The San Francisco 49ers won four Super Bowls in the 1980s,
yet only two offensive starters from those teams are in the Pro Football Hall
of Fame: Quarterback Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, and Rice wasn’t there for two
of those four championships. By contrast, the St. Louis Rams won one Super Bowl
(1999) and have four offensive starters in Canton.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Everything.
The 49ers were more than a multiple Super Bowl winner. They
were an NFL dynasty, the league’s premier franchise of the 1980s, winning 72.5
percent of all games from 1981-89 and walking off with four NFL championships
in nine seasons. Yet, for some reason, Hall voters keep telling us that no
offensive starters outside of Montana and Rice are worthy of Canton.
Well, they’re wrong.
Introducing Roger Craig, the first running back in NFL history
to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. That’s
such rarified air that only two running backs since then – Hall-of-Famer Marshall Faulk and the 49ers’
Christian McCaffrey – have been there.
A three-time Super Bowl champion, Craig checked all the
boxes. He was a two-time All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowler, all-decade choice and
Offensive Player of the Year (1988). Plus, in 1985 he led the league in
receiving with 92 catches for 1,016 yards. Then, three years later, he led it
in rushing with 1,502 yards. In short, he was more than all-purpose running
back. He was a vital element to a dominant team.
So why isn’t he in Canton? Don’t ask former owner Eddie
DeBartolo. He’s so frustrated he stopped asking.
“During his stint with the 49ers,” DeBartolo said on the
latest “Eye Test for Two” podcast (fullpresscoverage.com), “and you’re talking
about Super Bowls, he did something then that they’re doing now: He opened up
the offense. He had great hands. People didn’t know where he was going. Not
only that, but he could run. He could go up the middle. He was just a great
offensive player.
“A thousand yards (rushing). A thousand yards (receiving).
The first person to do that (in a single season). I’m not going to call it a
disgrace. That’s a stupid statement. But I think the man belongs in the Hall of
Fame.”
Others do, too. Just not enough of them. Though Craig was a
modern-era Hall-of-Fame finalist just once (2010), he was one of 20 senior
finalists for the Centennial Class of 2020. Alas, he didn’t make it, puzzling
DeBartolo and Craig’s supporters.
What, they ask, are voters missing? It’s a good question.
Craig is in the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame. He’s in the Bay Area Hall of Fame. He’s in the 49ers’ Hall of Fame. All that’s missing is Canton. But despite the Hall opening its doors now to three senior candidates per year, he still can’t get a sniff.
So let’s look at the resume one more time. He was the first
running back to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 receiving in the same
season. His 92 receptions in 1985 were a league record then. His 1,502 yards
rushing in 1988 set a franchise record (since broken). He was the first player
to score three TDs in a Super Bowl (XIX). He was the first running back to
produce 100 yards receiving in a Super Bowl. He twice had more than 2,000
scrimmage yards in a single season, a feat matched by only three other running
backs. According to Hall-of-Fame voter Peter King, he’s the only player in NFL
history to be chosen to the Pro Bowl as a fullback and as a running back.
And let’s not forget: He was an integral part of three Super
Bowl winners. He was an Offensive Player of the Year. And he was a 1980s’
all-decade choice.
So what’s missing? Votes, that’s what. OK, he lost a fumble
in the 1990 NFC championship game that led to the Giants’ upset of San
Francisco. So what? Brett Favre’s interception in the 2009 conference
championship game cost the Vikings a Super Bowl berth, but it didn’t keep him
out of Canton.
It happens. What hasn’t is a groundswell of support for a
49ers’ star deserving of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“He was a very, very big team player,” said DeBartolo. “He
did more than just do what he did on the field. He did a lot off the field.
It’s just terrible. He belongs in the Hall of Fame.”
according to PFR, Craig was a single time all pro (not 2)....his lifetime y/c was only 4.1 and the 1000 yard receiving year (1985) was an anomaly; he surpassed 500 yards in only 3 other years.....a great contributor to the 49er dynasty, but a true "game-changer"?....I'm going to suggest he is of course a very worthy member of the Hall of Very Good, but Canton? "not so fast, my friend....."
ReplyDeleteAccording to PFR, Craig was a 2-time all-pro. It only has the pluses by the year for 1st team, but if you look at the awards column you see he was 2nd team in 1985.
DeleteI have two issues with other statistical claims:
1. "His 92 receptions in 1985 were a league record then". The only thing I can assume about the receptions is that he meant it was a league record for running backs, since Lionel Taylor had 100 in 1961, and even just the year before, Art Monk set the record with 106.
2. "He twice had more than 2,000 scrimmage yards in a single season, a feat matched by only three other running backs". I have no clue about this one, since several running backs (by my count, 16) have had over 2,000 scrimmage yards at least twice. Even if he meant at the time it'd still be incorrect, since four had done it as of 1988: Dickerson, Payton, Simpson, and William Andrews.
Jholtgym: He was absolutely a game changer. #1. Durability. Look how vital he was to walsh/ montanas game plans … and unlike Mccafferey and other Backs he didn’t miss a game for 10 years or so. Not until the 90s did he start missing games. Don’t tell me boselli is a hall of famer after only 6 years in the league but Craig is not.
Delete2. The 1,000 receiving year was not “an anomoly”. He was very valuable as both a pass catcher and rusher after that 85 year. His rush yards went up by a ton in 88, & 89. Cmac has never had a 1500 yd rushing season like Craig did in the late 80s.
2. Cmac has never stayed healthy like Craig: Roger missed hardly a single game till 10th year. How many games has cmac missed in just 5 seasons or so in the nfl? A lot.
If cmac played the defenses Craig faced he’d be hurt just as much if not more.
And guess who joined the Niners the year after Rogers 1,000 yd receiving season? Oh … just maybe the best receiver in nfl history. Jerry rice.
So Craig was sharing the ball with Taylor, Rice , Brent jones. Other game changers
Go watch The Drive from the 89 bengals super bowl and you will see how valuable Craig was as a hall of fame every down back with all the pass catching etc.
Today prima Donna’s who have Craig’s numbers would be holding out for more money.
Don’t try to use “2 pro bowls” as if that makes Roger less than modern backs (LAdanian, Marshall Faulk etc). Roger was playing in an era with some of the best all time backs (Payton, Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson wasn’t bad - faster than Any back today , etc)
From Brian wolf ...
ReplyDeleteI feel Craig will be elected sooner than later but might not make the next two classes but he is also deserving, being a great, COMPLETE back, who also blocked well for Montana and Young and shouldnt be punished for his fumble in the 1990/91 NFC Championship game that Clark shrewdly, pointed out. Without him, the Niners have no chance at a possible three-peat as champions ...
You guys on here don't understand how this works. If you played for the ONE championship 70's Raiders than you get SEVEN offensive players in Canton. The fanboy voters aren't really into the 49ers.
ReplyDelete