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Meet the candidates Narrowing the NFL Hall of Fame contenders a tough task
The following will seem heartless to you. As a Hall of Fame selector, I have to trim 64 names from my preliminary ballot and come up with 12 people to send to the selection committee for a final vote in January. It's awful. I'm messing with a roster of greatness. Some of the ex-players have called, asking for support. Some were good friends during their playing days. How can I tell them, "Sorry, I have to select other people first?" But then again, how can I just pack my ballot with old friends when I know other people are more deserving? OK, now that all the hand-wringing is out of the way, let me give you some idea how I stand on the names I've been handed. I can't give you my final 12 because 1) my selections aren't due for a couple more days and I always go right down to the wire on this, and 2) the people at the Hall have made it clear that they don't want us to publish our exact list, although general observations are OK. Here, then, are my general observations, some of which are specific, actually: Quarterbacks Five names -- Ken Anderson, Archie Manning, Phil Simms, Jim Plunkett and Ken Stabler -- appear on the list. I would put them in two tiers -- Anderson, Manning and Simms in tier No. 1 as the most deserving; Plunkett and Stabler in the second tier. Anderson, a classic, old-style passer and a magnificent competitor, would probably be my top choice. Manning and Plunkett are opposites. Archie was a fine player trapped on a miserable, losing club. These days he'd free-agent himself out in a second, but he did not have that luxury at the time. Plunkett had less talent but two Super Bowl rings. As far as Stabler is concerned, well, he has come up before and I've always been a negative voice. As a competitor on the field he was brilliant when he wanted to be, a zero when he felt like taking the day off. Running Backs William Andrews, Roger Craig, Delvin Williams. All extremely talented, but on my ballot they will, unfortunately, all take a back seat behind other people. Wide receivers Oh, man, what a roster. Lynn Swann, who will automatically go on the January ballot because he was a finalist last year, plus the following seven: Cliff Branch, Gary Clark, James Lofton, Art Monk, Drew Pearson, Ahmad Rashad and John Stallworth. Right now I'm looking at Pearson, Rashad and Lofton. I know there are a lot of Monk fans out there who point to his overwhelming numbers. He was very valuable for what he did -- sitting down in the zone and catching the 10-yard hook for a first down -- but I feel that my top three did more. As far as Stallworth is concerned, I keep telling the Pittsburgh guy on the committee to bring him up separately from Swann. Swann and Stallworth, as a paired entry, always serve to knock each other off. As far as Swann, I've always been in his corner. Not a tremendous amount of catches, but quality over quantity. He saved his best for when the stakes were highest. Tight ends Dave Casper, Raymond Chester and Todd Christensen. I mentioned Casper in my magazine piece this week. I believe he was the greatest tight end in history. His was the first name I checked. In a normal year, Christensen, who piled up huge numbers, would have a great shot, but two Raiders in the same year at the same position? He's deserving, but it'll be tough. Offensive Linemen Thirteen names: Dave Dalby, Joe DeLamielleure, Russ Grimm, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Joe Kolb, Bob Kuechenberg, Mike Munchak, Bart Oates, Rich Saul, Jackie Slater and Ron Yary. I'll probably go overboard at this position because of my bloodlines. Kuechenberg, the left guard and fulcrum of the great Dolphins running games of the early '70s; Kenn, a brilliant technician at left tackle; and Slater, a proud and classy performer for 20 years at right tackle, are my top three. Yary's name has been coming up forever. I've never voted for him. Good enough during the regular season, but when the Vikings reached the final level, Yary's guy always seemed to have a big day. Defensive Linemen Jack Youngblood will be on the ballot because he was a finalist last year, and when I say finalist, I mean he reached the last six, where only a yea or nay vote was needed. He didn't get the quota of yeas and when I heard about it I felt sick. Why the hell would anyone ding a great performer like Youngblood? But the guys who cast the nays are like assassins hiding behind a door with a knife. You don't see them. Here's the rest of the list: Elvin Bethea, Dave Butz, Doug English, L.C. Greenwood, Dan Hampton, Too Tall Jones, Harvey Martin, Jerry Sherk and Dwight Mad Dog White. Bethea's my No. 1, Hampton's my No. 2. I'll bet half the selectors never heard of Bethea. If he makes it to January, it's gonna take a hell of a selling job to try to put him over. Started life as a great sacker for the Oilers' from his defensive left end spot. Then Bum Phillips brought in the 3-4 and Bethea had to sacrifice himself so others could flourish. And he became a terrific run-plugger, the best 3-4 DE I've ever seen, next to Lee Roy Selmon, of course. Hampton played left end on base downs in Buddy Ryan's Bears defenses. Then, when it was usually second and 12 or so, they'd get serious and get the Fridge off the field and move Hampton into the RT spot, and that's where he made his reputation. One year I picked LT Steve McMichael, not Hampton, on my All-Pro team, only because he had higher grades on my charts. Next time I saw Buddy he sat me down and showed me some film, explaining exactly why Hampton was the heart and soul of his system, how he always took on the double and triple team and still made his share of plays, and made everyone else better. Linebackers Another loaded position, and if I don't do a descriptive on every player (and that refers to the people at other positions, too), it's only because of space limitations, not because I don't think they're worthy. If you have specific questions, send them in to the Mailbag and I'll try to supply specific answers. Where were we? Oh yes, LBs, and here come eight of them: Carl Banks, Harry Carson, Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson, Wilber Marshall, Karl Mecklenburg, Matt Millen and Jerry Robinson. I have an emotional attachment to Jackson. I had him on my 1976 New York Post All-Pro team, a year before the Broncos made the Super Bowl and the world discovered him. He was an absolute dart, a guided missile to the ball. Think of Ray Lewis with more speed and you have Tommy J. He has never let me forget that I picked him when no one else did. Carson was one of the great goal line MLBs in history. Just some kind of super-developed instinct. His New York Giants teammate, Banks, was perfect in Bill Parcells' scheme and better at working the tight end than any outside backer I'd seen since Dave Wilcox. Millen, a converted DT, was your prototype run-stuffer inside. His only problem was that he was often off the field in nickel situations. Defensive Backs Gary Fencik, Jerry Gray, Cliff Harris, Lester Hayes, Jake Scott, Donnie Shell, Jack Tatum, Charlie Waters, Roger Wehrli . A mixed bag, as you can see, with the safeties and corners all lumped together. Cornerwise, well, no one remembers how great Wehrli was on those old Cardinals teams. I wish they'd have a film library available for the selectors, who could then study these players at their leisure. With enough pressure I'd bet we could get films, but I know that few of these guys would take the time to look at them. Might mean postponing the dinner reservation. I'll tell you a story the people at the Hall won't like me repeating, but it should be told. The selector from Indianapolis retired and they needed a replacement. So they called a guy they deemed worthy. "No," this fella said, "Saturday (when the selection committee meets in the morning) is the only day I can sleep late during Super Bowl week." I won't give you his name because that would really get the HOF officials teed off, but I've never spoken to him since and I never will again (which is probably a reward rather than a punishment). Which is, once again, a long-winded way of making a point, namely that many fine players such as Wehrli have a very slim chance. Everyone knows about Hayes and his stick-um. In the Raiders' Super Bowl season of 1980 he had the highest grades, including games through the Pro Bowl, that I've ever awarded a defensive back. Fencik was a heart-stopping, kamikaze free safety for the Bears. And now we come to Cliff Harris. As you know, I have a list of players I'm going to lobby hardest for, whether it's at the regular session or the seniors committee meeting in June. Former players on my list include Dwight Stephenson, and a pair of Niners, J.J. Johnson, the cornerback, and Wilcox. My current guys are Dave Robinson, the old Green Bay linebacker, among the Seniors, and, in order, Casper and Harris among the moderns. I've grouped free safeties into two categories -- the range type, and I think former Packer Willie Wood was the best of that class, and the killer type, which is self-explanatory. No one, with the possible exception of Hardy Brown, the former LB, ever hit harder on a football field than Tatum, but Harris was only a tick behind, and he was way ahead of Jack on coverage skills. You'll hear the expression "a rolling ball of butcher knives" used from time to time to describe some player or other, but the expression was first coined to describe Harris. And its author was University of Texas coach Darrell Royal. Just to wrap up the free safety box, the guy I believe who best combined both styles was Larry Wilson, who's already in the Hall. Punters and Kickers Ray Guy and Garo Yepremian. Why does Guy's name always come up? Because he hit the gondola once and John Madden never has let us forget it? Because he was drafted in the first round? OK, he could hang 'em high, but he was a middle-of-the-end zone punter with a poor net-yard average and a lifetime gross that many of today's punters could top. Tommy Davis of the 49ers was the greatest punter I ever saw. Check it out -- he had the second-best average in history, the top guy being Sammy Baugh, whose average is inflated because of all his quick kicks that rolled and rolled. And Davis punted in a terrible place, wind-blown Kezar Stadium. How many times did I sit in the stands in Kezar and watch Davis, punting out of the end zone with the wind in his face, hang it 4.7 or 4.8 and get his team out of trouble? Greatest directional punter I ever saw? Frankie Albert. When he was quarterbacking the Niners he used to show up at our spring practices at Stanford and work with the punters. One day I saw him put on a show, in which he placed towels along the sidelines and punted to hit the towel. Hit some, missed some, but not by much. What a demonstration! Now we get to a list of 17 "coaches and contributors", which encompasses owners, executives, league guys, etc. Too lengthy to list, but I will say that I believe these people should be in a different category and should not compete with players for space on the ballot. But we have to play by the rules, and the top name I have checked off is Art Rooney Jr., one of the great personnel men in history, and whose magnificent run of drafting successes in the early '70s created the Steelers dynasty. He was fired by his brother, Dan, in a power struggle, which, between you and me, was one reason I was always hesitant to vote for the latter gentleman when his name appeared on the ballot. I will mention one final name: Eddie DeBartolo, former 49ers owner and convicted lawbreaker who was forced by the league to leave the premises. Ira Miller of the San Francisco Chronicle sent us all a letter pleading Eddie's case. Never shy with a buck, DeBartolo made San Francisco a place where everyone wanted to play, thereby creating the great run of Niners Super Bowl triumphs. And to anyone who points to his criminal conviction, just remember that it didn't keep Lawrence Taylor out. An impressive argument, but it won't capture my vote. Eddie loved his toys and he loved to throw daddy's money around. Vote him in and Danny Boy in Washington is next, except that he made the money himself. Big spenders deserve a place in somebody's Hall of Fame I guess, maybe Hugh Hefner's, but not in the NFL's. Sports Illustrated senior writer Paul Zimmerman covers the NFL for the magazine and CNNSI.com. His "Inside Football" column and Mailbag appear weekly on CNNSI.com. To send a question to Dr. Z's mailbag, click here. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the
writer.
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