Not too many comments really for Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice. It's kind of cool that the NFL's all-time leading rusher and receiver get to be enshrined at the same time. Statistically, no one is even close to those guys, especially Rice. You have to play 20 years, first of all, to even be in his neighborhood and oh yeah, be the best receiver in the game for 15 of those years.
The two defensive selections are very interesting to me. I think both John Randle and Rickey Jackson are deserving, but they're not exactly on the tip of the casual fan's tongue. I like comparing both to one of their contemporary pass rushers, Lawrence Taylor. Randle had 137.5 sacks in 14 years. Taylor had 132.5 in 13 years. But Randle did it as an interior lineman not rushing off the edge. Rickey Jackson, an outside linebacker like Taylor, had very similar stats also (128.5 career sacks), but was doing it under the radar in New Orleans. If he did it in New York or LA, he would have been a super star.
Congrats to Russ Grimm, one of the original Hogs for Washington and a selection I'm very pleased with.
Two HOF omissions of note: Shannon Sharpe and Cris Carter. They both definitely deserve to be in. Sharpe helped revolutionize the TE position. Without him, 'tweeners like Antonio Gates and Dallas Clark would be without a position. Carter was simply one of the best receivers of his time, uncoverable inside the 20 yard line with Velcro like hands
No comments:
Post a Comment