Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

http://www.profootballhof.com/enshrinem ... -announced

The 15 finalists (plus 2 contributors and 1 senior finalists):

Morten Andersen
Jerome Bettis
Tim Brown
Don Coryell
Terrell Davis
Tony Dungy
Kevin Greene
Charles Haley
Marvin Harrison
Jimmy Johnson
John Lynch
Orlando Pace
Junior Seau
Will Shields
Kurt Warner
Mick Tingelhoff (Senior)
Bill Polian (Contributor)
Ron Wolf (Contributor)

Any five from among Coryell, Harrison, Pace, Seau, and Shields would be fine.

Oh, wait....

Seriously, this doesn't look like a very strong final 15.

The list, overall, is pretty predictable. The thing that really pops out at me, though, is Terrell Davis finally becoming a finalist. Didn't see that happening so soon, honestly.

Four modern era guys whom I've been saying will get in, and whom I still think will make it this year, are Bettis, Harrison, Seau, and Shields. I think the fifth spot will be one of the rush guys, although I'd lean more toward Greene than Haley.

Polian, Wolf, and Tingelhoff all deserve enshrinement, and I expect them to join the five modern era players.

I think that Kurt Warner could be a dark horse this year. Remember: he brought the Rams and Cardinals to the Super Bowl when both teams were stagnant for a number of years and specially, in their new homes. His career is much different that most quarterbacks, due to his peeks and lows, and the fact that, like Warren Moon, he started his NFL career late.

I also wonder if Junior Seau's suicide will count against him. I'll bet that he won't get close to 100% votes, but enough to get in.

If I was guessing tonight who they will select I'd guess; Bettis, Brown, Dungy, Seau and Warner to go with Mick and both 'contributors' ...

Who I'd probably pick (from the list of 15): Davis, Harrison, Pace, Seau and Shields. Yes on Tingelhoff and I'm not really big on having the 'contributors' category - if I decided to pick one I'de pick Wolf.

Reaser wrote:If I was guessing tonight who they will select I'd guess; Bettis, Brown, Dungy, Seau and Warner to go with Mick and both 'contributors' ...

Who I'd probably pick (from the list of 15): Davis, Harrison, Pace, Seau and Shields. Yes on Tingelhoff and I'm not really big on having the 'contributors' category - if I decided to pick one I'de pick Wolf.

I think Mick and the contributors are both deserving, though I wouldn't put Polian or Wolf ahead of any players.
my choices would be Pace, Shields, Harrison, Davis and Seau.

The problem I have with Davis is that it seems like he was so out-of-shape in 1999, it's almost like he pulled a Shaun Alexander. The knee injury wasn't your typical out-of-shape player overreach kind of thing you see pretty much every year. But it just nags at me... if he'd been ready to play in September, like Hall of Famers typically are, I can't help but think he'd have had four more years, and there would be no debate.

Jeremy Crowhurst wrote:I can't help but think he'd have had four more years, and there would be no debate.

There likely wouldn't be, though that's only because people view seasons/games played as some kind of 'stat', plus of course people love compiled numbers. I personally am not overly worried with how long someone played, I just consider what they did when they did play. Seasons/games played is nothing more than the number of chances one had to accomplish something.

For TD, in his career he literally accomplished everything there was to accomplish.

My own subjective first criteria: Did he have a minimum of 3 seasons where he was the best or second best at his position? Yes. (That's my only real 'longevity' concern when I look at a player, have to play long enough to "prove it", though I've found that can be done with a minimum of three seasons at that level. Of course that's the low end, 5 seasons as the best is better than 3, and so on, which is where seasons played comes in as extra "chances" for a player to do that.)

Other standard questions:
Was he ever the best player at his position? Yes.
Was he ever the best offensive player? Yes.
Was he ever the best player in football? Yes.
Did he help his team win? Yes. Champions that he was a primary contributor for.
Awards/Honors? MVP, OPOYs, SB MVP, 1st-team All-Pros.
HOF trait? Ran with legendary vision.
One of the best ever? Arguably the best postseason runner there's been, to date. At worst he's at/near the top of the list. Arguably had the greatest single season a RB has had, at worst it's at/near the top of the list.

All (insert number) extra seasons would have done is tack on largely irrelevant stats (and maybe more awards? who knows, I don't really like what ifs.) ... His career is his career, it's good enough for me.

All that doesn't mean he's at the top of the list of candidates, there's players I would put in before him, but of the 15 finalists he makes my top five.

Reaser wrote:

Jeremy Crowhurst wrote:I can't help but think he'd have had four more years, and there would be no debate.

There likely wouldn't be, though that's only because people view seasons/games played as some kind of 'stat', plus of course people love compiled numbers. I personally am not overly worried with how long someone played, I just consider what they did when they did play. Seasons/games played is nothing more than the number of chances one had to accomplish something.

For TD, in his career he literally accomplished everything there was to accomplish.

My own subjective first criteria: Did he have a minimum of 3 seasons where he was the best or second best at his position? Yes. (That's my only real 'longevity' concern when I look at a player, have to play long enough to "prove it", though I've found that can be done with a minimum of three seasons at that level. Of course that's the low end, 5 seasons as the best is better than 3, and so on, which is where seasons played comes in as extra "chances" for a player to do that.)

Other standard questions:
Was he ever the best player at his position? Yes.
Was he ever the best offensive player? Yes.
Was he ever the best player in football? Yes.
Did he help his team win? Yes. Champions that he was a primary contributor for.
Awards/Honors? MVP, OPOYs, SB MVP, 1st-team All-Pros.
HOF trait? Ran with legendary vision.
One of the best ever? Arguably the best postseason runner there's been, to date. At worst he's at/near the top of the list. Arguably had the greatest single season a RB has had, at worst it's at/near the top of the list.

All (insert number) extra seasons would have done is tack on largely irrelevant stats (and maybe more awards? who knows, I don't really like what ifs.) ... His career is his career, it's good enough for me.

All that doesn't mean he's at the top of the list of candidates, there's players I would put in before him, but of the 15 finalists he makes my top five.

I think Davis should be inducted, and I think there's a good chance he goes in this year. For one thing, he was the guy who put the Broncos over the top. The Broncos may have won the AFC Title in 1997 without him, but there was no way they would have upset the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII without him, and I don't think they would have beat Atlanta the next year without him. While it is true that Elway had a better receiving corps at that time than he did during the 80's, without TD, the Packers would have blitzed Elway continuously and forced him to make bad passes and the Pack would have won 24-6. Having Davis took a lot of the pressure off of Elway. Davis was so formidable a runner that Shanahan sent him into the huddle with a raging migraine (I suffer from severe migraines myself and cannot comprehend how he was able to cope with it in that environment) and he could barely see. He was in there as a decoy and the Packers fell for it.
Also, at his peak, Davis probably was the best player in pro football, which is a distinction many HOFers cannot claim. And as a four-year stretch between 1995-98, I think the only other RB with a statistical peak that compares is Earl Campbell from 1978-81, and Davis has two rings to Campbell's zero. Also, Davis came back from a knee injury to rush for 1,000 yards before he tore up the other knee. If the short but spectacular career argument can be made for Gale Sayers and Earl Campbell, I think it also applies to Terrell Davis.