Rams' future Hall of Fame prospects

On the occasion of the induction of this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame class, Elliott Harrison wrote an in-depth piece at NFL.com looking ahead at who might make up the next ten classes. It's definitely worth a read, with a lot of depth and detail to it. For former Rams looking to get into the Hall, though, the news from this piece is decidedly mixed:

* When the class of 2013 was named earlier this year, RamView contended that 2014 has to be the year for Aeneas Williams and Jerome Bettis. Harrison projects their wait will have to be a little longer. First-time eligible Derrick Brooks should be a lock, and it turns out Walter Jones is eligible in 2014, and should be a lock as well. Jones, who most of us amateurs had as eligible first in 2015, really decreases the chances for the former Rams. So do first-time eligibles Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy, who should be near-impossible to pass over as the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl and as one of the finest gentlemen the game has seen. (E. Harrison thinks he gets passed over until 2015, though.) Then there's still Michael Strahan, a surprise pass-over for this past class, and Charles Haley, who Harrison believes is the biggest lock for induction next year. Aeneas went to more Pro Bowls than either of those guys, and Bettis gets strangely ignored as the #6 rusher of all time, but Haley's 5 Super Bowl rings say a lot, too. Harrison projects Bettis to enter the Hall in 2015, but Aeneas will have to hold on till 2017. St. Louis fans do get thrown a bone with Harrison's projection that Don Coryell will enter the Hall posthumously next year as a veteran's committee selection.

ESPN.com

* 2015 shapes up as an awesome year for Rams fans: Harrison projects Kurt Warner and Orlando Pace as first-time nominees, with Bettis joining them. Future road trip! The rest of the projected class is Dungy and near-certain lock Junior Seau.

* Unlike the Hall of Fame committee in recent years, Harrison doesn't forget the third-leading sacker of all time, Kevin Greene, who he thinks will make it in with the 2016 class. At least that's a good call. A much worse call: permanently soiling the Hall of Fame by including Eddie DeBartolo in the 2017 class.

Sports Illustrated

* And now here's a list of players who no doubt have, or will have, excellent Hall-of-Fame credentials in the coming decade. John Lynch, Andre Reed, Brian Dawkins, Charles Woodson, Reggie Wayne, Julius Peppers, Brian Waters, Lance Briggs (really?), Terrell Davis. Harrison has them all entering the Hall of Fame between now and 2021.

What's wrong with that list? Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt aren't on it! Harrison has them getting passed over SEVEN times and still not in the Hall at the end of his projections! Lance Freaking Briggs over Isaac Bruce? The second-best linebacker on the Bears for a decade over the 4th-leading wide receiver of all time? Bruce and Holt, not to mention Hines Ward, waiting outside the Hall while three safeties who couldn't cover either one of them get in? Did Harrison just forget Isaac and Torry were eligible? Though Wayne should pass Bruce and Ward on the career receptions list this year at age 34, how many years has he got left? He's really going to bury them so far in the career standings that he doesn't have to wait in line at the Hall like they're projected to? More power to him if he does, but I don't see it.

Bruce should be getting in right behind Harrison in my eyes. Ironically, it could be at the expense of one of the other eligible ex-Rams. But Bruce would belong in over Tim Brown, he'd belong in over Andre Reed, he'd certainly belong in over John Lynch, and he damn sure belongs in over a scumbag like DeBartolo.

Wide receiver logjam or no, the selection committee risks making the Hall of Fame worth less than the dirt it's built on if Isaac Bruce's bust isn't in there by 2017, and if Torry Holt isn't clearly one of the best 50 players on this list, well, then, even with as much thought as Elliott Harrison's put into it, we need a new list.

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