Charles Woodson, DB – 1998-2005, 2013-2015 Oakland Raiders, 2006-2012 Green Bay Packers
In addition, nominees from other committees are:
Drew Pearson (WR, Cowboys, senior committee)
Bill Nunn (scout, Steelers, contributor committee)
Tom Flores (coach, Raiders and Seahawks, coach committee)
Manning, Johnson, Allen, and Woodson all made the finalist list on their first year of eligibility. Between four and eight people will be selected, in a meeting of the selection committee on the Saturday before the Super Bowl.
Manning’s a lead-pipe cinch to get in on his first try, and I suspect that Woodson will be, too. Allen was a beast of a pass-rusher, and I hated seeing him constantly chasing Aaron Rodgers when he was with the Vikings; he’ll make it in at some point, even if he doesn’t get in this year. I’d like to see Boselli and Faneca make it; they were both dominant offensive linemen, and perennial All-Pros.
The wide receivers are hard to judge, because of number inflation in the passing game. I think that Johnson was probably the best of the three, but he retired early, and short careers are a strike against players, in the eyes of some voters.
As a Packer fan, I’m happy to see LeRoy Butler make the finalist list, but I doubt he’ll make it in.
I still think he is too good not to get in. When star receivers are compared against him and players talk about making it their career goals to beat his numbers, I think that practically defines what a HoF player is supposed to be.
He was a very good receiver, three time All-Pro, and an important part of the Cowboys’ 1970s offense. But, he didn’t put up huge numbers, even by 1970s standards, and I don’t think he was as good as other WRs from his era (e.g., Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Charlie Joiner, Cliff Branch, maybe even Harold Carmichael and Harold Jackson).
I look at Pearson, and I feel like he belongs in the “Hall of Very Good;” I wouldn’t have ever put him on a list of guys I felt had been snubbed by the Hall. I’m not sure who else was on the Seniors committee’s short list, but I suspect that Drew benefited from a committee member making a strong case for him.
On further review, that list of players is really weird, because the guys in ALL CAPS are actually already in the Hall of Fame. So, I think that only the ones in regular case were the other guys who were also being considered this year along with Pearson.
I think the Seniors Committee considered everyone on that list as the senior candidate for induction in 2021. It happens that this year there was a special Centennial Slate, so a bunch of contenders for Seniors candidate got on the Centennial Slate after the Seniors Committee finalists were selected but before the Seniors candidate was selected from the finalists list.
Ahhh, that makes sense. If so, then that seems to have accounted for a lot of the previous “snubs,” and guys I would have taken before Pearson for the Hall.
By the way, when I read that list, my initial reaction was, “Wait, Roger Craig isn’t in HoF already? And Drew Pearson was the Seniors candidate over him?” Then I looked up his career numbers and…he was good, but he really only had two great years, in 1985 (led the league in receptions and first RB in NFL history to have 1000+ yards receiving and rushing in the same season) and 1988 (AP NLF Offensive Player of the Year). I guess being the starting RB on three Super Bowl teams made me remember him as being better than he was.
I had the same initial reaction about Craig, but I had then remembered the part about only a couple of really good years, but being a part of great teams. It seems like that could be used to describe Pearson, as well.
As a Cowboys fan, I’d love to see Pearson get in, but I’m not entirely sure he was even the best receiver on his team. Tony Hill might have been a notch better. I think that Pearson is a lot like Lynn Swann of the Steelers, as both were remembered for their highlight catches, but they were actually less likely to be open and beat defenders than the guy playing on the other side of the field (Stallworth in the case of the Steelers and Hill in the case of Dallas). Both Swann and Pearson had great hands and could make clutch catches in really tense situations, so there’s that, but I look at the overall body of work.
Calvin Johnson should be a lock – one of the greatest receivers of all time on consistently bad teams.
Peyton Manning is obviously another lock.
Would love to see Sam Mills (of Dome Patrol fame) get in, albeit posthumously.
I don’t watch the AFC as much, so I don’t have a lot of strong memories of Wayne, but I know that he was an excellent receiver for an extended period of time.
WR has been a problematic position for Hall voters for probably 20 years now – there are a lot of guys who put up huge numbers, because that’s the way that offenses work now. In reading commentary about the selection committee discussions, from participants like Peter King and Paul Zimmerman, WR is the position where it’s hard for the committee to reach consensus, other than the handful of obvious choices. Look at how long it took guys like Art Monk and Tim Brown to get in.
8 seasons (including seven in a row) with 1000+ yards
3 seasons with 10+ touchdowns
But, he never led the league in receptions (though he led the league in yardage once). He was only named All-Pro once. And, he spent the first half of his career on the same offense as a Hall of Famer in Marvin Harrison, which may depress how some voters view him.
On the other hand, Pro Football Reference does a “similarity score,” in which they try to compare players against players who had similar careers. Wayne’s four best matches (Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, and Paul Warfield) are all Hall of Famers.
I’d say he has a shot, but he played a position which seems to be a challenge for evaluators.
Tony is my all time favorite football player. Not only was he amazing at his position. He was a really nice guy and helped me alot with my game in high school. He’s the only signed jersey I’ve ever owned and some day I’ll get it framed. I hope he makes it but O-linemen aren’t flashy and don’t really get stats for comparison and good conversation. He also was injury plauged at the end of his career and played for the jags both of which will probably hurt him. Maybe a 50/50 shot to get in.
Aye, I think Boselli is likely to be a long shot. I had forgotten just how short his career was (effectively only six seasons), and while he was a three-time All-Pro, and was on the Hall’s All-Decade team for the 1990s, that may just be too short of a career.