With all of the talk about undeserving people in the Hall of Fame, I thought it might be interesting to identify the absolute least deserving people in the Hall of Fame.
I'll do this first for players, identifying the least deserving players by team, and then we'll do a heat or two for non-players.
Poll coming in less time than it takes for the Rams to move their franchise to another city.
there's a few I know nothing about, but I voted that they all deserve it. I can't say one doesn't deserve it if I know nothing about him and I recognize most of the names and I believe they are all deserving. Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner are some of my favorite non-Chief players of all time. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJJasonp:
This pretty much gets you kicked out of the HOF:
No one in human history has more pro bowls than this man. I bet you could win some bar bets on that fact if you show people the picture.
I've told the story before, but he was a color announcer for a while, and at one point my non-football-fan sister walked in and saw him. She shook her head and said, "Why do they think it's a good idea to have that guy from Little House on the Prairie as an announcer?" [Reply]
Bob Waterfield - 8 seasons, league MVP as a rookie. Also the team's punter, kicker, and for four years he was a top defensive back. Married Jane Russell, which illustrates his star power. His star burned short but bright. He lost three seasons to WWII, though.
Deacon Jones - Coined the term "quarterback sack". Pro Football Weekly looked at game film and concluded that he had 173.5 sacks in his career, including two seasons where he had 21.5 and 22.0 sacks during 14-game seasons. Made an appearance on the Brady Bunch once.
Crazy Legs Hirsch - Had 1,495 yards in a 12-game season, averaging 124.6 yards per game, with 17 touchdowns. The touchdown record lasted until the 1980s. 12 seasons despite losing time to WWII. Came back from a skull fracture on the field in his third season.
Eric Dickerson - Pony Express. 6 seasons averaging over 100 yards per game. Over 13,000 rushing yards in his career at 4.4 ypc, all of which looked beautiful. Averaged over 100 yards in playoff games as well. All time record of 2,105 rushing yards in a season.
Jackie Slater - 20 seasons, 259 games played, 7 pro bowls. 7 running backs gained 1,000+ yards behind him.
Jack Youngblood - 14 seasons, 7 pro bowls. Generally the leading pass rusher on his team, famous for playing with a broken fibula in a Super Bowl.
Kevin Greene - 15 seasons, 160 sacks. 1990s all-decade team. 5 pro bowls. Team leader in sacks in 11 of his seasons. [Reply]
Kurt Warner - You know Kurt Warner. Bag boy at a grocery store, fast release, ringleader of the greatest show on turf. Took two teams to Super Bowls.
Les Richter - 9 seasons. Was once traded for 11 other players. Linebacker who also placekicked and played center. 8 pro bowls.
Marshall Faulk - 12 seasons with over 12,000 yards rushing and nearly 7,000 yards receiving. 4.3 ypc. 2,429 yards from scrimmage in 1999. First player in NFL history to gain 2,000 yards from scrimmage in four straight seasons
Merlin Olsen. Recurring role on Little House on the Prairie. 15 seasons, 14 pro bowls. No player in NFL history went to more pro bowls. Member of the Fearsome Foursome, one of the best defensive lines ever to take the field. One of the best defensive tackles of all time.
Norm Van Brocklin - 12 seasons, 9 pro bowls at QB. Holds the single-game passing mark of 554 yards. Three-time passing leader. Only QB to beat a Lombardi team in a championship game.
Orlando Pace - 13 seasons, 7 pro bowls. Blocked for 7 1,000 yard rushers. Protected Kurt Warner during his glory years.
Tom Fears - 9 seasons at WR, 400 receptions, which is huge for his era. 18 receptions in one game, which lasted for decades before being broken. Held the season reception record for years with 77 receptions in 1949 and 84 in 1950.
Tom Mack - 13 seasons at guard, 11 pro bowls. 184 career games without ever missing a game. [Reply]
Based on my review, the three least deserving are:
1. Elroy Hirsch. He was kind of a one-season wonder. If you look at his stats, he really only had three great seasons, with one as a huge outlier. The rest were pedestrian.
2. Jack Youngblood. I watched games in this era. He was nothing special.
3. Jackie Slater. He played a long time, but he never wowed me. He was a decent tackle. I could also easily say the same thing about Tom Mack. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Indian Chief:
That's actually an impressive list of HoFers
So far, I think the Cardinals may have the strongest list from top to bottom. There was no one on their list that I would even question. But I guess it makes sense. If you play for the Cardinals, you have to be incredibly dominant to make the Hall of Fame because you're not going to get credit for any postseason stuff. [Reply]
Originally Posted by oldman:
Once again, I agree with Rainman.
I never understood the Jack Youngblood fanship. There were some very good defensive ends in that era, and I thought he was a middle of the pack guy. Carl Eller, Ed Jones, Lee Roy Selmon, L.C. Greenwood, etc., were playing at that time, and Youngblood was not in their league based on what I saw. [Reply]