Forsaking Hall others

An inside look at who's in, who's up, who's out -- and why

Hall of Fame weekend is coming up, so it's time to talk about the Hall.

First a word about those who will be enshrined.

George Allen made it as the Seniors candidate, and I was afraid that when he was presented at the general selection meeting in February he was going to have trouble fighting off the prejudices of the old-line Allen haters who still exist here and there.

The No. 1 knock on the old Rams and Redskins head coach is that he never won a Super Bowl. I spoke on Allen's behalf at that meeting and mentioned that if you used Super Bowl victory as the sole criterion, then Barry Switzer is a Hall of Famer. We should judge candidates on their contributions to the game, on innovations, on what a coach brought to it. That's why George Seifert, as nice a guy as you'd want to meet, is not a Hall of Fame coach in my eyes. He inherited a great team and won with it. But what is his legacy?

I worked hard for Dave Casper, the finest tight end I've ever seen, and he finally made it. Dan Hampton, who was, along with Mike Singletary, the heart of the great Bears defense in the mid-'80s, got my vote, and so did Jim Kelly and John Stallworth, Lynn Swann's running mate on the Steelers' Super Bowl dynasty. But two guys who made it to the final six, when only a yea or nay vote was required, were dinged, and, frankly, one of those blackballs puzzled me.

What was the knock on Bob Kuechenberg, the left guard on the unbeaten 1972 Dolphins? He was certainly as fine a lineman as his teammates, Jim Langer and Larry Little, both of whom have been enshrined. I spoke on Kooch's behalf, and when he made it to the final six, I figured that was it, a slam dunk. No one spoke against him, but that's typical. Assassins usually work in the dark, and unfortunately, there are people on that committee who simply don't like to vote for linemen.

The second rejection, belonging to Bill Parcells, was easier to understand. The debate in the room was lively. Nobody liked the way he played footsie with Tampa Bay, and then finally backed out, presumably, or so it was rumored, to give him a better shot at the Hall of Fame. There were people who felt that they were being manipulated. Others felt that he'd make it in a subsequent year, so let's punish him right now. No one denied his qualifications as a legitimate candidate, and that finally swung my vote his way. No, I didn't shed a tear when he failed to make it. Next time his name comes up, I'll vote for him and I think he'll get in.

Now we get to the prospective Class of 2003. I think, or at least I hope, Kuechenberg will be enshrined next January. As I mentioned, I feel that Parcells will get the votes he needs. That's two. Going down the list of the 14 modern-day candidates that were presented at the last meeting, Ray Guy, Art Modell and Donnie Shell all were early rejects, and I think the same thing will happen this time if their names are included. Modell generated a lot of support from ex-employees via a phone campaign, but a devastating and well-presented speech by one selector, detailing the circumstances of his moving the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore, killed him stone dead.

L.C. Greenwood, James Lofton, Art Monk and Harry Carson made it to the final 10 but not the last six. The only one I'm not behind is Monk, who at one time held the record for lifetime receptions. He wasa key member of Joe Gibbs' great offenses in Washington, but I don't think you make the Hall of Fame on 800 8-yard hook passes, particularly when I watched my two guys, Bob Hayes and Otis Taylor, real game-breakers who put their stamp on offensive football, get passed over year after year until they went from modern candidates to the Seniors pool, a swamp from which few people escape.

I can't predict what the complete slate of 14 moderns will look like in January. The way it works is that we're presented with a huge list of people who have been nominated by different methods, and from that group we select 14, and the top vote-getters go on the ballot at the January selection meeting. Most of the names I've already given you will be on it. New faces are Marcus Allen and Gary Zimmerman, the offensive tackle. Allen would be a maybe on my chart, depending on who he's up against. Zim, my namesake, would unfortunately be a no. Not that I've got anything against him, I just like other people better.

I hope Joe Klecko's name is included. I don't see how he could be left off, but he was last year. The guy made all-pro at three positions on the defensive line and was certainly one of the most feared players of his generation. I'll speak for him at the meeting, but I'm not even sure his name will come up. Selectors have strange ideas sometimes.

Now we get to the painful part, the Seniors. One is selected every year, one player out of the entire roster of great performers who were somehow passed over. It's an awful situation, especially when you compare some of those names -- The Boomer Bob Brown, Benny Friedman, Lee Roy Jordan, Jerry Kramer, Taylor and Hayes, and so many more -- with those of the moderns. So I've been waging a campaign to bring in two Seniors at a time instead of only one. I've written to the Hall's Board of Governors, I've been involved in conference calls. What are the chances? "People were interested in your idea for a while," an official at the Hall told me, "but lately it seems to have cooled."

There's no other way to clear the logjam. It's a heartbreaking situation. I've got four guys whose names didn't even come up at the Seniors nominating meeting last summer, four players I'll work for until I'm defunct. I've written many times about Richie "Tombstone" Jackson, the Broncos' great defensive end and one of the finest defensive players I've ever seen. His career was cut short by a knee injury. His chances are slim.

Cliff Harris, the old Cowboy, was, I believe, one of the three best free safeties the game has ever seen (the other two being Larry Wilson and Willie Wood, both already in the Hall). But Harris was the best of what I call the killer type (rather than the range type), the obstructionist as Al Davis would say, the enforcer, and also a fine cover guy.

Dave Robinson, the left linebacker on the championship Packers teams of the late 1960s, was the first of the really great size and speed LBs. Somehow, for some reason, his name has been constantly overlooked, maybe because he's an official at the Hall itself.

Finally there's my punter, Tommy Davis. Why does Guy's name keep coming up while Davis' is forgotten? He was No. 2 all-time on average yards per punt, and he had to do it in the worst wind tunnel in the NFL, San Francisco's Kezar Stadium. Sammy Baugh, the all-time leader, built his average on quick kicks with the big roll; Davis did it the hard way. No one ever heard of him. His chances, I would guess, are almost nil, at least under the present system.

Every year one candidate is the blue plate special for letter writers. I don't know who organizes these campaigns, but they are well orchestrated and relentless. This year they've gotten behind Hank Stram, the former Chiefs head coach. I can't tell you how many letters I've received listing his lifetime won-lost record, letters with State Assembly and State Legislature headings, letters from former players and coaches. I answered one of them, from a former coach I was friendly with, telling him that these things do more harm than good, since the selectors, myself included, hate to be manipulated.

I remember one year when they all got behind Ed Budde, the old Chiefs guard. There's nothing as wonderful as getting a piece of mail from some politician's secretary explaining that Budde led the team every year in blocks. (Or is it tackles? Whatever guards do.) I remember when Joe Montana's name came up, I got letters pointing out how many TD passes he threw. Gosh, no kidding? He threw touchdown passes? I didn't know that.

Got a little carried away here. Sorry. But this is something that means a lot to a lot of people, myself included.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Paul Zimmerman covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. To send a question to Dr. Z's Mailbag, click here.

 

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