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Footballguy
Hey, I'm new here. I've been following NFL football closely since about 1981.
First, congratulations to the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class:
Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, John Randle, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm, and Senior members Floyd Little and D!ck LeBeau.
The 2010 Hall of Fame induction ceremony coverage begins at 6:00 PM Central Time tommorrow night (August 7th, 2010) from Canton, Ohio.
Now, to my future HOF list. Below is my list of players with first year in the NFL of '98 or earlier (including first NFL year followed by name) that I would vote into the Pro Football Hall of Fame if I had a vote:
98 KURT WARNER
98 ALAN FANECA
98 RANDY MOSS
98 PEYTON MANNING
98 CHARLES WOODSON
97 ORLANDO PACE
97 TONY GONZALEZ
97 JASON TAYLOR
97 WALTER JONES
97 RODNEY HARRISON
96 BRIAN DAWKINS
96 TERRELL OWENS
96 MARVIN HARRISON
96 JONATHAN OGDEN
96 ZACH THOMAS
96 RAY LEWIS
95 TONY BOSELLI
95 DERRICK BROOKS
95 WARREN SAPP
95 TERRELL DAVIS
95 CURTIS MARTIN
94 KEVIN MAWAE
94 LARRY ALLEN
94 MARSHALL FAULK
94 ISAAC BRUCE
93 JEROME BETTIS
93 JOHN LYNCH
93 WILL SHIELDS
93 WILLIE ROAF
93 MICHAEL STRAHAN
91 BRETT FAVRE
90 JUNIOR SEAU
90 SHANNON SHARPE
90 CORTEZ KENNEDY
89 DEION SANDERS
89 STEVE ATWATER
88 DERMONTTI DAWSON
88 STERLING SHARPE
88 TIM BROWN
88 CHRIS CARTER
87 BO JACKSON
86 CHARLES HALEY
86 HERSCHEL WALKER
85 KEVIN GREENE
85 CHRIS DOLEMAN
85 ANDRE REED
83 RICHARD DENT
83 ROGER CRAIG
A handful of guys from the above list had short careers due to injury but I feel that their superior play and contribution to the game was HOF worthy.
My list is based on having watched them play, statistics, big games including playoff and Super Bowl performances (if applicable), number of All Pro year awards and Pro Bowls to a lesser extent. I included Herschel Walker because of his big name = fame, ability, huge year with the Cowboys and other quality years and USFL stats which are outstanding.
Interested to hear all of your comments and maybe we can get a discussion started about some of these players, or others if you like. Or feel free to discuss anything about the HOF voting process.
The best website to look up NFL players stats and awards as many of you already know is at http://www.pro-football-reference.com/. Just type in the players name you'd like to look up in the upper right "search" section after clicking that link.
First, congratulations to the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class:
Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, John Randle, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm, and Senior members Floyd Little and D!ck LeBeau.
The 2010 Hall of Fame induction ceremony coverage begins at 6:00 PM Central Time tommorrow night (August 7th, 2010) from Canton, Ohio.
Now, to my future HOF list. Below is my list of players with first year in the NFL of '98 or earlier (including first NFL year followed by name) that I would vote into the Pro Football Hall of Fame if I had a vote:
98 KURT WARNER
98 ALAN FANECA
98 RANDY MOSS
98 PEYTON MANNING
98 CHARLES WOODSON
97 ORLANDO PACE
97 TONY GONZALEZ
97 JASON TAYLOR
97 WALTER JONES
97 RODNEY HARRISON
96 BRIAN DAWKINS
96 TERRELL OWENS
96 MARVIN HARRISON
96 JONATHAN OGDEN
96 ZACH THOMAS
96 RAY LEWIS
95 TONY BOSELLI
95 DERRICK BROOKS
95 WARREN SAPP
95 TERRELL DAVIS
95 CURTIS MARTIN
94 KEVIN MAWAE
94 LARRY ALLEN
94 MARSHALL FAULK
94 ISAAC BRUCE
93 JEROME BETTIS
93 JOHN LYNCH
93 WILL SHIELDS
93 WILLIE ROAF
93 MICHAEL STRAHAN
91 BRETT FAVRE
90 JUNIOR SEAU
90 SHANNON SHARPE
90 CORTEZ KENNEDY
89 DEION SANDERS
89 STEVE ATWATER
88 DERMONTTI DAWSON
88 STERLING SHARPE
88 TIM BROWN
88 CHRIS CARTER
87 BO JACKSON
86 CHARLES HALEY
86 HERSCHEL WALKER
85 KEVIN GREENE
85 CHRIS DOLEMAN
85 ANDRE REED
83 RICHARD DENT
83 ROGER CRAIG
A handful of guys from the above list had short careers due to injury but I feel that their superior play and contribution to the game was HOF worthy.
My list is based on having watched them play, statistics, big games including playoff and Super Bowl performances (if applicable), number of All Pro year awards and Pro Bowls to a lesser extent. I included Herschel Walker because of his big name = fame, ability, huge year with the Cowboys and other quality years and USFL stats which are outstanding.
Interested to hear all of your comments and maybe we can get a discussion started about some of these players, or others if you like. Or feel free to discuss anything about the HOF voting process.
The best website to look up NFL players stats and awards as many of you already know is at http://www.pro-football-reference.com/. Just type in the players name you'd like to look up in the upper right "search" section after clicking that link.
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). In Madden's last two years, the Raiders were 20-10. In the two years after he left, they were 20-12. In other words, he took over a juggernaut, maintained its juggernaut status, and turned it over a juggernaut. He took over a team that had trouble getting over the hump (coming off a SB loss and a conference championship loss), and had trouble getting over the hump with it (losing 6 conference championship games) Sure, he managed to win a SB with the Raiders. So did Tom Flores two years after he left. John Madden mostly just took an elite franchise and kept it at an elite level for a decade, which is hard, but not nearly as hard as building a franchise to an elite level in the first place. His absurd winning percentage is largely due to the fact that he took over a franchise that was 25-3 before he showed up on the scene- he never had his record hurt by the rebuilding years that every other coach has to go through. He was also helped by having Al Davis as an owner and GM back when Al Davis was perhaps the brightest mind in all of football.Dungy is actually a very interesting comparison, and one that I considered making myself. Dungy is 70 games above .500, essentially tied with Madden. I think Dungy is much more deserving as a coach, though, given the context. Prior to Dungy coming to TB, the Bucs had topped 6 wins only THREE TIMES in their 20 year history. They hadn't made the playoffs in 15 years. Dungy took them to the playoffs in 4 of his 6 seasons, and built that team into a Superbowl Champion (though he unfortunately wasn't around to enjoy the spoils of his labors). He then took over an inconsistent Colts squad and posted 7 straight 10-win seasons, including an NFL-record 6 straight 12 win seasons (although, in fairness, like Madden he benefited from working with the brightest mind in football in Bill Polian). I would say that Dungy's resume as a coach is far more impressive than Madden's... and despite the people who think he's a first ballot lock, other people think he's not even a Hall of Famer, period. And a lot of the "first ballot" talk centers on the fact that he was the first black coach to win a Superbowl. Common opinion seems to be that Dungy is a questionable Hall of Famer (he might make it, he might not), and yet he's a significantly superior candidate to Madden, and he's also entering the Hall through a significantly laxer selection process.Again, Madden isn't out of place in the Hall, but he was woefully undeserving of a Seniors nomination unless you also consider his broadcasting career.
I'd also like to point out that almost every single argument that puts John Madden in the Hall of Fame would actually wind up enshrining George Seifert first, had Seifert never coached the Panthers. Seifert would have a better winning percentage, a better playoff winning percentage, more playoff wins, and more SB championships. So, to everyone who thinks that Madden was a deserving HoFer on coaching record alone... if Seifert had never gone to the Panthers, would you be all for enshrining him, too?
