* Dermontti Dawson. 7-time Pro Bowl center for the Steelers, for whom he played from 1988-2000. A 6-time first-team All-Pro and three-time Hall-of-Fame finalist. One of the best centers in the history of the league.
* Chris Doleman. 8-time Pro Bowl defensive end for the Vikings, Falcons and 49ers. 150.5 career sacks, ranking him FOURTH all-time. 2-time first-team All-Pro. This was his first year as a Hall-of-Fame finalist.
* Cortez Kennedy. 8-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, playing for the Seahawks from 1990-2000. 3-time first-team All-Pro and 1992 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Also his third time as a finalist for the Hall.
* Curtis Martin. Fourth-leading rusher of all time. 14,101 yards in 11 years with the Jets and Patriots. 5-time Pro Bowler. Second man to start his career with 10 1,000-yard seasons. Second time as a finalist.
* Willie Roaf. 11-time Pro Bowl tackle from 1993-2005 for the Saints and Chiefs. 3-time first-team All-Pro.
* Jack Butler. The only veterans committee induction. 4-time Pro Bowler, 3-time first-team All-Pro defensive back for the Steelers. 52 career interceptions and was one of the dominant defensive backs of the 1950s.
It's hard to complain about any of these players getting in on their own merits. But you know RamView, it's impossible for me not to complain about anything, and there are some glaring omissions this year.
Of course, all three former Rams nominated this year are not going to be inducted, so let's start there. Notice how I put FOURTH in caps in Chris Doleman's paragraph? That's because Kevin Greene is THIRD all-time, with ten more sacks, in the same number of seasons. Greene led the league in sacks twice; Doleman did it once. Compare them head-to-head. Six years, Greene had more sacks; six years, Doleman had more sacks, three years they tied. Looks dead even to me. Why Doleman and not Greene? Doleman was in eight Pro Bowls to Greene's five; is that the difference? Then why didn't Aeneas Williams get in? He was in eight Pro Bowls. At least Williams made the cut to the final ten modern-day entries; Greene didn't even get that far. Even with career statistics as good or better than Doleman, who made the final five. Jerome Bettis was also double-snubbed by the voting committee. Like Greene, he wasn't even voted into the top ten, despite 13,000+ yards (barely 500 yards behind Martin) and six Pro Bowls (more than Martin) in 13 seasons. The voting committee seems to be setting a one man per position per year policy, so for Bettis' sake, let's hope next year's finally his year.
Next year doesn't get any easier for any of the ex-Rams candidates, with eventual HoF locks Bill Parcells and Will Shields getting their second attempts and with first-time nominees such as Michael Strahan, Jonathan Ogden, Larry Allen and Warren Sapp.
And, for whatever reason, the voting committee continues to shit all over the position of wide receiver, rejecting Cris Carter, Andre Reed and Tim Brown again this year. The longer these guys take to put completely deserving wide receivers such as these, especially Carter, into the Hall, the worse the chances are going to be for Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, two more deserving of Hall of Fame status, to get in when they come up. That's going to be a real logjam, with Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens and Randy Moss becoming eligible in following years.
And who does Dan Fouts complain about getting left out during the live broadcast? Convicted felon and serial NFL rule-breaker Edward DeBartolo Jr. Kudos to the committee for at least having the common decency to leave that stain on the game out of the Hall of Fame. Do us all a favor and quit advancing the mobster this high up the chain in future years.
Congratulations to this year's Hall of Fame inductees.
-$-
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