SI's top 10 Non-Hall of Famers (1 Viewer)

[dgreen]

Herschel Walker.

Bottom Line: Nobody in the history of professional football has gained as many yards with the football as he has - or as many yards rushing in a single season.

Please expalin these two claims.

 

[Tau837]

Herschel Walker.

Bottom Line: Nobody in the history of professional football has gained as many yards with the football as he has - or as many yards rushing in a single season.

Please expalin these two claims.

He is presumably including USFL statistics.

 

[dgreen]

Herschel Walker.

Bottom Line: Nobody in the history of professional football has gained as many yards with the football as he has - or as many yards rushing in a single season.

Please expalin these two claims.

He is presumably including USFL statistics.

Oh.

 

[Pat Patriot]

So Bo Jackson should in the HOF? I'm sure anyone who's seen him play will say Bo was great.

Bo was GREAT. However, he never even played a full season. If he had a career like Gale Sayers were he only played 5 years, I would put him in. However, he only played parts of a few seasons. Unfortunately, he wasnt around long enough to get the HOF recognition that would almost certainly have been his.I think Billy Sims was similar. I LOVED Billy Sims. Its too bad that he never achieved his HOF greatness that was waiting for him.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Ray Guy. Ray Guy. Ray Guy.

If you really think a punter should be in the Hall of Fame, what's the case for Ray Guy? He doesn't hold any important punting records nor is he even close. His career punting average is over three yards behind the all-time leader Shane Lechler. So is his net average. I don't think Guy is even in the Top 40 all-time. Are there some specific punts you can point to that helped his team win a title? The only thing I could find was from his Wikipedia entry:

Arguably, his best performance was in Super Bowl XVIII against the Washington Redskins. When the Raiders offense faltered just outside the range of placekicker Chris Bahr, Guy, known for his power, showed a great deal of finesse by booting a 27-yard punt that pinned the Washington Redskins on their own 12-yard line late in the first half. On the very next play, the Raiders' Jack Squirek intercepted Washington quarterback Joe Theismann and returned it for a touchdown that gave them a 21-3 halftime lead.

Is a 27-yard punt to the opponent's 12-yard-line really a classic NFL moment?

I have questioned before why everyone cites Guy in HOF discussions, and no one can really explain. I think a lot of people have just latched onto that as a smart but "clever" opinion on who deserves to be in the HOF but isn't.

And, aside from whether or not Guy is the best punter, is the more fundamental question of whether any punter should be in the HOF. I have gone into this in other posts, but I think the fundamental question that arises is how many significant/impact plays per season any HOF player made... for a typical HOF offensive or defensive player, it is a high number. For a kicker, not so high... which I suspect is why only one true kicker is in the HOF. Same thing for punters, but probably even less impact than kickers. I mean, even kickers can make game winning plays... when was the last time anyone thought a punter made a game winning play?

Otherwise, why stop there? Why not the best punt returner... the best kickoff returner (well, he's probably in--Sayers)... the best at covering kickoffs... the best long snapper... the best at blocking kicks... the best nickelback... etc. IMO the answer is that these players have more limited roles, and do not impact game outcomes to the same extent as typical HOFers, who played most offensive or defensive snaps.

Are you calling Steve Tasker's impact "limited"?