Just wondering. Do his stats merit entry, or was his career too short with the broken leg and all?
Here is his Wash Post Bio and performance
He’ll need a lucky break to get in.
His stats aren’t that great, only a couple of good years playing on great teams. If memory serves, didn’t Washingtion rely on the run and defense anyway?
He probably needs to drop the “T” from his name and let people confuse him with the college trophy if he want to be known for more than that leg.
Or, he could go into the theater.
Theismann wasn’t all that dominant. Taking a look at Pro Football Reference shows he’s only among the top fifty QB in four categories, and was no better than 40th in any of them. He had one great season, but I doubt the HOF would be too interested in someone whose most memorable play was having his leg broken. :eek:
But what a break! People who attended said you could hear the bone snap into the upper seating tiers.
Well, he could always make it in as an announcer…uh, on second thought, I think the only way he’d ever make it into the announcer’s wing of the Hall is if he bought a ticket.
I agree with all that was said. For me he is a little more on the bubble tho. If I were a voter it really would depend on who he is up against - who I wouldn’t get to vote for to “Yea” Thiesman.
Since the cons have been adequetly done I’ll do the biggest pro.
The '83 team set an NFL record for Most Points Scored in a Season that stood for 15 years. Even the high flying Rams of a few years back couldn’t catch it. It is still #2 All-time & they did it at a time before the rules changed to make this sort of thing easier in the 90’s. His team scored more points than any team ever (except '98 MN) and to compare apples to apples: Elway, Marino and Montana playing the exact same teams and defenses then and over the next few years couldn’t do the same. Would I take JT over any of them? Nope, but what I said is literally true. cite
http://www.football.com/nfl/records/NFLTScoring.shtml
I see him on the same bubble as Warner – if Warner had led 1 more team to the SB [& had his as$ handed to him] & had never been demoted for a no.2 guy …
Now, there is a guy from those Redskins teams who definitely deserves to get in the HoF but never will, but that is another thread…(tho it touches on a marginal guy who got in because he was a famous announcer)
http://espn.go.com/magazine/friend_20020131.html
Joe Theismann was a good QB, but he was no more than a role player on the Gibbs’ Skins teams. Gibbs showed two more times he could win Super Bowls with other QB’s.
The core of those teams were the Hogs - they made the whole offense better, regardless of who else was involved from year to year.
So, no, I don’t think Theismann has a shot.
My money is on no way Theismann gets in.
a) He wasn’t that great of a QB
b) His stats aren’t mindblowing
c) His ego is larger than Canton so they would have to build another wing for him
Bad pun, dude.
He may not deserve it statistically, but that Lombardi Trophy goes a long way, especially when you look at the ignominious end to his career.
Even if he doesn’t get in as a player, he may make it as an announcer. And if that isn’t a scary thought I don’t know what is.
Theisman was a good quarterback, but I can’t see him getting into the Hall of Fame, simply because there are so many quarterbacks who are equally or more deserving. And almost every year, there will be another eligible quarterback who’s at least as deserving.
So, no… I don’t see any way he makes it into the Hall of Fame. (Not that there aren’t plenty of less deserving players in the Hall- Lynn Swann, for one.)
Lynn Swann? Undeserving?
He is one of those rare cases, like Gayle Sayers, where beauty and grace transcends numbers.
He was the best receiver on the best teams ever. He gets in.
The general criteria for HoF seems to be something like:
'the player was thought to be among the very best at his position for a period of, at least, a few years.
That would not describe Theismann, who was generally good, but only great for one year. So his chances are basically nil.
Of the top of my head, I know Ken Stabler is not in. I’d would think he would make it before Theismann.
Had Theismann had maybe five or six more healthy seasons, I think he was good enough and smart enough to be a HoF QB; there’s no denying that the guy had an astonishing arm.
But career-ending injuries are just that: career-ending. It sucks for him, but he just doesn’t have the numbers to overcome the “could have been” factor in the voting. There’s no telling if he’d have been another Ken Stabler with a hundred and fifty years of solid QBing, or another Kurt Warner with one great year and a long stint in the where-are-they-now league.
Eh? Why would he get in as an announcer?
I don’t have a Hall listing in front of me, but I bet the small number of Hall of Fame announcers are play-by-play guys, anyway, not analysts.
Especially not poor analysts who haven’t a clue.
As far as I can see, there aren’t any announcers in the Pro HOF. If they did, though, I’d bet John Madden would get in – and he’s an analyst.
You’re right. I thought they might have a Broadcaster’s wing, like MLB does. I’m still not sure Madden would be in, though.