Oh, and Favre has rushed for, like, a thousand more yards than Bledsoe:)
I grant you all of that. That’s why I backpedaled with the amendment that Bledsoe needs to go deep into the playoffs 2 or 3 times with the Billies.
I got my numbers as follows: Favre has played in 184 games for 43814 yards, making 238 yards per game times 16 equals 3809 per season. Bledsoe has played in 149 games for 35764 yards, making 240 yards per game times 16 equals 3840 yards.
I did not discount any years/games in my analysis.
Granted Favre should go in way before Bledsoe…would any of us feel differently if Bledsoe had beaten Favre in that Superbowl?
And to be fair, Favre rushed for 1300 more yards. And 7 more TDs. 
Um, I was just rereading your post, and you think the fact that Favre threw 36 more picks than Bledsoe is a good thing?
But really, the TD difference is staggering.
Well, I think the TD pass/INT ratio is a decent measure of a quarterback’s efficency. So yes, Favre has 36 more picks, but also 131 more touchdown passes, and I’d take 327 TD throws to 197 INTs any day of the week!!
I’m surprised only one person mentioned Jerome Bettis. In the top 10 of all-time rushing yards, and probably the best power back in NFL history, I’d say he’s pretty much a shoo-in.
A few thoughts on some mentioned here already:
No to all of the following:
Ray Buchanon
Mike Alstott
John Lynch
Antonio Freeman
Kurt Warner (assuming his days as a starter are over)
Keyshawn Johnson (if they had a runnin’ yer yap HOF he’d be a first-year shoo-in)
Bledsoe (unless he does great and wins a ring or two before retiring)
These guys should make at as long as their productivity does not go in the toilet:
Steve McNair
Marshall Faulk
Marvin Harrison
Peyton Manning
Ray Lewis
Randy Moss
Definates, no matter what they do:
Brett Farve
Emmitt Smith
Jerry Rice
Tim Brown
Larry Allen
Rod Woodson
Shannon Sharpe
Bruce Smith
On the Bubble:
Jerome Bettis – as much as I like him, his very low TD total may be a problem for some (He’s top 25 all time, but when you look at other’s #s who have had as many touches as he has, it isn’t good), along with his lackluster career playoff #s --( 3.3 YPC )
Junior Seau
Eddie George
Favre
Emmit Smith
Rod Woodson
Bruce Smith
Jerry Rice
Darrel Green
These types of players are shoo-ins…most of the others mentioned are guys with 2-3 good years who need to do it long term still.
Bettis
Faulk
McNair
This tier is very close to being pretty much a lock.
Sapp? He has done nothing the last two years except flap his mouth.
What about Brian Mitchell, the greatest return man ever?
Really?! Compared to whom? By what criteria did you determine that Allen is better than Gene Hickerson, who played guard for Cleveland in the mid 1960s (and who blocked for Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly), or Larry Little, who played for the Dolphins in the 1970s? I must confess that I haven’t the slightest idea of who the best guard that’s ever been is, but I’ll bet you don’t know either. If you say that Allen is better than Little or Hickerson (or any of the many other great, unheralded offensive lineman) please inform how exactly you arrrived at that conclusion and identify the other lineman you compared him to.
This is an article on Larry Allen from last year. It’s interesting.
Robert Porcher.
Bettis, as CBS just reported to us, is one of only six players to gain 10,000 yards rushing for two different teams. If he can manage one more healthy season with some good TDs behind him, especially in the playoffs (perhaps on a different team, sorry to say) his legacy should be intact.
So long as I’m discussing my Steelers, despite this season’s inadequacies, Plaxico Burress seems on a HOF career track to me. Anybody care to dissuade me of that notion?
I hope the Robert Porcher remark was a joke…
And I’d support Shannon Sharpe. As much as I dislike him, he’s the best pass-receiving tight end ever.
How about Sean Landeta? Although if Ray Guy isn’t in, no punter ever will be.
I agree with Moss and Harrison going first ballot, assuming no self-destruction in the next few years…
But this many names listed and so far no mention of Tory Holt? One or two more years like the one he’s having now and you can probably write his name in as well.
What about ‘Sweet’ Lou Aguiar?
You mean, who besides Brett Favre…(I am from Wisconsin, after all).
Dan Marino seems like a lock.
And here’s another vote for Dermontti Dawson.
IMO,
Going to Get In Even If Their Career Ends Tomorrow:
Brett Favre
Emmitt Smith
Marshall Faulk (He is in the top 50 statistically for RB in 6 categories…and he has a SB ring…I think he’s getting in)
Jerry Rice
Tim Brown
Shannon Sharpe (8-time Pro Bowler)
Willie Roaf (8-time PB)
Junior Seau (11-time PB)
Rod Woodson (11-time PB)
Larry Allen (7-time PB)
Bruce Smith (11-time PB)
Should Get In As Long As They Maintain Their Production:
Peyton Manning
Marvin Harrison
Ruben Brown (7 out of 8 years PB)
Jonathon Ogden (6 out of 7 years PB)
Derrick Brooks (6 out of 8 years PB…good guy in the community, media loves him…should get in with a couple more PBs)
Randy Moss (4-time PB…total asshole, but his stats are mindblowing)
Maybe They Get In…Maybe They Don’t, We Shall See:
Steve McNair (don’t you think he should get in the PB first before we start talking about him for the HOF?..good QB…but highly overrated in my book)
Rich Gannon (his stats since 99 are mindblowing…but prior to that…I think he’s a no)
Drew Bledsoe (he’s in the league’s top 27 in 4 QB categories…4-time PB…I think he should be a no, but guys like Bledsoe typically get in b/c of personality, etc. I wouldn’t bet against him getting in there, but I wouldn’t vote for him)
Priest Holmes (if his career started in 2001…he’d be in the category above…but it didn’t and he’s only got so many years left in him…I think he’s going to be a no, because RBs typically lose their stuff around age 30)
Tony Gonzalez (4 time PBer…but he hasn’t had a lot of competition for the AFC TE spot…he probably should be in the category above, but Gonzalez has never done it for me…he doesn’t dominate games like Sharpe has done…to me he’s a yes for the Hispanic vote…Canton doesn’t have tons of Hispanics in it…plus he’s a good/likeable guy)
Will Shields (7-time PBer…solid player, relatively unknown outside KC…I’m 50/50 on this guy assuming he gets to the PB 1 or 2 more times)
Terrell Owens (3-time PBer…many people put him with Moss, I don’t. He’s been in the league 2 years longer than Moss and has comparable stats….he’s 50/50 at this point, especially since I think the media doesn’t like him)
Orlando Pace (4 out of 6 years PB…solid OL talent…I think he gets PB 4 more times…he’s in…less than 4…he’s out)
Warren Sapp (6 PB out of 8 years)…media loves his personality and personality will get you in the HOF (see Joe Namath)…I think he gets in…but probably will have to get at least 2 more PBs…big x factor with Sapp will be what team he signs with next year…some think he’s as good as he is because of his TB teammates)
Michael Strahan (5-time PB) I don’t see it…even playing for the NYG will not get him in…especially since Favre took a dive to give him the sack record
John Lynch (4-time PB…in a word, no. Good player, not a great player, no.)
Jerome Bettis (5-time PB…I don’t think he should get in…but he is kind of a unique player because of his “bus” persona…I wouldn’t bet against him getting in, the media has generally loved the bus schtick and he’s in the top 10 RB in yards gained all time)
Curtis Martin (5-time PBer…top 50 RB of all time in 5 categories…I would put him in there before the Bus…but I bet because he is a quiet, get it done type player, he doesn’t get in)
John Randle (7-time PBer…probably going to get in b/c of stats, personality and 7 PBer status…I’m 50/50 on the guy)
Lawyer Milloy (4-time PBer…no, good player, not great)
Aeneas Williams (7-time PBer…he will probably get in…he’s a poor man’s version of Rob Woodson, stuck on the Cardinals for all those years…I like the guy, but I’m not sure if I would vote for him…probably depends on how long he stays in the league, because there are going to be a truckload of CBs eligible a few years after he is)
Eddie George (4-time PBer…not going to get in…after 2000, I would have put him in there no problem…but he’s lost it…I don’t see it even though he’s a good guy…his last 3 years yds per carry have been: 3.0, 3.4 and 2.9…that’s not HOF material in my book)
If They Get In I’m Blowing The HOF Up:
Meshawn Johson (To whoever mentioned this asshole, unless you are Meshawn’s mother…you are a football idiot)
Kurt Warner (I don’t think Warner is overrated, I just think his throwing hand is fucked and his accuracy will never be the same and for a QB who plays for the Rams with that kind of multiple-option, timing passing system…his days are numbered)
Mike Alstott (career yds per carry: 3.8 career yds per catch: 7.7….he gets in the PB because he’s a FB that gets catches and carries because of the TB system…BFD)
Ray Buchanan (Are you fucking kidding me?)
Jason Taylor (“Should be a lock”? WHAT? 2 PBs? BFD?)
Great thread topic BTW.
That would be me. All I ever said was he’s got a lot of yards and has a ring. I don’t even really like the guy so i won’t lose any sleep over him not getting in.
mouthbreather said it all for me. but neeeding to contribute to a GREAT thread I’ll go out on a limb:
I’d put Champ Bailey very early on the bubble. He’s gone to 3 straight Pro Bowls, & in this an off year he’s on the bubble for 4.
While doing that: He has never played on a winning team and won’t this year. He has shared the position with 2 HoF’ers (Deon & Darrell Green). Not saying he is a shoo-in yet, but he is only around the beggining of his prime and has about 3-4 good seasons of prime time left, and about 3-4 of the declining years…
Brian Mitchell – a guy who has gained more yards than anyone, I think is a shoo-in