Pro Football Hall of Fame Centennial Class

[sport historian]

From CBS Sports: "The PFHOF just announced the 10 senior inductees and three conributors that will make up the 20-member class, the largest in the Hall of Fame's history. The five modern-era nominees will be announced on the eve of Super Bowl LIV."

Two Coaches:

Bill Cowher
Jimmy Johnson

The consensus at the PFRA Forum, the most fair-minded group of football historians, think neither rates. Their selection is part of the Cowboy-Steeler bias, especially Cowher who was no innovator. Johnson did build a team from the bottom.

Senior Inductees:

Jimbo Covert OL
Winston Hill OL
Harold Carmichael WR
Cliff Harris S
Donnie Shell S
Duke Slater (early black lineman 1922-31) PFRA thinks PC favoritism, been a candidate for decades
Mac Speedie End (Browns 1946-52)
Ed Sprinkle DL-LB (Bears 1944-55)
Bobby Dillon S (Packers 1952-59)
Alex Karras DT (Lions 1958-70)

Covert, Hill, Carmichael, Shell, so-so choices. Harris, a fair choice. Dillon a good choice. Sprinkle questionable being a Bear helped. Karras all right, had always been downgraded due to gambling suspension. Harris, Shell were a Cowboy and a Steeler.

Contributors:

George Young Executive
Steve Sabol NFL Films
Paul Tagliabue NFL Commissioner 1989-2006

 

[Don Wassall]

There's been a lot of agitating by Steelers fans for Shell to get in for a long time, I agree a so-so choice. But still a better choice than Cowher, can't believe he got in based mostly on a single Super Bowl win.

The bar for entry into Canton and Cooperstown keeps getting lowered.

 

[Shadowlight]

From CBS Sports: "The PFHOF just announced the 10 senior inductees and three conributors that will make up the 20-member class, the largest in the Hall of Fame's history. The five modern-era nominees will be announced on the eve of Super Bowl LIV."

Two Coaches:

Bill Cowher
Jimmy Johnson

The consensus at the PFRA Forum, the most fair-minded group of football historians, think neither rates. Their selection is part of the Cowboy-Steeler bias, especially Cowher who was no innovator. Johnson did build a team from the bottom.

Senior Inductees:

Jimbo Covert OL
Winston Hill OL
Harold Carmichael WR
Cliff Harris S
Donnie Shell S
Duke Slater (early black lineman 1922-31) PFRA thinks PC favoritism, been a candidate for decades
Mac Speedie End (Browns 1946-52)
Ed Sprinkle DL-LB (Bears 1944-55)
Bobby Dillon S (Packers 1952-59)
Alex Karras DT (Lions 1958-70)

Covert, Hill, Carmichael, Shell, so-so choices. Harris, a fair choice. Dillon a good choice. Sprinkle questionable being a Bear helped. Karras all right, had always been downgraded due to gambling suspension. Harris, Shell were a Cowboy and a Steeler.

Contributors:

George Young Executive
Steve Sabol NFL Films
Paul Tagliabue NFL Commissioner 1989-2006

Thanks sports historian, nice synopsis. I can't speak about several of the players listed but I have grave doubts about Eagles WR Harold Carmichael. Doesn't jump off the page for me at all.

Steve Sabol I give a big thumbs up. His innovative highlight films memorialized in his many Super Bowl specials are riveting. It helped he had authoritative voices describing the action. I love revisiting those old highlight films.

But even before my "caste awareness days" I was a gigantic fan of S Cliff Harris. I vividly remember his baldness and he was one of the best safeties I have ever seen. Extreme speed to go with ferocious tackling he was the total package. He teamed with the less athletically gifted but very savvy Charlie Waters to form one of the greatest safety tandems of all time.

I was a big Tony Dorsett fan back then but the defensive combination of Cliff and DT Randy White ( another huge favorite of mine) really took the cake. I was ecstatic when they defeated the Broncos in the 1978 Super Bowl and White earned co MVP.

 

[sport historian]

There's been a lot of agitating by Steelers fans for Shell to get in for a long time, I agree a so-so choice. But still a better choice than Cowher, can't believe he got in based mostly on a single Super Bowl win.

The bar for entry into Canton and Cooperstown keeps getting lowered.

Yes, the bar gets lower and lower. Cowher won only one Super Bowl and didn't build a team as such. He got in from getting media face time (as did Johnson) and the Steelers' "glory team" status, which got Shell in.

Carmichael just a poor choice. Drew Pearson and Cliff Branch lost out to Carmichael, both better IMO, but not that high on either for HOF.

 

[white is right]

Yes, the bar gets lower and lower. Cowher won only one Super Bowl and didn't build a team as such. He got in from getting media face time (as did Johnson) and the Steelers' "glory team" status, which got Shell in.

Carmichael just a poor choice. Drew Pearson and Cliff Branch lost out to Carmichael, both better IMO, but not that high on either for HOF.

If Cowher was such a "brilliant" coach he would have ended the Kordell Stewart experiment years earlier than he did. Having Stewart blow big game after big game for a team that was a solid qb away from winning a league title makes this choice a head scratcher.

I felt the Cowboy bias would get Pearson in, but why wasn't Chuck Howley on this ballot? Also tackling machine Randy G was ignored again.

 

[La France Blanche]

If Cowher was such a "brilliant" coach he would have ended the Kordell Stewart experiment years earlier than he did. Having Stewart blow big game after big game for a team that was a solid qb away from winning a league title makes this choice a head scratcher.

I felt the Cowboy bias would get Pearson in, but why wasn't Chuck Howley on this ballot? Also tackling machine Randy G was ignored again.

I've always thought that Howley was the biggest HOF snub in history.

 

[wile]

I can see Johnson in but Cowher that is a joke, Mike McCarthy might as well get his acceptance speech in order then.

 

[Leonardfan]

I agree with what Don said - the bar is getting lower in both football and baseball. So many players get inducted that have no business being in the hall of fame. The NFL had to water down the list of inductees this year for their whole centennial thing. Cowher never struck me as a hall of fame coach - he was a good head coach but no Lombardi, Knoll, Shula, Landry, Walsh or Bellichek. I could even argue against Jimmy Johnson since he did not have the longevity (although he made good personnel decisions and his same team won a super bowl with Barry Switzer). George Seifert should of been inducted over Cowher but the NFL wanted to make a personal interest story on live tv.

As for the old time players getting inducted - what's the point? they are now long gone and unable to enjoy their inductions - why weren't they inducted back when they were first eligible? Nothing against those players at all - I have no first or second hand knowledge of them. I feel the league just went back and picked players that fit this whole centennial agenda to ensure they covered each era for this arbitrary celebration.

 

[Shadowlight]

As for the old time players getting inducted - what's the point?

Having watched S Cliff Harris play throughout the 70's I believe he is a first rank Hall Of Famer. As for why he wasn't chosen earlier I can't speak to that but he is there now where he belongs. Yes there was a time when some of the best athletes on football teams played safety. Harris was extremely fast and hit like a truck. Most "black" safeties today look like stuck in the mud fools.

In fact it is a good thing they are belatedly recognizing the superb white safeties of the past. Last year the Chiefs S Johnny Robinson got inducted. He played for the Chiefs throughout the 60s thru 1971 and was a key member of their Super Bowl teams. I saw Robinson play in his final few years and he too was a great star. Along with LB Willie Lanier he was considered a lynchpin for the great Chiefs teams just like Harris was for the Cowboys.

 

[white is right]

I agree with what Don said - the bar is getting lower in both football and baseball. So many players get inducted that have no business being in the hall of fame. The NFL had to water down the list of inductees this year for their whole centennial thing. Cowher never struck me as a hall of fame coach - he was a good head coach but no Lombardi, Knoll, Shula, Landry, Walsh or Bellichek. I could even argue against Jimmy Johnson since he did not have the longevity (although he made good personnel decisions and his same team won a super bowl with Barry Switzer). George Seifert should of been inducted over Cowher but the NFL wanted to make a personal interest story on live tv.

As for the old time players getting inducted - what's the point? they are now long gone and unable to enjoy their inductions - why weren't they inducted back when they were first eligible? Nothing against those players at all - I have no first or second hand knowledge of them. I feel the league just went back and picked players that fit this whole centennial agenda to ensure they covered each era for this arbitrary celebration.

Football doesn't let enough players in per year. If you look at baseball, hockey and basketball they let in either half of a starting team or a starting team, football lets in 5 players which is slightly less than one side of the balls starting team. So way more guys are forgotten, or snubbed.

Drew Pearson had a live rant about not making the cut this year, yet Jerry Kramer who was on a 50th anniversary team was snubbed until 2 years ago. Here's the dramatic rant, note Randy Gradishar was quiet when he was interviewed by a Denver television station........