Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 was revealed before and during Saturday’s NFL Honors. It’s an interesting group. 

Peyton Manning 

Charles Woodson

Calvin Johnson

Alan Faneca

John Lynch

Drew Pearson

Tom Flores

Bill Nunn

Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson, and Calvin Johnson made it in their first year of eligibility. Alan Faneca had to wait a little. John Lynch waited a little longer. Drew Pearson, Tom Flores, and Bill Nunn waited decades. All are in Canton now. Congratulations.

I believe that making the Pro Football Hall of Fame has to mean something that it doesn’t currently mean. I believe that the first-year honor has to be reserved for the players for whom no debate or discussion is necessary. If there’s even the slightest discussion, the player waits a year or more. If the player had a “short” career, a few too many less than “Hall of Fame-level” seasons, whatever. If there’s a pause when asked if a player is a Hall of Fame player, he waits a year or more. With that thinking in mind, I didn’t think of Calvin Johnson as a first-year of eligibility Hall of Famer. Manning and Woodson were slam-dunks in their first year. Johnson wasn’t. 

I’m really glad that Alan Faneca finally made it. Steve Hutchinson and Faneca were the best guards of their era. I favored Hutchinson’s Hall of Fame candidacy over Faneca. I felt bad for that because I feared that my Minnesota Vikings bias influenced those feelings. I try to keep that bias at bay when I think of football’s great history. Hutchinson made it to the Hall last year. Faneca makes it this year. It feels right that both will have their days in the Canton sun on the same weekend.

As much as I hated and shed tears over a particular “catch” by Drew Pearson he should’ve been in the Pro Football Hall of Fame long ago. He was one of the best receivers of his era. There was no doubt about it then. There’s been no doubt about it during the decades that he was forced to wait. I was stunned that he wasn’t part of the Centennial Class. I was even more stunned that 1970s receiving peer Harold Carmichael was part of that Class. Pearson was one of the first team All-Decade receivers. Carmichael was a second-team choice. What changed? I hope that in his induction speech Pearson comes clean with his shove of Nate Wright. 

Tom Flores’ coaching of the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders was Hall of Fame quality. His coaching of the Seattle Seahawks was not. If he’d retired after his time with the Raiders, I’m certain that he would’ve been inducted years ago. 

Bill Nunn’s role in building the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers is one of the most interesting in the NFL’s history. He had unparalleled access to the coaches and players of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The Steelers were terrible for nearly every year of their first four decades. Nunn’s access and knowledge of the players that most teams avoided flipped things quickly. He helped build a dynasty.

Then we have John Lynch. He has a bunch of Pro Bowls. He has a couple of All-Pro nods. He was part of an elite defense that brought a Super Bowl title to Tampa Bay. On the surface, his career is one that fits in the Hall of Fame puzzle. I’m not convinced of the fit. Whenever I watched him play for the Buccaneers and Broncos I felt like I was watching a very good football player. I never felt like I was watching a Hall of Fame player. He was part of one of the best defenses in league history. He was probably the fourth best player on that defense. Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks are in Canton. Simeon Rice is waiting. I feel like Lynch should still be waiting. When thinking of Lynch I can’t help but think of Donnie Shell. Both played safety on an elite defense. Both played the position in a hard-hitting fashion. I think that Shell was the better player and he waited over 25 years before he finally made the Hall of Fame. Lynch’s wait was less than ten years. 

I hate being critical of the candidacy of a player on this side of the Hall of Fame process. If he’s in, he’s a Hall of Famer. I hate downplaying John Lynch’s NFL career. Maybe it’s a Stanford thing. I’d feel better about this Hall of Fame Class if Tony Boselli was a part of it. He’s waited longer and had a better career than Lynch. Several of Boselli’s left tackle peers are in the Hall of Fame. For a handful of years he was the best left tackle in the game. Boselli still waiting is one of the great Hall mysteries. Along with Lavvie Dilweg and Al Wistert. 

Congratulations to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021.