Charlie Sanders making the HOF is a fraud

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by Cochise

The problem here is that people who never saw this guy play or maybe never even heard of the guy are evaluating him based on what they looked up on profootballreference.com.

The TE has not always been about catching passes. It's subjective. It's like, how would you argue one offensive lineman over another if both were from the 60s or 70s? If you were born in the 70s or later, then you couldn't pretend to because there are no stats to look up. It's subjective.

The thing is, I was an NFL fan back then. I remember hundereds of players from the '70s. Charlie Sanders, yes, I remember him, but not as a dominant player. At all. Jackie Smith, I remember as being a better TE. I remember thinking, "How could such a good TE drop such an easy pass" (answer, he was washed up for three year prior to dropping the big one).

One reporter today said he revolutionized the TE position. Do a Google search on "Charlie Sanders" and "revolutionized". 59 hits. Do the same search for Kellen Winslow and you get 499. Should a player get to the HOF by being 1/10 the influence of another HOFer?

What I think. He's worked in the Lion's organization ever since retiring. He's a good citizen. Good for him. Does that make him a HOFer? I think the Lions launched a huge PR campaign with the Old Timer's committee and got him the nomination. The voters seem to rubber stamp those guys the last few years. It is a travesty and cheapens the whole HOF.

You can't bullshit in the information age.

[RJ]

Here is a comparison with two of his contemoraries who played the same position, John Mackey and Jackie Smith. All three are now in the HOF.


Sanders - 128 G, 336 rec, 4817 yards, 31 TD

Mackey - 139 G, 331 rec, 5236 yards, 38 TD

Smith - 210 G, 480 rec, 7918 yards, 40 TD


I guess he compares reasonably well but I don't understand how he "revolutionized" anything. He was a good player on some very bad teams.

[Buck]

The point is that even though his numbers are comparable, He did not deserve it more than Art Monk or Derrick Thomas. Hell at this point I'd even put Monk and DT in over Thurman Thomas as well, Monk has been waiting a long time. And DT is perhaps one of the greatest OLB's of all time.

[DeepPurple]

Not that this really matters, but I went through basic training with Charlie Sanders at Ft. Polk, Louisiana in April - June 1970. Our unit was 4 platoons, each with about 40 guys, 160 all total. It was made up of about half reserves and about half regular Army, Charlie was a reservist from Detroit and I was regular Army from Florida.

He was the biggest human I had ever seen in an Army uniform, his legs were as big as my waist. In the first week they made him what they called 'Field First', which meant the four platoon leaders would answer to him and he answered to the drill sergeants. He had his own room while the rest of us slept in open bays. The fourth week of basic we were given a weekend pass and we were allowed to go to Lake Charles, except Charlie was allowed to fly home to Detroit.

After a couple of weeks when we were decent at marching they let Charlie lead the marches and call cadence. The only problem was his steps were so big that when he lead the march, those of us back in the fourth platoon had to run at times to keep in step. He seemed like a nice guy, but really never spoke much. I guess it's good to be a pro football player when your in the Army.

[penchief]

Originally Posted by DeepPurple

Not that this really matters, but I went through basic training with Charlie Sanders at Ft. Polk, Louisiana in April - June 1970. Our unit was 4 platoons, each with about 40 guys, 160 all total. It was made up of about half reserves and about half regular Army, Charlie was a reservist from Detroit and I was regular Army from Florida.

He was the biggest human I had ever seen in an Army uniform, his legs were as big as my waist. In the first week they made him what they called 'Field First', which meant the four platoon leaders would answer to him and he answered to the drill sergeants. He had his own room while the rest of us slept in open bays. The fourth week of basic we were given a weekend pass and we were allowed to go to Lake Charles, except Charlie was allowed to fly home to Detroit.

After a couple of weeks when we were decent at marching they let Charlie lead the marches and call cadence. The only problem was his steps were so big that when he lead the march, those of us back in the fourth platoon had to run at times to keep in step. He seemed like a nice guy, but really never spoke much. I guess it's good to be a pro football player when your in the Army.

That is a GREAT story!

I was laughing my ass off when you were talking about trying to keep pace.

I remember my Charlie Sanders bubble gum card.