Thursday, July 31, 2008

All he DID was catch touchdowns. All they DO is vote.

Cris Carter doing what he does best, Scoring TDsWith the NFL about to finally put Art Monk into the Hall of Fame I'm reminded why I have so little respect for the Hall, it's voting membership, and specifically how they choose who goes in. The list of players that have waited far beyond a reasonable amount of time to be inducted is ridiculous. The rules state "a player and coach must have last played or coached at least five seasons before he can be considered". Fair enough.

Five years is a reasonable waiting period.Eight additional years on top of that for a player with Monk's credentials is insulting. He retired with more catches (940) than ANYONE in NFL history! ANYONE! It took the legendary Jerry Rice to break that record! You can't pull the winning card; the man has three Super Bowl wins. He did enough to make the NFL 80's all decade team. I suppose that's why the Hall voters made him wait almost a full decade to be recognized. There's almost a insane symmetry to that.

Now that Monk is finally in, it looks like it's part two of the "most deserving player to be denied induction" ( in baseball I call it the Andre Dawson Award). Introducing Cris Carter. You know Cris Carter right? The Cris Carter that is one of only four players ( Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, and Marvin Harrison are the other three) in NFL History with 1,000 or more receptions (he had 1,101). The Same Carter that is the only player EVER to record 120+ receptions in a season twice(1994 & 1995). He also catches touchdowns according to Buddy Ryan ( former Eagles Coach); only Jerry rice has more touchdown receptions than Carters 130 in league history. Oh almost forgot, he ( like Monk) also made an all decade team ( 90's).

This guy did not get elected on in his first year of eligibility. Same player that has the sixth highest receiving yards total (13,899) in NFL history. The case for Carter ( like for Monk and so many others) is overwhelming and frustrating. All I can say is anyone that could not put them in on their first year of eligibility is not deserving of the honor of being a HOF voter. All they did was catch touchdowns...all you have to do is open your eyes.
ESPN article on Carter's snub.
Hall of Fame Selection Process.





4 others that deserve the nod.
  • Andre Reed WR eligible since '06
“Andre Reed was one of the greatest and most durable football players that I have ever coached. He excelled in every aspect of the game.”
Marv Levy Buffalo Bills coach
  • Derrick Thomas OLB eligible since '05
“He gets slighted because even though he was noted more for sacks, he only did what he was asked to do. If he had to drop into coverage, he would drop into coverage. If he had to play the run, which he played very well, especially away from him, he played the run. If he was asked to rush the quarterback, which he was a lot of the time, he rushed the quarterback. He did a lot of things, but the sacks and forced fumbles create more attention than he did.”
Warren Moon HOF QB
  • Ray Guy P eligible since '91
"Our offensive coaches wanted Ray Guy, our defensive coaches wanted Ray
Guy, and the head coach really wanted Ray Guy."
John Madden HOF Coach, Professional Sportscaster
  • Terrell Davis RB eligible since '06
He was the best running back in football for at least two years. Remember that the Broncos -- and future Hall of Famer John Elway -- never won a Super Bowl until Davis arrived. He was the missing ingredient, and his presence impacted both the team and the NFL.
Dan Patrick ESPN Commentator



2 comments:

Bertrand said...

Ah, I hear you on the Hall of Fame Voters. I mean, what is so hard about acknowledging the...oh, wait....bribes anyone? I am sure that there are certain prejudices to some of this, but then again, maybe its influenced sooner for some players by the thickness one's wallet, who knows, but it does seem like the qualified talent out there that gets inducted many many years later, should have been had their moments in the Hall of Fame, instead of some of the lesser athletes that came before, way-way-way before their induction.

On a less hate-filled note...this blog is very well designed, and the jukebox offerings are great! Nice Work, Master Blogger, sir!

John Doughy AKA JD said...

Glad your enjoying yourself! Oh and your right I AM A Genius ( just pretend you said that and noone gets hurt).