One of these days I’ll understand the whole “who gets into the Hall of Fame and who doesn’t” thing. I think every team has a player or two, or in our case four, who definitely deserves to be in the NFL Hall of Fame. Jerry Kramer waited a lifetime to get in for the Green Bay Packers. But, this past weekend shows the weaknesses and prejudices in who gets in and when. It took Jerome Bettis how many years to get the call. he should have been a first ballot entry without question. There’s this whole “waiting your turn” crap that bothers me. Those players chosen this past weekend to get into the Hall all deserve to be in.
But, after a while those players who miss out year after year tend to lose their momentum. Alan Faneca should have been inducted into the Hall years ago. The system used for deciding who gets in is so antiquated and ridiculous. Those “experts” who make the decision should have a term limit. For crying out loud put the statistics on a board or screen and choose from that…without the names. I watched the clip of the presentation for Faneca yesterday. My God, I have seventh graders who could have done a better job. When selling your product you need excitement. You need to command the room. You need to be prepared. I saw NONE of that in that clip. It was so ho hum and blah blah. If I was a voter I’m sitting there thinking that Ed isn’t too excited about this guy. Why should I be? Excitement! Persuasion! Preparation! Hopefully, we didn’t see the good part of the presentation.
Faneca’s entrance should not, and probably is not, determined by who is presenting and the job that they do presenting. But, I’m sure it carries some weight. I’m a fan of Ed’s and he took credit for getting John Stallworth into the Hall. Is he going to take some blame for Alan Faneca not getting in? Again, put the statistics on the screen without the names and decide that way. Compare Champ Bailey’s numbers to Donnie Shell’s numbers. How. In. Thee. Heck. Is Donnie. Shell. Not. In. The. Hall. Of. Fame!!!!!! Was it the person doing the presentation? I hope not. Next year is the first year for Troy Polamalu. If he doesn’t get in and there is a clip of Ed doing the presentation then each and every voter in that room should be fired. All Ed should do next year is just say the name…Troy Polamalu. They all know who he is and what he has accomplished. Alan Faneca not getting into the Hall of Fame, even though his numbers are FAR BETTER than Kevin Mawae’s numbers. Kevin should be the one waiting year after year.
Notice who I’ve haven’t mentioned. One L. C. Henderson Greenwood. That is another column for another time. His debate will go on and on and I would bet the mortgage that he will get in. But, it’s unfortunate that he won’t be able to be there. When Bill Cowher gets in he should decline the recognition if Alan Faneca hasn’t been chosen yet. To all the “experts” who decide on these matters…call me next year. I’ll do the presentation for Alan Faneca. Or I’ll have my 7th graders do it. He’ll get in!!!!!
