Coach
Bill Belichick
Tom Coughlin
Mike Holmgren
Dan Reeves
Mike Shanahan
Contributor
Ralph Hay
Robert Kraft
Virginia McCaskey
Doug Williams
John Wooten
On November 17, the coach and contributor subcommittees will meet separately and virtually to select a coach and contributor finalist. Those finalists will join 13 modern-era finalists for the big Hall of Fame debate prior to Super Bowl LXI.
The five coaches are the same five coaches that reached this stage last year. That’s because the Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors completely failed at their obligations last year. Somehow, the selectors decided that Bill Belichick wasn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Imagine that. The coach on the winning side of eight Super Bowls, six as head coach, isn’t first-ballot worthy. That stupidity resulted in an overhaul of the entire voting process. Instead of debating the Hall of Fame merits of Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Dan Reeves, Mike Shanahan, and a fifth coach candidate (Buddy Parker again?), the selectors will certainly do what they should’ve done last year. The petty shenanigans couldn’t possibly happen again. Right? Bill Belichick should’ve been an easy choice last year. He must be an automatic choice this year. Right?
Ralph Hay was the Canton Bulldogs owner that called and hosted the September 17, 1920 meeting that kicked off the establishment of the American Professional Football Association. The APFA became the NFL in 1922. That’s significant. It’s one of the most significant things a contributor candidate could have on their résumé. It doesn’t matter. I imagine that Hay made it through as a candidate to show that the selectors care a little about professional football’s past. His is a token presence. I doubt that very many of the selectors even know of Hay. If they do, it’s because those that actually care about football history keep bringing up his name.
I believe it’s already decided that the coach and contributor finalists will spark a New England Patriots celebration. It’s Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft. If the other eight candidates are ever seriously considered for the Hall of Fame, it will be at another time.
After last year’s Bill Belichick voting fiasco, the Pro Football Hall of Fame overhauled the selection process. The number of selectors was trimmed from 50 to 28. That trimming should’ve started with every selector that didn’t vote for Belichick. There’s no room for pathetic pettiness. The history of pro football is too damn important! Some of the petty clowns remain. The most disappointing of the changes was the elimination of the Senior category. Seriously? The Pro Football Hall of Fame is all about the league’s past and they just shut the door on it.
Honor the Greatest of the Game, Preserve its history, Promote its Value and Celebrate Excellence Together.
That’s the motto of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Honor the Greatest. Preserve its history. In eliminating the Senior category, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is failing to do both. Lavvie Dilweg, Verne Lewellen, Ox Emerson, Al Wistert, Del Shofner, Maxie Baughan, Chuck Foreman, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn. There are so many senior players that deserve induction, at least discussion, that won’t be considered under the new format.
It may be a year late but early congratulations to Bill Belichick.
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