Gradishar

Ken Riley

12 Coach/Contributor Finalists:

Roone Arledge

Don Coryell

Mike Holmgren

Frank “Bucko” Kilroy

Robert Kraft

Art Modell

Buddy Parker

Dan Reeves

Art Rooney Jr.

Mike Shanahan

Clark Shaugnessy

John Wooten

The 12-person Coach/Contributor Committee will meet August 23. The process will mirror that of the Seniors Committee. Only one Coach/Contributor will be sent to the full 49-member Selection Committee for final consideration.

I have Buddy Parker making through. 

For some reason, I fear that Robert Kraft will be jammed through.