Thirty-four Seniors Players Survived the Cut from 52

By John Turney 

Today, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the names of 34 players eligible to advance to the finalist round of nine. These 34 semifinalists were selected from an initial list of 52 candidates that had already passed scrutiny by the screening committee. That committee started with a preliminary pool of 162 nominees and eliminated 110 of them—a challenging process to be sure.

Next, the Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will choose nine players from this group of 34 to become finalists. The committee will then select three of those nine names to present to the full Board of Selectors for final approval in January.

Here are the 19 offense, 14 defensive, and one special teamer on the list of 34—

QUARTERBACKS (3): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel.

Anderson will be the favorite, but there is a fair question about him and the two other signal callers:  Were they consistently great? Anderson had a slow patch in the years that should have been his peak. Gabriel took five seasons to secure a starting job. 

Conerly was part of a platoon system with the Giants, where he shared quarterback duties with his backup, Don Heinrich, starting many games to "probe: the defense with Conerly closing games after Heinrich had a series or two (or more).

Maybe none of those caveats are disqualifying, but when you have nine votes and others didn't have any question marks, it's hard to justify a quarterback just because it's the most important position on the field. 

RUNNING BACKS (4): Roger Craig, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul “Tank” Younger.

Isbell was more of a passer than "running back" which is a misnomer. Isbell was an old-school tailback who made his bones throwing to Don Hutson.

Craig and Foreman are similar players, but excellent runners and elite receivers for their position. Craig was the first 1,000-1000 player, running for 1,000 and receiving for 1,000. It's notable. But was he as consistent as Foreman was from 1973-78? Craig was part of the championships; Foreman was not, but that's probably the biggest separator. 

Tank Younger was a fine fullback and an elite linebacker. In the first half of his career, he played more defense than offense, then the second half, it was the opposite. He was only a top-10 rusher twice in his career. He has to be looked at as a two-way player. The question is whether he was a Hall-of-Fame-level back/linebacker.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (7): Isaac Curtis, Lavvie Dilweg, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Otis Taylor.

Lavvie Dilweg played in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He's one of the overlooked players in history. It's hard to know how the rest of the committee will vote, but he will be on my list of nine.

The six other wide receivers are hard to separate. They span eras, and therefore, you have to look at their numbers closely. Length of season and the level of league passing matter, meaning that post-1978 receiving numbers were more common, and the game was opening up. So, pre-1978 players have to be looked at as elite even if they may have had good seasons with 800 yards, for example.

Then, you have to look at early AFL tendencies. Unlike the NFL, the new league was pass-happy, and it is criticized that the defensive players were not up to snuff, compared to the NFL. They were casoffs. They were old, hurt, or just not that good, or so the claim goes. 

The six recent wide receivers ... you list them in the order of who you think is Hall-worthy. Would you list Art Powell first? Otis Taylor? The more recent Stanley Morgan? Do you ask where Del Shofner is?

You see the problem.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (5): Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert.

All are Hall-of-Famers in my book. The one who was All-Pro most and who was a two-way player is Al Wistert. He blocked for the runner who set the NFL career rushing record, he played on elite offenses and defenses. George Allen called Wistert one of the best early pass rushers. And he played on two championship teams. What more can a lineman do?

Jim Tyrer was advanced from the seniors committee to the full committee last year and was not inducted. His off-field actions prevented (a murder/suicide) his induction is the conventional wisdom. Even though Tyrer's wife's family has forgiven him, truly thinking he was suffering from what is now called C.T.E., the brain disease caused by repeated head trauma. Is it true? I don't know. The only thing certain is "Hall resume" is worthy of induction. It just may never happen because of the off-field issues that surround him. 

Mike Kenn is at or near all the leaderboards for tackles in terms of years played, games played and games started. His longevity is off the charts. He was an All-Pro in 1980 and also in 1991, eleven years apart. He played for elite running teams early in his career and for a Run-and-Shoot style late in his career and was good at both. He was a "blue" player most of the years in between as well. 

Then there is Joe Jacoby, a vital part of the Washington line, the "Hogs" that won three titles. Jacoby was an elite left tackle and then moved to right tackle for the betterment of the team. He also moved to play guard for the same reasons. 

The only guard of this group is Bob Kuechenberg, who got left behind when his interior linemates -- Larry Little and Jim Langer got their gold jackets. He was a prototype player that several Hall-of-Fame guards modeled their game after his. He may have been the best trap blocker of all time.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (2): L.C. Greenwood, Jim Marshall.

Greenwood was a six-time Pro Bowler, two-time first-team All-Pro and owns four Super Bowl rings. He played on what is accepted as one of the top few defenses of all time -- The Steel Curtain.

Then you have Jim Marshall, who had around 130 sacks, played 20 years and never missed a game. But he was never a first-team All-Pro and two Pro Bowls. So he lacks the "alls" if you will

LINEBACKERS (6): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Tommy Nobis.

Larry Grantham and Maxie Baughan were similar, right outside linebackers in a 4-3 defense.

The middle linebackers are hard to separate. Neither was a first-team All-Pro all that often, but would often get Pro Bowl invites. Jordan was able to play for a great team; Nobis was not. Of the two, who would you put in the Hall, that is, if you could only put one of them in?

Like with the wide receivers, who do you think gets the nod in your mind -- if you could only pick one to advance? What if others went with the other guy? Who would be right?

Some recent-ish players are also interesting. Clay Matthews Jr. and Carl Banks. Their case largely hinges on the eye test. Their coaches and the writers who cover them say these players (who lacked a lot of "alls") lost out on some of those because maybe rushbackers.Sackmeisters at the outside linebacker position hogged the honors. 

Both played the run, played the pass, and could rush the passer when asked. 

DEFENSIVE BACKS (6): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls.

It is good to see Lemar Parrish advance this far; he was the best cornerbacks of the 1970s. He was elite at coverage and quarterbacks avoided him. Always felt underpaid in Cincinnati and that landed him in Washington, where he continued his Pro Bowl-level play.

Albert Lewis was a technical marvel. He did things other corners couldn't do. He was a film-freak watching (then) videotapes of everyone so he'd have the advantage come Sundays. He's also the best punt blocker of all time.

Rams safety Eddie Meador was a fine cornerback, then became an All-Pro safety. He was a good tackler, good at coverage and on special teams, he was one of the best holders of all time. He could take a snap for a first down or even a touchdown.

Bobby Boyd was an interception machine. He was in a perfect system (a mostly cover-3 scheme), and quarterbacks would challenge him, and he'd make them pay. 

In some ways, Everson Walls is similar to Boyd in that they were not physically imposing. Walls was thought to be slow for his position, so they'd challenge him and he'd pick the pass off. 

Strong safety Dick Anderson was a Defensive Player of the Year in 1973 and had a number of other honors, but was felled by an injury and didn't have a long career. The question for him is whether the "Gale Sayers exception" should apply to him. That exception basically goes, if a player was so great that Hall of Fame induction was a sure thing, then an injury should not count against him.

That has been used a lot lately, so players with 7- or 8-year careers are getting gold Jackets. Is Anderson on the same level as, say, Ken Easley, who got in under that theory?

SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker.

Can a guy who excelled only on special teams be Hall-worthy? Good question. Tasker was able to benefit because during his career PFWA/PFW added a special teamer to their All-Pro team. Earlier players didn't have an opportunity to make an All-Pro team because no one had one back in the day.