Somebody find Rainman-HOF Finalists announced
 

15 finalists announced for Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Ray Lewis made the first cut. Rainman might stab someone.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...cid=spartandhp

I hate to say this, but I dislike Ray Lewis more for his ego and his stupid seizure dances than I do for the murder. Terrell Owens shakes his head in disbelief at Ray Lewis' ego.

Jeepers, in looking at the list of finalists, they apparently awarded bonus points for not being a team player.

Here's my ranking of the finalists, from most deserving to least.

Category 1. Guys that deserve it and I'll clap enthusiastically.

1 Everson Walls, DB - If you like good cornerback play, watch this guy. Smoothest CB ever.

2 Joe Jacoby, OT - He's the only Redskins OL who deserves it, but for some reason they put one of the guards in and left Joe out. He was the best O-lineman in the league for years, and at the LT position to boot.

3 Randy Moss, WR - I'll always remember him jogging routes in Oakland, which I hate even though it's Oakland. But let's get real - a pouty, slouching, sullen Randy Moss is still probably the best WR to ever play the game.

4 Brian Urlacher, LB - He was a pretty amazing MLB in his day. He made that defense, and it was a good defense.

Category 2. Bleah. But he kind of deserves it.

5 Terrell Owens, WR - His stats make him a no-brainer. But I contend that he made the players around him worse. He deserves to get put in because on the field he was dominant for a long time, but off the field he was a terrible teammate.

Category 3. Meh. I won't argue if these guys get in. But make their bust half-size.

6 Isaac Bruce, WR - A great wide receiver. Not as good as Otis Taylor, but really good.

7 Steve Hutchinson, OG - He's not Will Shields, but I've got no issue with him. Ed Budde should go in first, though.

8 Edgerrin James, RB - I know he was talented and built a lot of stats, but tell me the most electrifying plays you remember from him. He's remembered mostly for replacing Marshall Faulk.

9 Tony Boselli, OT - I seem to remember him playing well before he would get hurt in every game.

Category 4. Overrated guys who don't deserve to get in.

10 John Lynch, S - He hit hard, I'll give him that. He might sneak up into the next group in a really weak year.

11 Ray Lewis, LB - Even if you set aside the MURDER, he's massively unlikable. If I was a player on his team, I would have eventually stabbed him just to stop the bragging and the stupid, stupid dance. Seriously, that dance was embarrassing. The commissioner should have fined him and suspended him, because it made the league look bad. And if he goes in, he'd darn well better pick his dry cleaner to introduce him, because he owes his career to that person.

12 Brian Dawkins, S - NFC East safety. Maybe he was good, but I have no way of knowing.

13 Alen Faneca, OG - Screw the Steelers and their offensive line holding and CTE car chases.

Category 5. I don't get it. Are these typos or something?

14 Ty Law, CB - (Shrug.)

15 Kevin Mawae, C - Did you ever fear a Mawae-led offensive attack?

So the post below is my list of who SHOULD make it. The guys who'll be named will be Moss, Owens, Urlacher, Murderin' Ray, and either Walls or Jacoby as someone who actually deserves it.

No love for Ty Law ? He had some big games in the playoffs. He would be in my category 3

I don't hate Ty Law or anything, and he did try to win Herm a playoff game once. But I think he's the fourth-best DB on this list, and I don't think he's as good as Albert Lewis or Ken Riley, for example.

Aside from Ray Lewis, it’s fairly spot on.

Ray Lewis led two Super Bowl Teams, nearly 15 years apart, to two Lombardi Trophy’s.

Off field speculation aside, he’s a First Ballot HOFer.

I'll concede that he was an effective player, even highly effective. I don't think he was Ed Reed-type good or even Terrell Suggs good, but he was effective. I just feel like he was a one-man hype machine who always overrated his contributions and was a big blowhard about them.

He reminds me of a guy I knew in my teen years. The guy would say something that wasn't really funny, and then he would laugh really loud and long and repeat it two or three times and laugh really loud and long each time. Over time, people started saying, "Oh, that guy. He's pretty funny."

No. He wasn't funny. Yes, you heard laughing any time he was around, but it was him laughing, followed by sympathetic tittering from other people. I would challenge people to pay attention and judge for themselves whether he was funny, but it was a losing cause. He singlehandedly constructed a reputation just by laughing at his own really bad jokes.

Ray Lewis is the football version of that guy.*


* - Disclaimer. The unfunny guy I knew in my teen years wasn't involved in any murders.

Moss will get in because he is on TV now. Maybe second year because he is on ESPN not NFLN.

Football HoF lost a lot of credibility when Dungy and Terrell Davis got in.

Yeah, that'll eliminate any resistance for him. Murderin' Ray is on TV enough to get the vote, too.

The real question is whether Lynch was on TV enough to get in. He wasn't on the main show, and he's not going to be on TV again in the near future. But if he's close, it may be a tiebreaker.

It seems like the HoF has started allotting one or two spots per year to "media selections" to help TV ratings or to "money selections" to feed the egos of rich non-athletes.

2017 - Jerry Jones, Olandis Gary or whoever
2016 - Eddie DeBartolo, Tony Dungy
2015 - Jerome Bettis
2014 - Michael Strahan
2013 - Warren Sapp

With the exception of Sapp, none of these guys should even be close.

There is no way you put Urlacher in over Brian Dawkins or Ty Law.

As the league became more of a passing league, those guys were elite at their positions in stopping the pass. And Law was a major contributor to the Pats Super Bowl runs.

Ray Lewis
Randy Moss
Terrell Owens
Brian Dawkins
Everson Walls

Urlacher was a safety in college, and played the pass well. He had 22 interceptions over his career in addition to 40+ sacks. He ruled the middle of the field and helped the Bears become a turnover machine during his era.

How many championships did his team win because of his defense?

Urlacher was the Chicago Bears for many years.

Big market team for big money NFL.

He has to be ranked pretty high in all time jersey sales. You couldn't have a football conversation up there without his name coming up.

Then he had some hottie up in the club seats watching him that he was dating on the side.

So do the 2 best WR's of that era go in together? It's funny cause Owens should already be in, but god forbid he isn't a super nice dude.

Ray Lewis just said on NFL Network that his main inspiration for his entire life has been his children. Ray's not the brightest guy in the world.

I wonder if he's going to dedicate his ceremony to the guy who was stabbed to death.

Did they bring a jacket out on a hanger for TO?

They were showing all of the guys trying on their jackets for the first time, and I wondered if Terrell Owens will get his all wadded up in a USPS box.

It seems to me that the moment where your egotistic decision really hits you is when you open up the package, pull out the yellow jacket, and put it on in the silence of your house with nobody around.

derrick thomas mention? :D

is there video of terrell owens induction yet? im from out of town, my time zones are off :D

Still a ****ing shame that Joe Jacoby didn't get in. Pathetic really. The only left tackle that could legitimately go one-on-one with Lawrence Taylor and not get clowned. He created the "Franchise left tackle"