Hall of Fame Nuggets From Peter King

Sports Illustrated/MMQB's Peter King is one of the 48 Hall of Fame voters. He routinely gives those interested a fascinating peak into the voting process. Before we get too far removed from it here's a peak into last Saturday's voting that produced the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

ON THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2018

This was a fascinating Hall of Fame season. Every year before the selection meeting (Saturday, MSP Airport Marriott, 6:59 a.m. start time), I write down my order of the 15 Modern Era finalists. This year when I did that, I figured, even before the presentations began I would have voted my top 12 for enshrinement. So it was a deep class, to be sure.

After the meeting I was happy about the class, mostly. I loved Brian Dawkins, one of the truly great two-way safeties of his day and exceedingly deserving. Ray Lewis, a given. Brian Urlacher, nearly a given, and absolutely deserving. My one disappointment was no Tony Boselli. I feel like there hasn’t been a better left tackle in the game, post-Muñoz, in the 34 seasons I’ve covered the game, and I felt Boselli’s chances skyrocketed after two players who played fewer games (Terrell Davis and Kenny Easley) were inducted into the Hall last year. But I think the logjam of high-quality offensive linemen hurt Boselli—and will continue to do so, based on the discussions among voters on Saturday.

But all else was good, I thought.

Facts, figures, thoughts, stories from the voting session, which ended with the election of this class of eight football men: GM Bobby Beathard (Contributors Committee), linebacker Robert Brazile and guard Jerry Kramer (Seniors Committee), and the five modern-era players: safety Brian Dawkins, linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher, wide receivers Randy Moss and Terrell Owens:

• Time of meeting. Eight hours, 18 minutes.
• Voters present: 47.
• Time of discussions for each candidate: Robert Brazile 6:02, Jerry Kramer 23:36, Bobby Beathard 21:51, Brian Dawkins 23:14, Ty Law 16:15, John Lynch 17:28, Everson Walls 21:01, Edgerrin James 11:39, Ray Lewis 6:01, Brian Urlacher 14:23, Tony Boselli 20:19, Alan Faneca 8:44, Steve Hutchinson 12:10, Joe Jacoby 13:57, Kevin Mawae 31:42, Isaac Bruce 13:23, Randy Moss 34:45, Terrell Owens 45:18.

• Cut from 15 to 10: Boselli, Dawkins, Faneca, Hutchinson, Law, Lewis, Mawae, Moss, Owens, Urlacher. (Eliminated: Bruce, Jacoby, James, Lynch, Walls.)

• Cut from 10 to 5: Dawkins, Lewis, Moss, Owens, Urlacher. (Eliminated: Boselli, Faneca, Hutchinson, Law, Mawae.)

• We got the receivers right. I’ve found over the years that as the meeting goes on, the presentations and discussions late in the day get a little shorter. It’s human nature. Get it done. But the last two names on our list Saturday, as you just saw, were the longest discussions. We are forbidden from writing about and revealing specific points about the candidates outside the room, so I cannot be specific about what was talked about for each. But I can say the debate on both players was spirited, respectful, smart and less angry that it was in the past. We all know Moss had issues of effort in his career. We all know Owens had been a divisive figure on several of his teams, and it came back to haunt him in his previous two failed nominations. But this year, while both men had their detractors, it was clear that the greatness of the players on the field won the day. I’ve always had this feeling about people we consider for the Hall who may have a bad side. We need to consider everything about players—the good, the history-making, the ugly. And taken as complete packages, there is no question in my mind that Moss and Owens should be bronzed in Canton. I favored Moss, because he’s the most explosive play-making receiver I’ve covered in my 34 seasons following the NFL. But Owens is worthy too. Odd, but worthy. I’m glad they both got in.

• I voted for Jerry Kramer. Not saying I’m right, not saying I’m wrong. But I do believe when I enter the room I owe it to every candidate to have an open mind. Kramer was named as one of two guards on the NFL’s 50-year anniversary team in 1969 after an 11-year Packer career that ended that year. As many readers know, I’d been against Kramer’s candidacy. Two reasons: He had his case heard 11 times previously—10 times as a modern-era finalist, and once as a Seniors Committee nominees. He’d failed to get the 80 percent vote required to gain entry, ever. And now, 21 years after his last attempt, here came the former Packers guard who’d made the most famous block in NFL history, the pile-clearing block that allowed Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr to score the winning sneak in the Ice Bowl 50 years ago, as a Seniors Committee nominee again. Basically, I didn’t like that today’s 48-member committee was being asked to clean up the mess left by the committees of yesteryear. Maybe those committee members were right in spurning Kramer. How could we know? We could watch some highlights, and rely on old timers’ recollections of his play. But of the 48 current members of the voting committee, no one covered the Packers back then. At-large member Vito Stellino did see Kramer play. But we didn’t cover the man. Those who did never voted him in.

Two: Five-and-a-half years ago, I spoke to Starr and asked him if there was anyone he felt had been forgotten by the Hall of Fame over the years. Yes, he said; tackle Bob Skoronski. Anyone else, I wondered? Starr said no. In recent months, and particularly over the weekend, the weight of Kramer’s accomplishments, and theories about why he never made it (old AFL writers on the committee thinking the Hall was overstuffed with Packers, for instance, as well as pushback from players and media over his enlightening, not-quite-Ball-Four-book Instant Replay), made a dent on me. I just thought there was a good chance I was wrong. I’m still not certain I was, but I listened to those I respect on the committee and put an X in the “Yes” box when I voted. Glad I did. For more on Kramer, read Andy Benoit’s story after he spent much of the evening with Kramer on Saturday.

• It’s about to get very crowded. The new candidates in 2019 include Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed and Champ Bailey, who made a combined 35 Pro Bowls. The newbies in 2020, the NFL’s 100th anniversary season, will be thinner—Troy Polamalu at the head of that class. It gets crowded in 2021, with Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson. So the job of the voters is going to get harder.