Angry Pope
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10 guys who belong in the Hall
Sal Maiorana
Former Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly was standing around at Bills training camp one day last week chatting up a national football writer who happens to be on the Pro Football Hall of Fame voting committee.
With his old Buffalo teammate, running back Thurman Thomas, set to join the 2001 inductee in the Canton, Ohio, shrine this weekend, Kelly took up the cause of another of his ex-teammates — former battery mate, wide receiver Andre Reed.
"That's a person that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame," Kelly said of Reed, his favorite target in Buffalo for 11 years. "I've asked a number of people what's the criteria for being in the Hall of Fame for a receiver? It's catches and longevity. What does a receiver do, he catches the football. If a guy can last in the NFL for 15 or 16 years and be consistent on an every-year basis and catch 70, 80 or 90 balls a year, and have over 900 catches, that guy belongs in the Hall of Fame, whether it's Andre Reed or Art Monk."
I couldn't agree more. Monk and Reed top my list of the 10 players not in the Hall of Fame who deserve to have their bronze busts displayed.
10. Ralph Wilson, owner, Bills
He has been up for the honor several times and even reached the final candidates list in 2001 and 2003. Here's a man who was part of the original group of eight owners who formed the American Football League in 1960, and for the past 47 years he has owned the Bills and kept the team viable despite the small market it plays in.
In the mid-'60s he was instrumental in the merger talks that eventually led the NFL to accept the AFL into its league in 1970, forming what is now the richest and most popular professional sports enterprise in the world.
His team won an unprecedented four consecutive AFC championships in the early 1990s, and despite losing four consecutive Super Bowls, those Bills have gotten their due as Kelly, Thomas, James Lofton and coach Marv Levy have already been enshrined in Canton, and Bruce Smith will join them in a couple years. Wilson, the man who literally pays the Bills, deserves to be there as well.
9. Ray Guy, punter, Raiders
I know, punters don't belong in the Hall of Fame. Well, why not? Every team has a punter, and the good ones usually have a good punter who can help control field position.
Guy, who has been a finalist six times including this past year, revolutionized the position when he became the first pure punter ever picked in the first round of the NFL Draft in 1973, No. 23 overall.
He played in 207 consecutive games for the Raiders, played on three Super Bowl winners, averaged 42.4 yards per punt, was selected to seven Pro Bowls and in 1994 was named to the NFL's 75th anniversary team.
8. Johnny Robinson, safety, Chiefs
Robinson played second fiddle to his old college teammate and fellow running back at LSU, Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon. But many felt he was nearly as adept a runner and receiver.
Both players ultimately spurned the NFL to join the fledgling AFL in 1960, signing their contracts under the goal posts on the field of the Sugar Bowl after their final college game. Cannon went to the Oilers, Robinson to the Dallas Texans, and while Cannon fizzled after a couple stellar seasons, Robinson changed sides of the ball and flourished, becoming one of the greatest safeties to ever play the game once the team relocated to Kansas City and became the Chiefs.
"He was a tremendous offensive player," his coach, the late Hall of Famer Hank Stram, once said. "Johnny could have been a major pro running back. But we had good backs. We needed defensive players, and Johnny was a good enough athlete to make the shift." Robinson played 10 years in the Chiefs' defensive backfield and intercepted 57 passes, ranking fifth all-time when he retirered following the 1971 season (he's tied for 10th now), and he was voted to the all-time AFL team.
"Whenever you needed a big play, Johnny was there to make it," said former Chiefs quarterback and Hall of Fame member Len Dawson.
7. Jerry Kramer, guard, Packers
Perhaps more famous for the very cool book he wrote in the late 1960s with sports writer Dick Schaap (Instant Replay, a day-by-day diary of the Packers' 1967 Super Bowl season), Kramer was a preeminent blocker who helped make the vaunted Packers' sweep work.
Kramer played on Green Bay teams that won five NFL championships and two Super Bowls and he was a five-time All-Pro selection who paved the way for greats like Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung to gain all those yards and score all those touchdowns for Vince Lombardi's dynasty. He even served as the team's place kicker for two seasons.
6. Bob Kuechenberg, guard, Dolphins
Everyone knows Kooch as the grumpy old guy who celebrates every year when the last NFL unbeaten falls, securing the 1972 Dolphins legacy as the only team with a perfect season. But during his heyday, he was a superb guard who helped the Dolphins' running game chew teams up and spit them out.
Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris all enjoyed multiple 1,000-yard seasons running behind the likes of Kuechenberg and Hall of Fame members Larry Little and Jim Langer. Kuechenberg played 14 years in Miami and when he retired, his 196 games were tops on the team's all-time list. He played in six Pro Bowls, won two Super Bowls and four AFC titles with the Dolphins, and has been a Hall of Fame finalist six times including this past year.
5. George Young, general manager, Giants
Young was one of the most influential management types in NFL history, and he was recognized an unprecedented five times as the NFL Executive of the Year. He built the Giants team that won two Super Bowls, and he was the offensive line coach of the Baltimore Colts when they won Super Bowl V in 1971.
Young hired Bill Parcells to coach the Giants, and drafted such New York legends as Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor, then left the team after 19 years and went to work for the NFL in 1998.
"No one cared more about the game of football than George Young," former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said after Young died at the age of 71 in 2001. "He loved it and lived it for his entire life. His contributions place him in the rare company with the legends of the game."
Apparently not. At least not yet.
4. Ken Stabler, quarterback, Raiders
Stabler was one of the great clutch quarterbacks of all time, and has a Super Bowl ring to validate his greatness. Stabler played in four Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL's All-Decade team of the 1970s.
His numbers were not great despite playing 15 years, including 10 with the Raiders. Like Hall of Famer Joe Namath, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his career, but Stabler passed for nearly 28,000 yards and was a winner — and that should count for something in the balloting.
3. Jim Marshall, defensive end, Vikings
His uniform is in the Hall of Fame, symbolic of the fact that he was the Cal Ripken of his sport, playing an NFL-record 282 consecutive games — 302 counting playoffs. So the question becomes, why isn't the man who was a member of the famed Purple People Eaters in the Hall as well?
Marshall was often overshadowed by Carl Eller and Alan Page, who are in the Hall, but he was a destructive force as a pass rusher. Counting his short stint with the Browns, Marshall played on teams that won 11 division championships and played in four Super Bowls. He has been credited with 127 sacks and a then-record 29 fumble recoveries.
Former Vikings coach Bud Grant once said he was a "physiological impossibility. He just doesn't rip, bust or tear."
Nor does he get the respect of the voters.
2. Andre Reed, wide receiver, Bills
During his 15 years with the Bills, Reed caught 941 passes for 13,095 yards and 86 touchdowns — team records that may never be broken. He had 36 100-yard receiving games, and played on Buffalo teams that won four consecutive AFC titles.
His 951 career catches — he played a short time in Washington — rank fifth all-time while his yardage total (13,198) is eighth, and he ranks 10th in touchdowns with 87. Reed played in 234 NFL games and was on seven consecutive AFC Pro Bowl teams.
"Andre Reed was one of the greatest and most durable football players that I have ever coached," Levy said. "He excelled in every aspect of the game."
1. Art Monk, wide receiver, Redskins
Like Reed, Monk's numbers are indisputable. He trails Reed by just 11 catches (940), ranking sixth; he is 11th in yards with 12,721 but ranks just 31st in touchdowns with 68. However, he once caught at least one pass in 183 consecutive games, and unlike Reed, Monk has three Super Bowl rings with three different quarterbacks (Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien) throwing the passes.
Theismann once said "Art was Jerry Rice before Jerry Rice was," and one Hall of Fame voter said he "remains mystified" why his fellow selectors have not seen the light, if for no other reason than no one currently enshrined in the Hall has more catches than Monk.
Monk was as steady as they come, but he was a quiet man who did not have much to say, and maybe that's why the voters have looked down on him, teasing him with seven finalist appearances but rejecting him each time when it came to the final vote.
Monk played in three Pro Bowls, was named to the NFL's All-Decades team of the 1980s and is in the prestigious Redskins' Ring of Fame. Bill Parcells once said "Monk is headed to Canton downhill on roller skates." It has been a long hill, and sadly, the end is nowhere in sight.
Sal Maiorana
Former Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly was standing around at Bills training camp one day last week chatting up a national football writer who happens to be on the Pro Football Hall of Fame voting committee.
With his old Buffalo teammate, running back Thurman Thomas, set to join the 2001 inductee in the Canton, Ohio, shrine this weekend, Kelly took up the cause of another of his ex-teammates — former battery mate, wide receiver Andre Reed.
"That's a person that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame," Kelly said of Reed, his favorite target in Buffalo for 11 years. "I've asked a number of people what's the criteria for being in the Hall of Fame for a receiver? It's catches and longevity. What does a receiver do, he catches the football. If a guy can last in the NFL for 15 or 16 years and be consistent on an every-year basis and catch 70, 80 or 90 balls a year, and have over 900 catches, that guy belongs in the Hall of Fame, whether it's Andre Reed or Art Monk."
I couldn't agree more. Monk and Reed top my list of the 10 players not in the Hall of Fame who deserve to have their bronze busts displayed.
10. Ralph Wilson, owner, Bills
He has been up for the honor several times and even reached the final candidates list in 2001 and 2003. Here's a man who was part of the original group of eight owners who formed the American Football League in 1960, and for the past 47 years he has owned the Bills and kept the team viable despite the small market it plays in.
In the mid-'60s he was instrumental in the merger talks that eventually led the NFL to accept the AFL into its league in 1970, forming what is now the richest and most popular professional sports enterprise in the world.
His team won an unprecedented four consecutive AFC championships in the early 1990s, and despite losing four consecutive Super Bowls, those Bills have gotten their due as Kelly, Thomas, James Lofton and coach Marv Levy have already been enshrined in Canton, and Bruce Smith will join them in a couple years. Wilson, the man who literally pays the Bills, deserves to be there as well.
9. Ray Guy, punter, Raiders
I know, punters don't belong in the Hall of Fame. Well, why not? Every team has a punter, and the good ones usually have a good punter who can help control field position.
Guy, who has been a finalist six times including this past year, revolutionized the position when he became the first pure punter ever picked in the first round of the NFL Draft in 1973, No. 23 overall.
He played in 207 consecutive games for the Raiders, played on three Super Bowl winners, averaged 42.4 yards per punt, was selected to seven Pro Bowls and in 1994 was named to the NFL's 75th anniversary team.
8. Johnny Robinson, safety, Chiefs
Robinson played second fiddle to his old college teammate and fellow running back at LSU, Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon. But many felt he was nearly as adept a runner and receiver.
Both players ultimately spurned the NFL to join the fledgling AFL in 1960, signing their contracts under the goal posts on the field of the Sugar Bowl after their final college game. Cannon went to the Oilers, Robinson to the Dallas Texans, and while Cannon fizzled after a couple stellar seasons, Robinson changed sides of the ball and flourished, becoming one of the greatest safeties to ever play the game once the team relocated to Kansas City and became the Chiefs.
"He was a tremendous offensive player," his coach, the late Hall of Famer Hank Stram, once said. "Johnny could have been a major pro running back. But we had good backs. We needed defensive players, and Johnny was a good enough athlete to make the shift." Robinson played 10 years in the Chiefs' defensive backfield and intercepted 57 passes, ranking fifth all-time when he retirered following the 1971 season (he's tied for 10th now), and he was voted to the all-time AFL team.
"Whenever you needed a big play, Johnny was there to make it," said former Chiefs quarterback and Hall of Fame member Len Dawson.
7. Jerry Kramer, guard, Packers
Perhaps more famous for the very cool book he wrote in the late 1960s with sports writer Dick Schaap (Instant Replay, a day-by-day diary of the Packers' 1967 Super Bowl season), Kramer was a preeminent blocker who helped make the vaunted Packers' sweep work.
Kramer played on Green Bay teams that won five NFL championships and two Super Bowls and he was a five-time All-Pro selection who paved the way for greats like Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung to gain all those yards and score all those touchdowns for Vince Lombardi's dynasty. He even served as the team's place kicker for two seasons.
6. Bob Kuechenberg, guard, Dolphins
Everyone knows Kooch as the grumpy old guy who celebrates every year when the last NFL unbeaten falls, securing the 1972 Dolphins legacy as the only team with a perfect season. But during his heyday, he was a superb guard who helped the Dolphins' running game chew teams up and spit them out.
Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris all enjoyed multiple 1,000-yard seasons running behind the likes of Kuechenberg and Hall of Fame members Larry Little and Jim Langer. Kuechenberg played 14 years in Miami and when he retired, his 196 games were tops on the team's all-time list. He played in six Pro Bowls, won two Super Bowls and four AFC titles with the Dolphins, and has been a Hall of Fame finalist six times including this past year.
5. George Young, general manager, Giants
Young was one of the most influential management types in NFL history, and he was recognized an unprecedented five times as the NFL Executive of the Year. He built the Giants team that won two Super Bowls, and he was the offensive line coach of the Baltimore Colts when they won Super Bowl V in 1971.
Young hired Bill Parcells to coach the Giants, and drafted such New York legends as Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor, then left the team after 19 years and went to work for the NFL in 1998.
"No one cared more about the game of football than George Young," former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said after Young died at the age of 71 in 2001. "He loved it and lived it for his entire life. His contributions place him in the rare company with the legends of the game."
Apparently not. At least not yet.
4. Ken Stabler, quarterback, Raiders
Stabler was one of the great clutch quarterbacks of all time, and has a Super Bowl ring to validate his greatness. Stabler played in four Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL's All-Decade team of the 1970s.
His numbers were not great despite playing 15 years, including 10 with the Raiders. Like Hall of Famer Joe Namath, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his career, but Stabler passed for nearly 28,000 yards and was a winner — and that should count for something in the balloting.
3. Jim Marshall, defensive end, Vikings
His uniform is in the Hall of Fame, symbolic of the fact that he was the Cal Ripken of his sport, playing an NFL-record 282 consecutive games — 302 counting playoffs. So the question becomes, why isn't the man who was a member of the famed Purple People Eaters in the Hall as well?
Marshall was often overshadowed by Carl Eller and Alan Page, who are in the Hall, but he was a destructive force as a pass rusher. Counting his short stint with the Browns, Marshall played on teams that won 11 division championships and played in four Super Bowls. He has been credited with 127 sacks and a then-record 29 fumble recoveries.
Former Vikings coach Bud Grant once said he was a "physiological impossibility. He just doesn't rip, bust or tear."
Nor does he get the respect of the voters.
2. Andre Reed, wide receiver, Bills
During his 15 years with the Bills, Reed caught 941 passes for 13,095 yards and 86 touchdowns — team records that may never be broken. He had 36 100-yard receiving games, and played on Buffalo teams that won four consecutive AFC titles.
His 951 career catches — he played a short time in Washington — rank fifth all-time while his yardage total (13,198) is eighth, and he ranks 10th in touchdowns with 87. Reed played in 234 NFL games and was on seven consecutive AFC Pro Bowl teams.
"Andre Reed was one of the greatest and most durable football players that I have ever coached," Levy said. "He excelled in every aspect of the game."
1. Art Monk, wide receiver, Redskins
Like Reed, Monk's numbers are indisputable. He trails Reed by just 11 catches (940), ranking sixth; he is 11th in yards with 12,721 but ranks just 31st in touchdowns with 68. However, he once caught at least one pass in 183 consecutive games, and unlike Reed, Monk has three Super Bowl rings with three different quarterbacks (Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien) throwing the passes.
Theismann once said "Art was Jerry Rice before Jerry Rice was," and one Hall of Fame voter said he "remains mystified" why his fellow selectors have not seen the light, if for no other reason than no one currently enshrined in the Hall has more catches than Monk.
Monk was as steady as they come, but he was a quiet man who did not have much to say, and maybe that's why the voters have looked down on him, teasing him with seven finalist appearances but rejecting him each time when it came to the final vote.
Monk played in three Pro Bowls, was named to the NFL's All-Decades team of the 1980s and is in the prestigious Redskins' Ring of Fame. Bill Parcells once said "Monk is headed to Canton downhill on roller skates." It has been a long hill, and sadly, the end is nowhere in sight.
