Steve Hutchinson and Ty Law were among the 10 finalists for the NFL Hall of Fame, but neither was in the final five. Ray Lewis, Randy Moss and Brian Urlacher were all first-year finalists and basically shoe-ins. T.O. and Brian Dawkins were the other two elected.
General writeup on this year's class, and mention of those in the final 10:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22310747/pro-football-hall-fame-clas…
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:12 PM ^
Also of note: Brady won the MVP again, should've won last year, as well, had he not been suspended 4 games by the league for literally no reason.
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:17 PM ^
he had deflated balls
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:08 PM ^
Anybody see the interview this week by Barstool? Pat McAfee (former Colts Punter) interviewed the linebacker (something Jackson) who intercepted the deflategate ball. The story was that he felt the difference in air pressure and that sparked the whole thing. Jackson said he did no such thing, and only took the ball to put on his mantle bc he picked TB12. He also said he never even got interviewed or questioned in the whole process. Long story short, 2 former Colts say it was bullshit -- including the guy that allegedly sparked the whole investigation. All lies.
February 4th, 2018 at 7:33 AM ^
This won't get any media play...
February 4th, 2018 at 8:23 AM ^
Barstool has a huge following, so trust me, it was at least noticed.
February 4th, 2018 at 9:54 AM ^
Colts fan here. Always thought deflategate was bs. That game could have been played with a brick or a balloon and the Colts still would have gotten throttled.
February 4th, 2018 at 10:40 AM ^
I would too if I had his wife!
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:21 PM ^
If Brady had Moss for all those years...dadamn. Probably looking at 6 MVPs (give one to Moss).
Tom Brady really is the Michael Jordan of the NFL.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:06 AM ^
Michael Jordan is the Tom Brady of the NBA (and the minor leagues).
February 4th, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^
Michael Jordan wasn't the Michael Jordan of the minor leagues.
February 5th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
Hey man he rode the bus. They even 30/30 it. He was the MJ of the minors.
/s
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:13 PM ^
I've heard him referred to as the greatest guard of all time, or at least the greatest guard of his decade. He should have been a first ballot hall of famer. Admittedly, I am a tad biased.
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
Faneca and Mawae missed it too. Mental.
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:33 PM ^
Reminds me of the Carter/Brown/Harrison/Reed WR logjam that took a while to get everyone in. Being interior OL probably isn't speeding things up either.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:44 AM ^
I really hope stuff like PFF grades (or other numerical assessments) change the way we view offensive linemen. There is so much more information available now to fans that understanding what the OL does and who is good at it is much easier. People who follow Chris "Smart Football" Brown will see him occasionally retweet stuff that does a good job highlighting quality OL play.
But the numberical stuff is really good, and it helps people who aren't instinctively good at watching linemen understand who is good, who is not, and who sustains that greatness over time.
I hope we get there.
February 4th, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
Guards just aren't valued as much as other positions. look at the payscale.
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:28 PM ^
Hutchinson needs some help and should pad his resume' for the HOF by coming back to Ann Arbor and showing the voters how good he really is by teaching Michigan's offensive line his skills. Sounds fair right? That or Everett...or hey, both! each were studs, why not.
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^
Ed Reed and Tony Gonzalez will be first ballot locks and Champ Bailey might be, too. Think Hutch gets in first with Ty not far behind.
Ridiculous for T.O. to get left out the last few years because he, uh.. did sit-ups in his driveway one time?
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:31 PM ^
He also used a homophobic slur to describe Jeff Garcia. I think sweating it a year or two was well deserved. Memo 2 the youth, don’t be a jackass.
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:41 PM ^
Not condoning the slur but it's absurd to punish his behavior when the HOF hasn't previously cared about domestic violence, drug abuse, or being tied to murders.
T.O. didn't even eat pizza while he was in the NFL. Dude torched my Giants so I have no love for him but the holier-than-thou sportswriter voters have an indefensible double standard.
February 3rd, 2018 at 10:43 PM ^
This is the hill you stand on?
Ray Lewis... Dude should still be in prison for murder.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:26 AM ^
isn't oj in the hall?
February 4th, 2018 at 12:27 AM ^
Proudly displayed on the PFHOF website
February 4th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
The ivory tower shit with to is despicable. Randy Moss was a terrible teammate.
T.O may have had his issues... but he never took plays off! I remember him running 80 yards to make a tackle on a pick to save 6.
Moss would've basically sat down.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:47 AM ^
The pro football HOF has a pretty firm longstanding policy that off-field stuff is irrelevant to Hall admission. NFL propogandist Peter King has been pretty vocal about this for years (decades?).
And, so long as that policy is held consistently, there's some sense to it, because it can be hard to evaluate which off-field stuff deserves to be excluded and which doesn't. And unless OJ is expelled, how do you keep out someone with a less clear case against him?
As repulsive as I find stuff like that, I actually appreciate a HOF committee that doesn't pretend to be a moral arbiter. I think it keeps things cleaner and free from subjective controversies like we see in baseball.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
As a lawyer, I sort of shake my head when someone says "you should be in prison for murder" when the judicial system said, "Nuh uh." Awefully easy of you to convict without knowing all the facts.
The other thing that HAS to be said about Ray, and which you are 100% ignoring, is that... Ray completely changed as a human being as a result of that. Never once afterwards did he have any off-field issues. Became a quiet leader in the Baltimore community w/ kids' projects. Was the unquestioned leader of his locker room -- and guys like Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsome will be the first to tell you that. He completely understood his role as the face of the Ravens, if not the NFL, and lived up to it.
So while you want to pretend you know Ray so well that you can castigate him for those unproven issues early in his career, the remnants of coming out of Thug U, I suggest you take a more wholistic approach and look at Ray as others saw him, the men who worked side by side with him for years. Apparently, though, you know more about him than Jim Harbaugh's brother.
Here is my Ray Lewis anecdote that is the man he became. I took my son to a Ravens two-a-day, the afternoon session, about 7 years ago or so. After the practice, as the team filed into the locker rooms, some players lingered behind to work the lines of fans giving autographs (there was one line for kids, and another for adults). Ray, however, ran into the locker room by himself while his teammates did autographs. Then... after the entire team went into the locker room, Ray came back OUT, by himself, and worked both lines, giving everyone an autograph who wanted one -- took him 45 minutes, in the heat after the second of a two-a-day. Entire time laughing up with fans and interacting as he signed. That is the 'face of the franchise,' he GOT it.
So if you think you know him well enough to say he's a murderer... fine. Awfully easy to be so confident.
February 4th, 2018 at 5:09 PM ^
I don't know Ray Lewis from a hole in the wall - and never claimed to. I do know he was a helluva football player. I also know the facts/circumstances around the death of two men after a SB party by the hands of his 'possee'. So yes, I feel confident enough saying he should be in prison.
If I murder someone, or am directly involved in a murder (as an accomplice, ring leader, cover-up guy, whatever), but then lead a great life - should I be absolved of that murder? No. And I don't give a rats ass that he's 'born again'. Whatever. His money and status as a football player kept him out of prison. Nothing else.
You can celebrate his life, I'm not going to. Nor will the families of two invisible men...
February 4th, 2018 at 1:36 AM ^
you want TO to wait for a slur but you have no issue with Ray Lewis?
February 4th, 2018 at 1:48 AM ^
You all are arguing different things. TO had to wait because he was a shitty teammate at times. That should always factor into the hall vote.
Now, if we want to argue for shitty humans (before or after) that is a whole other debate.
February 4th, 2018 at 8:35 AM ^
Being the best player on the field in a Super Bowl on a broken ankle is being a pretty great teammate. On the Jeff Garcia front, getting your mediocre QB to the Pro Bowl is being a good teammate. Don't forget "that's my quarterback!"
T.O. himself has the best response for those guys:
February 4th, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^
Agitate The Gravel
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:09 PM ^
Law was the best CB ever at M. better than Woodson. Woodson was better overall player obviously but as far as corner goes, it was Law.
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:33 PM ^
nothing against Ty Law, and not even saying you are wrong, but I would have to argue in defense of Woodson being the best corner in Michigan history. yeah he did a lot of other stuff too, but he came up clutch in run support, pass coverage, interceptions, all of it. Especially if you consider it was no secret how good he was and teams specifically schemed away from him as much as possible.
I coached against him in his high school days at Fremont Ross from A)intercepting it, B)Killing a receiver and recovering the ball, or C)killing anyone we gave the ball. He scored 7 times anyways. Dude was unreal.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:49 AM ^
Law was great. Woodson was amazing. At corner. He dominated everyone. In 1997 Northwestern went the whole game without throwing to him; late in the game they got desperate, passed his direction... and he picked it off.
Doesn't diminish Law to recognize Woodson's superiority.
February 4th, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^
woodson was a great sure tackler. not necessarily hard hitting but almost never missed. there's a reason he was on a lot of corner blitzes. i don't remember that being the case with law. woodsen was more versatile, even at just CB, ignoring WR and kick/punt returning..
February 4th, 2018 at 3:38 AM ^
He hadn’t gone to his first college class yet and had a terrible PI called against him that led to a 4th quarter TD for ND, which helped ND get a tie instead of the UM win. I have pulled for him ever since.
February 4th, 2018 at 7:39 AM ^
Nope. Ty was pretty good, and we all knew he would have a good NFL career. But we knew, beyond the shadow of doubt, that Woodson would be an NFL great. Ty's career was better than I thought it would be (if I thought about it), but Woodson's was spot on.
February 4th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
Law was great both in college and the pros. Woodson was the greatest football player I've ever seen live except B Sanders.
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:11 PM ^
Next year is a relatively weak class with only Ed Reed and Tony Gonzalez as 1st ballot locks. They'll have a better chance next year. This year was a really strong class.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:11 AM ^
For them to get in this year. Ty was fantastic but recency bias certainly plays a factor, and unfortunately for him his last real impact season was his first year with the Jets which was 2005. Granted, being the best CB on the 3 time champion Patriots will help his case, I think it may take a couple years. Hutch is an absolute lock, one of the best interior lineman in NFL history but interior lineman isn't the sexiest position, so he may have to wait a little while as well. I think they nailed it with this year's class. Seeing Moss and Owens go in together will be awesome. Urlacher, B-Dawk and Lewis also all deserving.
February 4th, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
Ty Law not being in the HoF legitimately makes me angry. I saw him terrorize Peyton Manning for years and they literally had to change the rules for Peyton. Ty was so dominant.
February 4th, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
I miss the HOF. We all miss the HOF.
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