Smith, Woodson among four first-time Hall of Fame finalists

Anywhere from 4 to 7 of these guys will make it in this year:

Bruce Smith, DE
Rod Woodson, CB
Shannon Sharpe, TE
John Randle, DT
Paul Tagliabue, former NFL commissioner
Ralph Wilson, Bills owner
Claude Humphrey, DE
"Bullet" Bob Hayes, WR
Dermontti Dawson, C
Cortez Kennedy, DL
Cris Carter, WR
Andre Reed, WR
Richard Dent, DE
Russ Grimm, G
Bob Kuechenberg, G
Randall McDaniel, G
Derrick Thomas, LB

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"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?" -- Oldboy (2003)

I've gotta figure that these guys will get in:

Bruce Smith, DE
Rod Woodson, CB
Shannon Sharpe, TE
Paul Tagliabue, former NFL commissioner
Ralph Wilson, Bills owner

Anyone disagree? Of course, that still possibly leaves two more.

__________________
"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?" -- Oldboy (2003)

My HOF selections for this year:

Bruce Smith
Shannon Sharpe
Ralph Wilson
Bob Hayes
Russ Grimm

Bruce Smith - All-time sacks leader, right?
Shannon Sharpe - Arguably the best TE ever, if you go purely by passing stats and Super Bowls (and don't factor in blocking as a prerequisite for "greatest").
"Bullet" Bob Hayes - Changed the way the game was played. I think this is finally his year. They don't go against the Veterans Committee's wishes twice on the same guy, do they? A crime if he's not voted in.
Ralph Wilson - Owner for 50 years should do the trick.
Rod Woodson - I could see him getting voted down, but he shouldn't.

I can't believe Paul Tagliabue didn't get in last year, but I'm guessing they might turn him down again. He was the commish when the league gained complete dominance over American sports. Guess Pete Rozelle gets all the credit for setting the table, I guess. He had a pretty long term, so I can't think it's a longevity thing.

Well, I was off by one.

Bruce Smith
Rod Woodson
Ralph Wilson
Randall McDaniel
Derrick Thomas
Bob Hayes

Interesting that Derrick Thomas finally got in this year, when it looked like a longer shot than in previous years.

Also strange that Shannon Sharpe didn't get into the Hall. I don't know what else the voters wanted. When Sharpe retired five years ago, he owned virtually every receiving record a tight end could want to own. He was also a star player on 3 Superbowl champions. You could say that Shannon Sharpe had the best career of any tight end in NFL history. If he doesn't need to be there, I would say no other tight end should get in.

But the real story here is Bob Hayes. I'm very happy to see Hayes get into the Hall of Fame, though I wish the voters could have let him in the club before Bullet Bob died. He absolutely changed the way the game was played and how teams scouted receivers, so he should have been in a long time ago. A short prison sentence in the 1970's for cocaine possession kept him out of the Hall all these years, it would seem, while the voters let in people like Lawrence Taylor and Michael Irvin, who weren't saints by any means.

To me, the Hall of Fame should be about what they do on the field, at least if they didn't cheat for their team (steroids: Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds) or against their team (betting: Pete Rose). Nothing Bob Hayes did undermined the integrity of the game, so he should have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago.

By the way, has anyone seen the mini-controversy associated with the late Bob Hayes?

Dallas - Sportatorium - BREAKING NEWS: Bob Hayes and the Hall of Fraud

Bizarre.

Yeah, I was real surprised about Sharpe. Apparently, he wasn't being considered as a tight end, but as a wide receiver (which makes so sense to me). He was up against guys like Cris Carter and Andre Reed. Guess none of them made it in the end.

I'm sure Sharpe will be in soon, but he should have been a first ballot guy.

__________________
"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?" -- Oldboy (2003)

You would think, as few people as are involved (40-45 writers, I think), they could have a little more common sense than that.

As far as I remember, Shannon Sharpe lined up every game of his career as a tight end, and didn't line up one game of his career as a wide receiver. Now, I understand he was probably drafted as a WR and I understand he was never much of a blocker, but to consider Sharpe a wide receiver now, after everyone seemed to agree he was a tight end for the entire 10+ years of his career, seems to miss the point of his career.

The Broncos and Ravens had wide receivers on the field and he wasn't one of them. He played another position. Yep, should have been a first ballot guy. For the sports writers to complain so much, they often don't make any sense.