I really don’t know what goes on when deciding who gets inducted and who doesn’t but how can anyone not include the likes of:
Tommie Frazier
Derrick Thomas
“Rocket” Ismail
Orlando Pace
:smack:
I’ve always wondered about the voting for that Hall. You frequently see guys elected who are decades removed from their college careers. In this year’s class, for example, you have:
- TE Dave Casper (last played at Notre Dame in 1973)
- RB Otis Armstrong (last played at Purdue in 1972)
- QB Steve Bartkowski (last played at California in 1973)
- WR Art Monk (last played at Syracuse in 1979)
- QB Tommy Kramer (last played at Rice in 1976)
- RB Charles Alexander (last played at LSU in 1978)
- DT Gabe Rivera (last played at Texas Tech in 1982)
- DB Greg Myers (last played at Colorado State in 1995)
- DB Scott Thomas (last played at the Air Force Academy in 1985?)
- QB Ty Detmer (last played at BYU in 1992)
- LB Mark Simoneau (last played at Kansas State in 1999)
- OT Jonathan Ogden (last played at UCLA in 1995)
And, there are two new inductees who are a long time removed from their college careers:
- TE Hal Bedsole (last played at USC in 1963)
- G John Wooten (last played at Colorado in 1958)
So, for whatever reason, it doesn’t seem uncommon for guys to be inducted 30 or 40 years after their playing days. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see all of the guys you list make it in, but, apparently, they may need to wait a while.
Mark Simoneau is in? I recall the name because he was part of a trio of LBs when KSU was at its peak. But nothing struck me about him being an all time great. And if Ogden is in, then Pace should have been a lock. Frankly, Ogden was dominating in the NFL and good in college, whereas Pace was good in the NFL and dominating in college. At least with Frazier, you can say that he had a nice sophomore season and a terrific senior year, but he missed most of his junior year, and that probably hurts his chances.
I think I mentioned it on another board a few years ago that the CFB HOF is a bit of a joke. That was based on seeing Jim Donnan is a HOF coach for being good at Marshall and average at Georgia. He never changed the game as far as I’m concerned. It’s not a knock on him being a bad coach, just that the bar is clearly low and jagged for entry.
Agreed. Ogden was one year ahead of Pace in school (or, at least, left college for the NFL one season before Pace did). So, one might suspect Pace would be in, in the very near future.
Orlando Pace anecdote: when he left Ohio State, and was widely expected to be the #1 overall pick of the draft (he was, of course), I was working for Quaker Oats, on the Aunt Jemima brand. Pace was well-known for racking up “pancake blocks” (i.e., knocking the defender prone), and Pace’s agent contacted us, wanting to know if we were interested in signing Pace as a spokesman for Aunt Jemima. He was looking for quite a bit of money (offensive linemen don’t often get big endorsement deals), and we declined. 
Mmmmm…pancakes.