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The Call of the Hall
"Your assignment," my editor told me, "is to list the guys who will be Hall of Fame shoo-ins for this era, and which picks you agree with and which you don't."
Uh-huh.
Shoo-ins? How could I tell him that there are no such things? O.K., Jerry Rice, I'll give you that. And Emmitt Smith. And Deion. There, those are three right there, and yes, I'll agree with all three choices, but the rest of them...?
Is Brett Favre a shoo-in? How about if he throws another 29 interceptions this season? And the whispers start -- maybe he never was that good to begin with. You think this is impossible? You don't know how quickly a great old star can fall from grace.
Understand that it's a pretty special thing to be enshrined on the first ballot. You'd think that Bill Walsh would have been a shoo-in, right? He was passed over when he was first eligible. So was Howie Long. Lee Roy Selmon, one of the most inspirational defensive linemen who ever lived, failed to get out of the preliminary round of voting and reach the final 15 for five straight years. Jimmy Johnson, the 49ers' great cornerback -- I mean, JJ and Deion Sanders were the two best I've ever seen -- died in the prelims for 12 years. Finally he let the world know that he didn't want to be nominated anymore. Then he made it.
The things that happen in that selection meeting are stunning. I've come out feeling weak in the knees, and the first words on my lips were, "How could you ... ?" I don't want to show the white feather,
So here are my potential first-round ballot selections of the era and how I view them, and by era I mean a period of the last 13 years, which stretches from today's young superstars on the rise to the recently retired.
Deion should enter on the first ballot, and I agree with that. No corner in history had his catch-up speed. But that would use up my entire quota of DBs. In my 13-year era only one has made it in the first season he was eligible: Ronnie Lott.
But then what about Rod Woodson (class of 2009), who has already been selected to the NFL's alltime team? I would vote for him, although I rank him third behind Deion and still another corner, the Redskins' heroic little Darrell Green. He'll come up with the class of 2008. The major competition will be Cris Carter and Tony Boselli. Yes, I'm 100% in Darrell's corner.
There have been 20 people who got in the first time they were eligible, true first-ballot choices, in this 13-year period, and seven were QBs. The Selection Committee is very friendly toward QBs. I have singled out five potential first balloteers: Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Carson Palmer.
I'll vote for Favre, based on what he used to be, because I think his game has tanked big-time in the last few years, and I don't know if it'll ever be back. Brady is the ultimate warrior, and he's a double yes for first ballot and my vote. Manning needs some wins when the stakes are highest, otherwise his records and his high rankings, which he should keep putting up for a long time, will work against him. First ballot? He's on the bubble, but I'll vote for him. There are quite a few Hall of Fame QBs who never won a championship.
Palmer and Big Ben are still babies, of course. But I like Palmer's chances better. He seems to carry the team, whereas Roethlisberger, as effective as he is, is more a product of the system.
Four runners have made it right away in the last 13 years. I've got no argument with Emmitt or Curtis Martin, a high-yardage guy and the ultimate team player. Plus, what is very important in the minds of the selectors, a fine person. But a first-ballot choice? Depends on the other runners who come up, especially Edgerrin James and Marshall Faulk.
But here comes a guy who is only 27 years old, and I will take great pleasure in voting for his enshrinement the first time he's up -- LaDainian Tomlinson. He does it all: catches a lot of passes, makes people miss. I believe he'll walk in.
Only one wideout has made it on the first ballot in the last 23 years: Steve Largent in 1995. The trouble is that the numbers are getting so inflated that people cancel each other out. But I believe three heads will rise above the crowd, and I'll vote for each of them -- Rice; Cris Carter, who ranks No. 2 to Jerry on the alltime pass-receiving list; and Marvin Harrison, who is the only receiver in history to average better than 90 catches a season. Shannon Sharpe has the most tight end receptions ever, but no TE has made it in this current 13-year era.
We are through with the glamour positions, and now it becomes a matter of perceptions, mine against those of the other selectors. The grunt position is my special field of interest, but my track record here is not good. For instance, I feel that few players are more deserving than the Jets' old DE-DT Joe Klecko, and he has yet to get out of the prelims.
O-line. Bruce Matthews is the front-runner of the class of '07, which has no other really strong candidates, and I feel will become a haven for former also-rans. Yes, I think Matthews will squeak through on the first ballot, on the basis of a career that went back to the days of earmuffs and round footballs, but if it comes down to, say, Matthews against Bob Kuechenberg, my vote goes to Kooch.
Larry Allen is my choice as offensive lineman of this era, although it pains me to see him now, barely functional on two bad legs, his balance just about shot, but still making Pro Bowls. Yeah, I think the selectors will be kind to Allen and give him a quick entry, and I won't disagree.
Still about 10 years in the future is Walter Jones. Yep, a smooth-as-silk pass blocker, but I think he'll take a backseat to more flashy candidates for a year or two. Boselli will come up in '08. Six functional years made up his career. Not enough.
D-line. Bruce Smith, already retired. Bryant Young and Michael Strahan, each 34 and good for about three or four more productive seasons -- maybe. Richard Seymour, still a baby. Smith, yes. First ballot all the way. They say his pass rush far outweighed his ability against the run, and usually I'm very sensitive about that, but I have to disagree here. He always hustled, he didn't take plays off, he made a lot of backside tackles.
Strahan, yes, a complete player, but he might be coming up against Young, an emotional favorite after his great comeback, and that's big with selectors. So Michael might have to wait a year. Seymour? Solid, productive, but must make more big plays to catch voters' eyes. I see him waiting a while.
And now we come to a pair who might sneak in on the first ballot: Warren Sapp, through a finely developed repartee; and John Randle, possessor of that great interior pass rush. I will be a no vote on each. When Sapp was a young tackle, I thought he might be one of the alltime greats. But he chose to conserve his energy, turn it on and turn it off, do just enough to get by.
Randle? First-and-10, the enemy gains 10 yards because Randle has taken himself so far out of position that he's fouled up the guy playing next to him. Next play he gets a sack for minus-five. People are saying what a great game he's having. But by my calculations he's still five yards in the hole. Ah well, not many agree with this kind of thinking. So be it.
Ray Lewis, yes. Only two LBs have been first-ballot choices in the era, and they were both colossuses, uh, colossi: Lawrence Taylor and Mike Singletary. Lewis, not the chest-beater of late but the young firebrand who was like a laser to the ball, is not quite in their class, but almost. He belongs. Derrick Brooks and Junior Seau? Maybe someday, but not on the first ballot. Brian Urlacher, no. Not until he learns to play short-yardage defense.
Adam Vinatieri, if he puts up a few more dramatic kicks, will be a great subject for debate among the selectors, and I feel this will drag through three or four years.
Finally, nonplayers. Bill Belichick definitely belongs, but I have a feeling a lot of selectors will play get-even by stiffing him on the first ballot, just as they did to Bill Parcells. Dick Vermeil, though, has made nothing but friends throughout his career, and he'll be rewarded right away. Sure, I'll vote for Dick. He sent me a case of that great cabernet he makes in Calistoga. You bet I'll vote for him.
Issue date: SI Commemorative July 2006
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