The list of people eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2008 has now been cut down to 28 semifinalists, and there are few surprises to be found. Everyone knew that two player eligible for the first time, Cris Carter and Darrell Green, would make it, and everyone knew a lot of the guys who have come close but not quite made it the last few years, like Art Monk and Derrick Thomas, would make it.
The full list:
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Giants general manager George Young, running back Terrell Davis, receivers Andre Reed, Cris Carter and Art Monk, quarterback Ken Stabler, center Dermontti Dawson, defensive ends Fred Dean, Richard Dent and Charles Haley, linebackers Kevin Greene, Randy Gradishar, Derrick Thomas, Andre Tippett and Rickey Jackson, guards Russ Grimm, Bob Kuechenberg and Randall McDaniel, tackles Joe Jacoby and Gary Zimmerman, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, cornerbacks Darrell Green and Lester Hayes, special teams specialist Steve Tasker, punter Ray Guy and senior nominees Marshall Goldberg and Emmitt Thomas.A maximum of seven people will make the Hall of Fame, with the final vote coming the day before the Super Bowl and the two senior nominees being considered as separate candidates from the rest of the group. If I had to pick right now I'd probably go with Tagliabue, Carter, Thomas, Green and Jacoby from the non-senior candidates. I haven't made up my mind about the seniors.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Hey Michael, why don't you mention the injustice? That Russ Francis got rooked again.He was always compared to Casper in the 70's and yet Casper is in.Francis' stats are very comparable to Caspers and some are even better.As a matter of fact his stats are just as good as the other 7 Tight Ends that are in now....look 'em up or email me and I'll show you the injustice
Posted at 7:51AM on Nov 30th 2007 by NYRanger26
2. Charles Haley changed the course of two franchises and has 6 freakin' rings. Nobody will vote for him on first ballot and nobody is more deserving.
Posted at 10:29AM on Nov 30th 2007 by Tim Burns
3. No question Russ Francis is a very good TE with good longevity. However, his numbers compared to Dave Casper suggest Casper was better:
Raw numbers
Francis
G: 167, REC: 393, YD: 5262, TD: 40
Casper
G: 147, REC: 378, YD: 5216, TD: 52
Francis wins all but TDs. However...
Per game
Francis:
REC: 2.35, YD: 31.51, TD: 0.24
Casper
REC: 2.57, YD: 35.48, TD: 0.35
Casper wins in all categories and it's not especially close.
Per catch
Francis
YD: 13.39, TD: 0.10
Casper
YD: 13.80, TD: 0.14
Casper wins both pretty clearly.
Add to this the fact that Casper has a 1st team all pro/pro bowl profile of 4/5 while Francis has one that reads 0/3, plus the fact that Casper is on the all 70s team and Francis makes none, it makes Casper clearly the better HoF candidate.
With Casper, Kellen Winslow, and Ozzie Newsome all TE peers of Francis already in and Todd Christensen still on the outside looking in (and take a look at Christensen's stats!):
Christensen
G: 137, REC: 461, YD: 5872, TD: 41
Francis again:
G: 167, REC: 393, YD: 5262, TD: 40
it's going to be tough to make a case for Francis beyond Hall-of-the-Very-Good. In fact, one could argue Christensen has a better case with a 3/5 profile and clearly superior stats -- his only major weakness is a short career.
Posted at 7:03PM on Dec 2nd 2007 by bachslunch
4. Charles Haley will have a tough time distinguishing himself from the wealth of very good contemporary LBs surrounding him (Andre Tippett, Karl Mecklenburg, Chris Spielman, Clay Matthews, Cornelius Bennett, Wilbur Marshall, Sam Mills, Rickey Jackson, Kevin Greene). All have anywhere from 1-3 all pro selections and 3 to 6 pro bowls. The only meaningful thing I see separating them from each other are the appearances of Tippett, Greene, and Bennett on all decade teams. And if the argument is that Haley should be compared to DEs (he played both positions), note that Chris Doleman has an all pro/pro bowl profile of 2/8 and hasn't gone anywhere thus far.
The only position for which a large number of Super Bowl rings seem to reliably elevate an on-the-bubble career into a Hall of Fame berth is at QB.
Posted at 7:11PM on Dec 2nd 2007 by bachslunch
5. What about Kenny Stabler? Do you guys allow Dr. Z's rants to sway your opinion of the Snake?
Posted at 4:22PM on Dec 28th 2007 by sid
6. Sid wrote: "What about Kenny Stabler? Do you guys allow Dr. Z's rants to sway your opinion of the Snake?"
I don't let Dr. Z influence me on such things. But I don’t see that Stabler is any better than a bubble candidate at best. Stabler had about 4 great years surrounded by about 11 mediocre to bad years. He did win one Super Bowl, but despite a reputation as a last minute heroics guy, he had little post-season success outside of the one SB winning year. He is on the all-70s team, but has only one 1st team all pro selection and 4 pro bowls. I’d sooner see Ken Anderson get in, who has noticeably better passing stats than Stabler does.
Posted at 6:03PM on Jan 7th 2008 by bachslunch