RealGM

The class was just announced

It features:
DE Bruce Smith
LB Derrick Thomas
Owner Ralph Wilson
DB Rod Woodson
OG Randall McDaniel
WR Bullet Bob Hayes

All are deserving and Cris Carter will have to wait another year (much like Michael Irvin) I'm ecstatic that Bob Hayes finally made it, it's about time

just watching the intro to the class on nfl.com ralph wilson looks like benjamin button

About damn time DT gets in, and I can't imagine how emotional his induction will be.

I have no idea how Cris Carter didn't get in, again, and how did Tags not get selected?

b/c it was a loaded class and the voters were making amends for mistakes they made in the past

Mistakes of the present do nothing to make amends for mistakes of the past.

when bob hayes has to wait 30+ god damn years yes carter can wait another year

not to mentino derrick thomas has had to wait a several years too

too bad about Carter not making it, congrats to Randall

also forgot about the snub to shannon sharpe, im curious if he'll get in before carter.

Oh damn, I didn't even notice Shannon didn't get in. What the hell are they doing this year?

im telling you, it's because they can only allow a maximum of 6 per year and that's why they didnt get in

Cris Carter not making it is a F'ing joke. It's a stain on the Hall of Fame IMO.

Emmit Smith and Jerry Rice are locks to make it next year. So that leaves 3, 4 spots?

People are going to get left out every year. It's funny watching people flip out every year.

i bet that since jerry is eligible will cause voters to put off the carter induction for another year. and i think tim brown may be eligible too

apparently voters dont like to put in 2 players of the same position in 1 year, but we shall see

Put Shannon Sharpe in place of Bob Hayes and I think it would have been perfect.

Compare Bob Hayes to Homer Jones, switch the uniforms on their backs and tell me Bob Hayes is ever even a finalist. They were essentially the exact same player--track stars running fly patterns, catching about 50 balls a year for about 20 yards per catch. Hayes had a few more TDs but Jones had a better YPC, and Hayes did it for 2-3 years longer. Just don't buy into the BS that Hayes "changed the game". He was one a few that did so. Paul Warfield was just as fast and a significantly better wide receiver. Historically speaking, Hayes compares most closely to Stanley Morgan and Mark Duper--anyone want to argue they belong? Hayes wasn't even as impactful on his own teams as noted Hall of Fame fraudulent member Lynn Swann.

I really wish they would separate the non-players from the players and allow 6 players per year and 1-2 contributors or coaches or execs.

Stanley Morgan and Mark Duper--anyone want to argue they belong?

Pats-colored glasses aside, Morgan had a pretty underrated career. I'd argue that he's a borderline HoF candidate and more deserving than, say, Lynn Swann.

What I don’t get is the apparent groundswell against enshrining Tags (as reported by Peter King). Every knock against Tagliabue (toothless drug policy, looming labor strife, no football in LA) stemmed from Rozelle’s late-career ineptitude* yet Rozelle gets all the credit for the one thing – growing the product and building a self-sustaining league – Tagliabue accomplished.

*Lest we forget: under Rozelle’s watch the strike season, the rampant recreational and performance-enhancing drug problem and head-in-the-sand response to it, the blocking of moving the Raiders to LA, the USFL debacle, the blatant cronyism, the foot on the throat of the NFLPA, which led to the pathetic mess that it is today (vis-à-vis other player unions) and on and on. In fact, one could argue that the league succeeded in spite of Rozelle and all he did was merely ride an inevitable wave to success**.

**You could probably argue that Lamar Hunt was the primary reason for the NFL’s modern-era success. After all, Rozelle adopted the AFL’s communistic revenue-sharing model and got the idea for exclusive TV contracts after the AFL brokered theirs.

Basketball Jesus wrote:

Stanley Morgan and Mark Duper--anyone want to argue they belong?

Pats-colored glasses aside, Morgan had a pretty underrated career. I'd argue that he's a borderline HoF candidate and more deserving than, say, Lynn Swann.

Yeah but Swann has the rings and he's photogenic and he had two awesome catches in Super Bowls. Ooh! Bright shiny objects!

I actually was an admirer of Stanley Morgan. Very consistently solid player and a good part of the Pats minor resurgence of his era. Sort of the Webster Slaughter/Jimmy Smith of his epoch, minus Smith's freakish longevity.