Whitlock: F**k Canton

[BigRock]

He's not really as anti-HOF as Joe was, but I wanted to go with a theme in the thread subjects.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chi...ry/473079.html

Hall voters reject Derrick Thomas for lesser talents

The word around the Pro Football Hall of Fame news conference on Saturday was that Derrick Thomas inched closer to induction.

Bob Gretz, Thomas’ presenter, did a fine job and Hall voters had virtually nothing negative to say about Thomas’ candidacy, according to my sources.

Thomas, the nine-time Pro Bowl pass rusher for the Chiefs, got caught in a logjam of quarterback chasers and was symbolically asked to wait while Hall voters righted previous wrongs.

So Fred Dean and Andre Tippett — lesser players than Thomas, in my opinion — were welcomed into the Hall while Thomas was put on hold for a fourth consecutive year.

I don’t like it.

The entire 2008 class, with the exception of Washington cornerback Darrell Green, is a statement about rewarding borderline Hall of Famers for waiting patiently. It’s as if Hall voters are afraid of creating another Harry Carson, the bitter 2007 inductee who whined his way into Canton.

Art Monk, Washington’s longtime No. 2 receiver, got his Hall ticket punched while Cris Carter, one of the league’s great receivers, was denied a first-ballot induction. Criminal. No team ever devised a game plan to stop Art Monk. He put up great numbers because he played forever. He belongs in the longevity Hall of Fame.

Denver and Minnesota left tackle Gary Zimmerman was the second-best modern-era player inducted on Saturday. I can’t really knock his selection. He was a very good left tackle. He’s not in the same class as Anthony Munoz or Willie Roaf, but Zimmerman’s Hall bid doesn’t bother me.

I never saw Emmitt Thomas play, so I will not comment on his selection by the veterans’ committee.

However, making Thomas wait while Fred Dean gets in is infuriating. During his 11-year career, Dean started 82 of 141 games. Dean, a defensive end, spent the second half of his career (1981-85) coming off the bench, playing strictly on passing downs. He was a role player, a nickel back, a special-teams gunner, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson.

Someone dust off Steve Tasker’s Hall of Fame resume. Pressuring the quarterback on third down is very, very important. But so is downing a punt inside the 10 or tackling a return man inside the 20.

Fred Dean was one-dimensional. He earned four Pro Bowls berths. Yes, he was a member of the 49ers’ 1982 Super Bowl squad. And yes, he had an amazing 17 1/2 -sack season in 1983 when the 49ers went 10-6 and lost in the NFC championship.

Fred Dean had a flash of greatness … as a role player. But I’m not buying the contention that he was some sort of innovator because he was the “first” situational pass rusher. Unless you’re Gale Sayers and were felled by injury, you need a full body of work to enter the Hall of Fame.

As for Andre Tippett, my main gripe is my belief that he’s not better than Thomas. But Tippett did collect 100 sacks while playing linebacker on the strong side (over the tight end). That’s rather impressive. He was certainly a force to be contained. He did help the Patriots advance to the 1986 Super Bowl, the one the Bears dominated.

However, the job of the Hall of Fame selection committee isn’t to make the old-timers happy. Good players aren’t supposed to get in. Players who were momentarily great aren’t supposed to get in, either. The Hall is supposed to be reserved for the best of the best, the players we will never forget.

I’m a hardcore football person. Until Saturday, I never even considered the possibility of Fred Dean entering the Hall of Fame. Is Dean the first non-starter to make the Hall?

You can easily write the history of the NFL without including a sentence about Monk, Dean and Tippett.

Meanwhile, Derrick Thomas, Cris Carter and Randall McDaniel, an offensive guard with an identical resume as Will Shields, have to wait until next year. Derrick Thomas isn’t here to gripe, complain and make Hall voters embarrassed for overlooking him.

I’m glad of that because I’m tired of the Hall announcement turning into a whine session about some good player who convinced a couple of influential broadcasters and voters that he was great.

[Hammock Parties]

Is there a reason why you break the article into two posts?

[BigRock]

Originally Posted by GOATSE

Is there a reason why you break the article into two posts?

Every time I try posting a full one, it won't let me. I figured it was a word limit or something. So I gotta break it up.

It's kind of annoying.

[Hammock Parties]

Might be because you're using quotes.

[BigRock]

I'll try it non-quoted.

[BigRock]

Success!

[Hammock Parties]

I know everything.