2014 Semifinalists for the Hall of Fame

[Rain Man]

You can add Claude Humphrey and Ray Guy as the senior candidates.

This seems like a pretty weak pool to me. Will Shields should go in this year without a doubt.

http://www.profootballhof.com/footba...finalists.aspx


The Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee chose the 25 modern-era semifinalists from the previously announced list of 126 nominees.

Four first-year eligible candidates – linebacker Derrick Brooks, coach Tony Dungy, wide receiver Marvin Harrison, and tackle Walter Jones – are among the 25 semifinalists being considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2014.

In addition to the first-year eligible nominees, two other previously eligible candidates, coach Jimmy Johnson and guard Steve Wisniewski, made it to the semifinalist list for the first time. Each of the remaining individuals on the Selection Committee’s list has been a semifinalist at least once prior to this year.

2014 SEMIFINALISTS



Morten Andersen, K – 1982-1994 New Orleans Saints, 1995-2000, 2006-07 Atlanta Falcons, 2001 New York Giants, 2002-03 Kansas City Chiefs, 2004 Minnesota Vikings
Steve Atwater, S – 1989-1998 Denver Broncos, 1999 New York Jets
Jerome Bettis, RB – 1993-95 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 1996-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
Derrick Brooks, LB – 1995-2008 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tim Brown, WR/KR – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Don Coryell, Coach – 1973-77 St. Louis Cardinals, 1978-1986 San Diego Chargers
Roger Craig, RB – 1983-1990 San Francisco 49ers, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders, 1992-93 Minnesota Vikings
Terrell Davis, RB – 1995-2001 Denver Broncos
Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Owner – 1977-2000 San Francisco 49ers
Tony Dungy, Coach – 1996-2001 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2002-08 Indianapolis Colts
Kevin Greene, LB/DE – 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers
Charles Haley, DE/LB – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys
Marvin Harrison, WR – 1996-2008 Indianapolis Colts
Joe Jacoby, T – 1981-1993 Washington Redskins
Jimmy Johnson, Coach – 1989-1993 Dallas Cowboys, 1996-99 Miami Dolphins
Walter Jones, – T – 1997-2008 Seattle Seahawks
John Lynch, FS – 1993-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004-07 Denver Broncos
Karl Mecklenburg, LB – 1983-1994 Denver Broncos
Andre Reed, WR – 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins
Will Shields, G – 1993-2006 Kansas City Chiefs
Michael Strahan, DE – 1993-2007 New York Giants
Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner – 1989-2006 National Football League
Aeneas Williams, CB/S – 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams
Steve Wisniewski, G – 1989-2001 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
George Young, Contributor – 1968-1974 Baltimore Colts, 1975-78 Miami Dolphins, 1979-1997 New York Giants, 1998-2001 National Football League

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Besides the fact that you're a ****ing twat, what made LaDanian Tomlinson transcendent?

Why does he deserve to be canonized next to Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Emmitt Smith and Franco Harris?

[Kingsburg#12]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Andre Reed was a premiere receiver that more than helped the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls and five consecutive AFC Championship games.

Furthermore, who, besides the current Chiefs and Will Shields, deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? A solid case could be made for O.T. but that is unlikely to happen.

You've failed to prove anything, other than your own dumbassery.

Reed had the benefit of a better team and much better QB. Brown out produced Reed in Receptions,, Yards, Touchdowns and All Purpose Yards.
You are a MORON

[Kingsburg#12]

Troll DaneMcDouche is an absolute ass. Giving negative rep. You're a F'ing infant.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Kingsburg#12

Reed had the benefit of a better team and much better QB. Brown out produced Reed in Receptions,, Yards, Touchdowns and All Purpose Yards.
You are a MORON

He didn't win shit and he does not belong in the Hall of Fame with Jerry Rice, Lynn Swann and Michael Irvin BEFORE Andre Reed.

He wasn't a transcendent player. Get over it.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Kingsburg#12

Troll DaneMcDouche is an absolute ass. Giving negative rep. You're a F'ing infant.

Reported for bypassing the language filter

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Besides the fact that you're a ****ing twat, what made LaDanian Tomlinson transcendent?

Why does he deserve to be canonized next to Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Emmitt Smith and Franco Harris?

If Curtis Martin got in, then Tomlinson will most likely as well. Their career numbers are close.

I wouldn't say either player was transcendent though.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

If Curtis Martin got in, then Tomlinson will most likely as well. Their career numbers are close.

I wouldn't say either player was transcendent though.

I'm with you.

I think Martin got in because he was a Patriot and a Jet (read: East Coast Bias).

If he was a Charger or a Jaguar, he would have had no chance.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Besides the fact that you're a ****ing twat, what made LaDanian Tomlinson transcendent?

Why does he deserve to be canonized next to Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Emmitt Smith and Franco Harris?

He was incredible and had about as impressive an 8-year span as you could imagine.

He had good size and the power and durability to handle 300+ carries a season consistently.

He could run between the tackles, he could beat the LBs to the outside, and he had fantastic vision- as evidenced by his insane TD production.

He was also one of the best dual-threat RBs in league history.

All of that combined in a guy that was good in pass protection and absolutely, incredibly reliable in terms of ball security.

There was no weakness in his game.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Rausch

It's time for Bettis to go in.

His style wasn't sexy.

Agreed.

Every year that goes by his odds go down because people forget how dominant he was.

No HB ever initiated more contact, and won, than Bettis.

No HB was ever as effective at demoralizing a defense as Bettis in his prime. He'd be held down, 2.2 ypc, then he'd bust a hole he was supposed to be too bit or too slow to hit and run over 2 or 3 guys.

In the 90's Bettis WAS the fantasy HB. He'd get a guaranteed 80+ a TD. That was the rock you based a team on...

Agreed - Bettis was an animal.

My 5:

Greene
Bettis
Shields
Haley
Brooks

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

He was incredible and had about as impressive an 8-year span as you could imagine.

He had good size and the power and durability to handle 300+ carries a season consistently.

He could run between the tackles, he could beat the LBs to the outside, and he had fantastic vision- as evidenced by his insane TD production.

He was also one of the best dual-threat RBs in league history.

All of that combined in a guy that was good in pass protection and absolutely, incredibly reliable in terms of ball security.

There was no weakness in his game.

Take a look at the running backs currently in the Hall of Fame. Outside of Curtis Martin, who at least led his team to the Super Bowl and an AFC Championship Game with the Jets, they were transcendent players.

Tomlinson was a very good player that belongs in the Chargers Hall of Fame.

I would not vote for him on an NFL Hall of Fame ballot.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Molitoth

I'm sorry but Terrell Davis is not HOF worthy in todays standards, imo.

He's not a HoFer by any standards, IMO.

Sayers shouldn't have been either.

Sorry, but the Hall of Fame requires a great peak and significant duration.

Besides, I'm not willing to take Davis's raw production at face value anyway. As Rainman noted, the dropoff from Davis to Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson was pretty nominal.

Davis isn't anywhere close to a HoF runningback. 3 seasons don't get you into the HOF and the only people that think it should are Broncos fans.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Besides the fact that you're a ****ing twat, what made LaDanian Tomlinson transcendent?

Why does he deserve to be canonized next to Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Emmitt Smith and Franco Harris?

Payton. Sure.
Smith. Yeah, can't argue with the numbers, even if his line did most of the work.

Allen - boy, it's getting thin there; I'm not sure I'd consider Allen a clearly more worthy entry to the Hall than Tomlinson.
Dorsett - thinner.
Harris - oh c'mon. Nope, that's where I can't even try to muster an argument. I'd take Tomlinson over Franco Harris 100 times out of 100.

Tomlinson's one of the top 10 rushers in NFL history (#5 by yardage) and was arguably the most dynamic RB out of the backfield in league history.

To use your argument - If Marshall Faulk is a HOFer, so is Tomlinson. And Tomlinson is a hell of a lot closer to Faulk in terms of performance than he is to a guy like Eddie George. I'm not real sure why you keep going to the Eddie George well; he's nowhere near the candidate that guys like Bettis and Tomlinson were, regardless of what metric you want to use. Bettis won a championship and was a more prolific runner (significantly so). Tomlinson never won a championship, but was better in every phase of the game, including the grunt work like blitz pickups.

Yes, Tomlinson absolutely deserves to be enshrined alongside some of the greats you've mentioned.

And ultimately, I'm absolutely confident he will be.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Payton. Sure.
Smith. Yeah, can't argue with the numbers, even if his line did most of the work.

Allen - boy, it's getting thin there; I'm not sure I'd consider Allen a clearly more worthy entry to the Hall than Tomlinson.
Dorsett - thinner.
Harris - oh c'mon. Nope, that's where I can't even try to muster an argument. I'd take Tomlinson over Franco Harris 100 times out of 100.

Tomlinson's one of the top 10 rushers in NFL history (#5 by yardage) and was arguably the most dynamic RB out of the backfield in league history.

To use your argument - If Marshall Faulk is a HOFer, so is Tomlinson. And Tomlinson is a hell of a lot closer to Faulk in terms of performance than he is to a guy like Eddie George. I'm not real sure why you keep going to the Eddie George well; he's nowhere near the candidate that guys like Bettis and Tomlinson were, regardless of what metric you want to use. Bettis won a championship and was a more prolific runner (significantly so). Tomlinson never won a championship, but was better in every phase of the game, including the grunt work like blitz pickups.

Yes, Tomlinson absolutely deserves to be enshrined alongside some of the greats you've mentioned.

And ultimately, I'm absolutely confident he will be.

The difference between Franco Harris, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen and Tomlinson is that the former were transcendent players on Super Bowl winning teams.

The Hall of Fame should be about great players that either elevate or transcend and while Tomlinson was very, very good, IMO, he was neither able to elevate the play of his teammates nor transcend the game like a Barry Sanders or even Adrian Peterson (who has a long way to go to be HOF worthy, IMO).

Regardless of whether or not he gets in, I wouldn't vote for him.

That said, keeping a high profile on the NFL Network will certainly help him, as it did Cris Carter at ESPN.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Payton. Sure.
Smith. Yeah, can't argue with the numbers, even if his line did most of the work.

Allen - boy, it's getting thin there; I'm not sure I'd consider Allen a clearly more worthy entry to the Hall than Tomlinson.
Dorsett - thinner.
Harris - oh c'mon. Nope, that's where I can't even try to muster an argument. I'd take Tomlinson over Franco Harris 100 times out of 100.

Tomlinson's one of the top 10 rushers in NFL history (#5 by yardage) and was arguably the most dynamic RB out of the backfield in league history.

To use your argument - If Marshall Faulk is a HOFer, so is Tomlinson. And Tomlinson is a hell of a lot closer to Faulk in terms of performance than he is to a guy like Eddie George. I'm not real sure why you keep going to the Eddie George well; he's nowhere near the candidate that guys like Bettis and Tomlinson were, regardless of what metric you want to use. Bettis won a championship and was a more prolific runner (significantly so). Tomlinson never won a championship, but was better in every phase of the game, including the grunt work like blitz pickups.

Yes, Tomlinson absolutely deserves to be enshrined alongside some of the greats you've mentioned.

And ultimately, I'm absolutely confident he will be.

Sense.

You're making it!

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The difference between Franco Harris, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen and Tomlinson is that the former were transcendent players on Super Bowl winning teams.

The Hall of Fame should be about great players that either elevate or transcend and while Tomlinson was very, very good, IMO, he was neither able to elevate the play of his teammates nor transcend the game like a Barry Sanders or even Adrian Peterson (who has a long way to go to be HOF worthy, IMO).

Regardless of whether or not he gets in, I wouldn't vote for him.

That said, keeping a high profile on the NFL Network will certainly help him, as it did Cris Carter at ESPN.

Transcendent is the definition you're using, so why don't you explain what makes it such.

Without the immaculate reception, Harris is not a transcendent player. Without a single incredible run against Washington, Allen isn't. Dorsett? Well he just isn't.

You're asking ThaVirus to explain what makes Tomlinson a transcendent player, meanwhile I see nothing to suggest that some of the guys you're holding up meet that test themselves. Franco didn't make his team better - the Steel Curtain did. And the Raiders weren't exactly hurting for success before Allen got there - they won the SB in 1980. Dorsett? During his best years, the Cowboys were largely also-rans. They won a SB with him as a rookie, sure - that's enough to offset the fact that Tomlinson was better than him at literally every conceivable measure of evaluating performance?

I think you're just calling guys that won rings 'transcendent' and in so doing you're doing a huge disservice to a guy like Tomlinson that simply outperformed pretty much every name you're offering.