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From left: Andre Reed, Chris Carter, Tim Brown.

Wide receiver may be the position that causes the most controversy when it comes to debates over who belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There have been so many great ones over the years that it is hard to sort out which ones belong, and it seems even the ones who do belong always wind up waiting to get there. The case of Art Monk, who is finally in after years of waiting, is an example of this. So this listing of best receivers who aren’t in Canton is divided up into 2 sections. First, there are 3 slam dunk candidates who aren’t in, but it’s just a matter of time before they are. They are the 3 pictured above – Andre Reed, who had a dynamic career with the Buffalo Bills, Chris Carter, who played in Philadelphia and mostly Minnesota and, as his old Eagles coach Buddy Ryan said when justifying trading him, “All he did was catch touchdowns”.  The third is former Raider Tim Brown. None of these 3 need arguments to warrant their place in the Hall. Their careers are their arguments.

From left: Cliff Branch, Harold Carmichael, Drew Pearson.

So it’s on to the rest of the list, starting with former Eagle Harold Carmichael.  He played 14 seasons in the NFL, was a 4 time Pro Bowler and was voted to the NFL’s all-decade team for the 1970s, which should be an automatic ticket to induction. Drew Pearson of the Dallas Cowboys, the favorite target of Roger Staubach for most of his career, is similar to Carmichael. He also was an all-decade team member for the ’70s, was a multiple year Pro Bowler and All-Pro choice and played on a Super Bowl championship team. Cliff Branch of the Raiders was overshadowed by his Hall of Fame teammates, Fred Biletnikoff and Dave Casper, when he played, but was just as important a receiver on those Raider teams  as those two were. There were a lot of great receivers who played in anonimity in the old American Football League who should be considered, including Lionel Taylor of Denver, Charley Hennigan of the old Houston Oilers and Elbert “Golden Wheels” Dubenion of the Buffalo Bills. Being that it is almost impossible for players who played exclusively in the AFL to get in, these players have little hope of making it, even though they deserve the honor and are easily as good as 2 of their AFL counterparts who did get in, Lance Alworth and Don Maynard. There is one old AFL receiver who stands out above the rest and should be in Canton. That would be Otis Taylor of the Kansas City Chiefs. He played on 2 championship teams, including the Super Bowl IV champs, has deserving career stats and was also a devastating downfield blocker which helped the Chiefs’ running game succeed.

Lionel Taylor (left) and Otis Taylor.

 There are a lot of honorable mention type players in the receiver category also, and those would include Del Shofner of the 1960s NY Giants, Henry Ellard, who had a brilliant 16 year NFL career and has deserving numbers, Harold Jackson, similar to Ellard in numbers (he played almost 20 years), Roy Green of the Cardinals, Gary Collins of Cleveland, who starred on teams in the 1960s that featured the running game with Jim Brown and then LeRoy Kelly (both hall of famers) and also played opposite HOFer Paul Warfield, Isaac Curtis of Cincinnati and Boyd Dowler of the 1960s Green Bay Packers. There are surely others who I am overlooking, but this is definitely the most competitive position as far as getting considered for immortality in Canton.

Gary Collins (left) and Isaac Curtis.

Above from left: Roger Craig, Don Perkins, Bo Jackson, Timmy Brown.

Running back is a position that is well represented in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but there are still a few players who aren’t in yet that deserve consideration. The most glaring of the omissions has to be Roger Craig, who played for the San Francisco 49ers in their Super Bowl years. Craig, to me, was one of the finest all-around backs of all time, taking into consideration his running, receiving and blocking skills. He was overlooked on the 49er roster because of players like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Dwight Clark and Steve Young but he was an integral part of the success of the “West Coast” offense that coach Bill Walsh’s teams ran. In fact he may have been THE key player, outside of Montana.  

Chuck Foreman was a workman-like back for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970s, and another overlooked player when it comes to Hall consideration. He was NFL Rookie of The Year in 1973, and a 5 time Pro Bowl selection, and scored 51 touchdowns over a 3 year period from 1974 to 1976. Like Craig, he had tremendous pass-catching ability for a back. 

If winning Super Bowls is supposed to be a fast track to Canton, then Terrell Davis deserves serious consideration. “T.D.” played for the Denver Broncos in the mid-to-late ’90s, and is their all-time career rushing leader. It’s no coincidence that the Denver franchise, known for not being able to “win the big one”, wrapped up 2 Super Bowl titles after they added Davis to their roster to complement QB John Elway. Davis’ career was shortened by injuries or I feel he would be an automatic choice for enshrinement.

Ricky Watters was known for being an ornery presence, with the media and in the locker room, when he played in both Philadelphia and San Francisco. But no one can deny Watters’ skill on the field. Like Craig, he was the straw that stirred the 49ers’  West Coast offense drink in the Steve Young era, and scored 3 touchdowns in the Niners Super Bowl XXIX victory. With over 15,000 career all purpose yards and 91 touchdowns for his career, statistically Watters belongs in the Hall.

Don Perkins played for Tom Landry’s early Dallas Cowboy teams in the 1960s, before they gained notoriety as “America’s Team”. He led the Cowboys in rushing 6 of his 8 seasons with the team, but the fact that he never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season hurts his chances for induction to the Hall. His career best season was 945 yards in 1962, but he also played in an era when gaining 1,000 yards was a much tougher accomplishment than it is now. He was an outstanding blocking back also, but unfortunately, players from by-gone eras like Perkins rarely get any consideration without overwhelming numbers.

The fact that Gale Sayers is in the Hall helps make the case for 2 other players to warrant some votes. Sayers’ career was shortened by injury, but he made such an impact, running the ball and in the return game, that he was elected despite not having played long in the league. Using the Sayers yardstick, Bo Jackson, who played only 4 seasons with the L.A. Raiders (while also playing major league baseball) before breaking his hip in a playoff game,basically ending his football career, is deserving. He made many dynamic plays in that shortened career. He had a 5.6 yards per carry average for his career, and scored 16 touchdowns. He would have to be a Joe Namath-type choice, being considered more for his impact on the game rather than numbers, to have a chance to get in. Sayers’ kick return abilities were a big part of why he waltzed into Canton, and if those skills are taken into account, then Timmy Brown, who played in Sayers’ era for the Philadelphia Eagles, should be considered also. He was a 3-time Pro Bowler who excelled in the return game, while also being a productive running back. Like Perkins, he never had a 1,000 yard rushing season, but was a terrific all-around back who excelled as a pass receiver also, with two 50+ reception years on his resume. He was undeniably one of the top all-purpose yardage backs of his era, ranking right up there with Sayers.

Above, from left: John Brodie, Jim Plunkett, Ken Stabler, Below: Charlie Conerly, Jim Hart.

The 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony is coming up soon, with 2 slam dunk picks for the hall, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith, going in this season, among others. There is always a debate about players who belong in Canton who can’t seem to get in, and I’d like to highlight some of these players over the next few days, starting with quarterbacks today. The measuring stick for quarterbacks seems to be something that’s tough to get your arms around. Winning championships carries a lot of weight – that’s why Joe Montana, Otto Graham, Bob Griese and Terry Bradshaw are undisputed choices. Statistics count heavily also – Fran Tarkenton, Dan Marino, Sonny Jurgenson and Dan Fouts are examples of QBs getting in with big numbers but no titles. Using the “winning championships” argument, a case can be made for 2 former Oakland Raiders, Jim Plunkett and Ken Stabler. The Raiders being the bad boys of the NFL, and owner Al Davis constantly feuding with the league, seems to affect the Hall voting for one. Plunkett’s early-career perception of being a top draft choice bust while playing in New England works against him also, but he guided the Raiders to 2 Super Bowl titles and had a decent enough career after his Patriot debacle to warrant inclusion in the Hall. Stabler also had a reputation of being a rag-tag type of player in his time, but no one can dispute the winning he did while quarterbacking the Raiders. “The Snake” is a member of the NFL’s all-decade team for the 1970s, but isn’t good enough for the Hall? Two former New York Giants also fit this category. Charlie Conerly was a Giants’ mainstay in the late 1940s and 1950s, guiding the G-men to 3 NFL title games, beating the powerhouse Bears in 1956 to win it all. He was rookie of the year in 1948, league MVP in 1959 and a 2-time Pro Bowl selection, yet is not in Canton. Phil Simms was underappreciated his whole career, and this continues now as he has not gotten serious consideration by Hall voters either. Part of Simms’ problem is he was highly touted as a high draft choice and early in his career struggled to meet expectations. But once he figured it out, Simms was a key reason why New York won 2 Super Bowls (even though he was injured and didn’t play in one, he was instrumental in getting the team there). His career statistics are comparable to Griese’s, and he still holds the Super Bowl record for completion percentage. Frank Ryan, who quarterbacked the Browns in the 1960s, was a top signal-caller of that decade but lost a lot of playing time due to injuries. He led the Browns to the title game in 1964  and 1965, winning in ’64, but battled injury after that. He still compares statistically to Joe Namath, but lacks the flash and “legend” that Broadway Joe rode into Canton. Some forgotten players who had great careers but were stuck on losing teams include Ken Anderson, John Brodie, Jim Hart, John Hadl and Archie Manning. Anderson was the QB in Cincinnati when the Bengals offensive guru at the time, Bill Walsh, was tweaking Sid Gillman’s mad passing attack offense into what would become the “West Coast” offense, and rang up great numbers in that system. There is a groundswell of support for him and he may get in at some point. Brodie and Hart battled hard in the 1960s on mediocre teams in San Francisco and St. Louis respectively, and their lack of winning has worked against them. Hadl is an interesting case. Most of his work was done in anonimity in the American Football League, where he orchestrated Gillman’s wide open offense. Near the end of his career he had an MVP season with the L.A. Rams, leading them to a 12-2 season, and is a worthy HOF candidate, but it’s rare when players whose careers were mostly in the AFL get elected. Manning  had the bad luck of playing most of his career with an expansion team, the New Orleans Saints, and even though he is still appreciated and beloved in the Big Easy, he may only get to Canton to see his sons Peyton and Eli get inducted.

Famous football pep talks are a favorite subject of mine, and even though the famous Knute Rockne “Fight, fight, fight” speech is very inspiring, the ones I like best are the ones that are subtle. I guess if I were a player on a team, those are the kinds of speeches I would respond best to. Here are a few legendary but subtle football pep talks:

At halftime of a game in which his Notre Dame squad was playing poorly, Rockne never came into the locker room. His players sat there wondering what was going on, since the fabled coach was known for his halftime inspirational talks. Then, as the halftime was winding down, Rockne opened the locker room door, stuck his head in and said,  “OK. Half a minute left. Let’s go, girls!”

John Madden’s Oakland Raiders were about to take the field against their fierce division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs had a horse named Warpaint that would ride around the field when the Chiefs scored, ridden by a guy dressed in Indian garb, pretty much the Chiefs’ mascot. Madden, in his typical hyper style, red-faced and with arms flailing, yelled out “Hey! Hey! I don’t wanna see that damn horse on the field once today!!” Now I would run through walls for a guy like that.

Paul Brown’s Cleveland Browns had just been brought into the NFL after being a dominant team in the old All-America Football Conference, and for their first game in the NFL the Browns were scheduled to face the reigning league champion Philadelphia Eagles, led by their superstar back Steve Van Buren. The pundits of the day spent the week before the game writing how the Eagles would roll over the upstart kids from “that minor league” and how Van Buren would show the new kids from Cleveland how the game was played. The Browns players were a little worried that Brown, usually a master motivator, seemed to be mostly silent the whole week prior to the game as everyone in the press, and some in the Eagles organization, laughed at the prospect of the Browns competing against the NFL champs and having any chance of slowing down their backfield sensation, Van Buren. Then, as the team was getting ready to take the field, Brown turned to his players and uttered these words: “Just think, men, in a minute you’ll get to touch the great Steve Van Buren.” Final score: Browns 35, Eagles 10.

Vince Lombardi was known for his line “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” He has actually been villified for that comment by some in society who feel that this philosophy goes too far, that it means to win at all costs and the hell with everything else. In today’s “everybody is special” society where people advocate not keeping score in sporting events and “every kid needs to receive a trophy”, Lombardi is considered somewhat of a villain. But those people don’t seem to understand that Lombardi was a great teacher of  not only the game but of life to his players. Many of his former players still say that decisions they made long after their playing careers were over were shaped by what Lombardi had taught them. Below is a short audio clip of a speech by Lombardi that is an example of his real philosophy, not just the one-line quote attributed to him. I think it’s pretty inspirational.

Unknown – Win Win Win