What's Wrong With Sports - NFL Hall of Fame

On Saturday, the day before Super Bowl XLVII, up to seven new members will be named as the 2013 induction class for the NFL Hall of Fame. 15 modern era players/coaches/contributors as well as two senior nominees are among those in consideration for induction by the Selection Committee. To be elected, a finalist must receive a minimum positive vote of 80%.

There are too many things wrong with this system. Some of the greatest players in NFL history are having to wait year after year to get into the Hall of Fame. The system needs to change.

Here’s how the system works: First, this pool of 15 candidates (shown below) has already been reduced from fan vote nominations. When the Selection Committee (made up of sportswriters from each team’s respective city, as well as some “at large” selectors such as John Clayton and Sal Paolantonio) meets on Super Bowl weekend, they first vote on the required two senior candidates. If either (or both) nominee receives the required 80% of the vote, then they are enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

2013 Hall of Fame Nominees: Larry Allen¹ (G/T), Jerome Bettis (RB), Tim Brown (WR), Cris Carter (WR), Curley Culp* (DT/G), Edward DeBartolo Jr. (owner), Kevin Greene (LB), Charles Haley (DE), Art Modell (owner), Jonathan Ogden¹ (OT), Bill Parcells (coach), Andre Reed (WR), Dave Robinson* (LB), Warren Sapp¹ (DT), Will Shields (G), Michael Strahan¹ (DE), Aeneas Williams (CB).

*  – Senior Nominee            ¹ – First-ballot Nominee

Then, the tougher job begins with the 15 modern-era nominees. The committee takes a vote to narrow down the list from 15 players to ten. They then take another vote to narrow down that list to five nominees. From there, each player is voted on individually. If they receive 80% of the vote, they make it to Canton. If they do not, then they are left out of the Hall of Fame. But at best, only five modern-era players can be inducted each year.

There is also a minimum requirement for induction as well. The former guidelines had it so that, if not enough players made the 80% cutoff, that the top four vote-getters would be enshrined. In this old system, a vote was casted immediately from the 15 finalists. Further in that system, if more than seven players got the 80% required vote, only the TOP seven vote-getters would go to Canton. That system has switched slightly, where now only five have the opportunity to even try to receive the 80% vote. There still is a “minimum” required number of inductees, however, so we won’t see like MLB had this year with nobody being inducted.

Here’s why the system sucks: With so many good players on the list year after year, and new great ones added annually, it’s not tough to find five Hall of Fame worthy players. There are at least ten players on that list that I definitely think are worthy of enshrinement in Canton.  If they are worthy why not let them in?

It’s not just players on the ballot. How can you compare the careers of an owner like Eddie DeBartolo, Jr., or a coach like Bill Parcells, to a player like Michael Strahan? How can you truly mark each nominee’s worth to the NFL and compare them to one another when making your vote? You can’t compare apples to oranges. 

Put it this way: It is very possible that, of the 15 nominees, only two players will even have the CHANCE to be enshrined. DeBartolo, Parcells, and Art Modell could be three of the finalists, leaving two spots open. Can you pick only two out of those 12 players to be the only ones with a CHANCE?

Proposal #1: Separate the ballot into categories: player, coach, contributor. Don’t let the maximum number of inductees be hindered by the nominee’s spot within the sport.

Now, back to the players. So many great players out there over the years, and only a small number can make it each year. This creates a bottleneck effect. Each year, many HOF-worthy players become eligible for enshrinement. They fill up the bottle. But only a few (five at best) can be poured out of the bottle annually.

Now I understand that we don’t want to let just ANYBODY into the Hall of Fame, otherwise it would be called the “Hall of Really Good.” People already distinguish that based on being a “first-ballot” Hall of Famer versus having to wait a few years to be inducted.

Many will say that it is a good thing when a player has to “wait his turn” to get into Canton.

It could be, like Cris Carter, that a player was really great but not the best ever. He cannot be a first-ballot inductee because that could diminish how great Jerry Rice truly was. First-year induction vs. second-year induction? In the end, both players are in Canton and nobody will distinguish one as first-ballot or not.

It could be also based on a bit of politics. Twenty years ago, Lawrence Taylor (very worthy of enshrinement based on his on-the-field play, questionable due to off-the-field issues) was forced to wait a few years before being inducted. He ended up making it in due to the minimum inductees rule. Even though he didn’t receive enough votes, he’s in Canton. Meanwhile, players on this list could easily get the 80% and not get enshrined. How does that make sense?

Twenty years ago, the number of players who are HOF worthy was much lower. Everybody knew a “down year” would occur sooner or later that would get LT into the Hall. You will never find that now, as the backup of players on the ballot grows exponentially each year.

If a player is worthy of the Hall of Fame, why should he have to wait? Everybody says Cris Carter is a Hall of Famer, but he must keep on waiting while other “more worthy” players and coaches get in ahead of him. If he’s worthy and 80% of the voters give him the okay, then put him in the Hall. Who cares how many get inducted annually?

And that’s the bigger thing: If you take out the maximum and minimum requirements, after two years of following that practice, we’ll be balanced back out anyway. Players like Tim Brown, Andre Reed, and Cris Carter will be enshrined in what probably would end up being a 10-12 inductee class. But once the bottleneck effect has been taken care of, then it will be back to the normal practice of about five making it each year.

You wouldn’t even have to worry about having a separate coach vs. player vs. contributor vote!

Proposal #2: Eliminate the maximum/minimum number of inductees required to be enshrined annually. Anybody and everybody who receives 80% of the vote is to be enshrined.

Worthy players are left out of the Hall of Fame, and other years, a requirement puts a less-than-worthy player on equal footing with some of the greatest of all time. That’s what’s wrong with sports. Something needs to change, and that’s pretty easy to do. I prefer Proposal #2, but at this point, any adjustment to level the playing field will do just fine.