As I flipped through the channels Sunday it was hard not to catch part of the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony. All day ESPN, then the morning papers and internet articles kept referring to this years induction class as some of the best to ever play the game and I couldnít argue that, I just wondered why they had to tell us that.I donít think it is a secret to anyone that the Hall of Fame for any sport, even rock-n-roll is reserved only for the greats. From an early age I recognized that anybody in the Hall of Fame was a great player, coach, official, whatever to the sport that hall of fame was dedicated to.
Now I am sure there is an athlete or two in each and every hall of fame from the football hall of fame in Canton, OH, to the professional bowlers hall of fame in St. Louis that probably doesnít deserve to be there. Sports historians and enthusiasts are always arguing whoís the best and whoís not so it is likely that someone may have slipped in that is not deserving of the honor of being recognized as a hall of famer.
For most hall of fame athletes though, their stats speak for themselves. This yearís football hall of fame class has some impressive stats too.
The Vikings own Carl Eller, 797 tackles, 133 sacks, named All-Pro five times and played in six Pro-Bowls. Runningback Barry Sanders, 15,269 rushing yards, ten consecutive 1000-yard rushing season, 2053 rushing yards in 1997, ten time Pro-Bowler and an additional 2921-yards receiving. Quarterback John Elway, 47 fourth quarter comebacks, nine Pro-Bowls, 51,475-yards passing, 300 touchdowns, started in five Super Bowls and won two. And finally, lineman Bob Brown, first team All-NFL seven times, offensive lineman of the year three times, and six time Pro Bowler.
Now, call me crazy, but those are pretty good numbers for their respective positions. Show me the numbers and tell me they are a hall of famer and I know they are some of the best to play the game. I donít have to be told that every five minutes from Chris Bermhn on ESPN.
Another thing that I didnít like about the coverage of the weekendís hall of fame induction was that I saw the same replays over and over and over. All four of the guys who were inducted, especially Sanders, made a few nice plays during their playing days. Combined I think the four made enough nice plays to where us fans wouldnít have to watch the same few highlights, seeing them again the following half hour.
I understand that in the day of 24-hour sports coverage there is going to be an overlap and some shows that are replayed, but they also have to realize that on a weekend there are a lot of fans who are going to relax and watch TV, expecting to see something new a little more often.
At least the four new NFL hall of famers were so good, ìsome of the best to ever play the game,î and their highlights were fun to watch. It doesnít matter how many times I see some of Sandersí highlights, I still canít believe he did some of the things he did.
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