Hall of Fame 2012 class

[CC.SD]

Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martin waaaaay before Corey Dillon. aren't these the #4 and 5 rushers of all time?

[jth1331]

Hey, lets vote Cory Dillon into the HOF because he helped the Pats win a Super Bowl!
Not like Terrell Davis had over 1,000 yards, 10+ TD's in 8 playoff games.

[bearsfan_51]

Let's not let Davis or Dillon in and call it a day.

[Ness]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

Let's not let Davis or Dillon in and call it a day.

Yes. And the same goes for Holmes.

[FUNBUNCHER]

What, no Ricky Watters and Clinton Portis??lol

[Bengalsrocket]

Am I the only one who doesn't see the HoF as some sacred privilege only passed onto the most elite players?

There is always going to be tiers of greatness. Jerry Rice was better than Art Monk and Jim Brown was better than Emmitt Smith, but all 4 players should still be in the Hall of Fame.

I think special players that put there time in the league and achieved some form of greatness should be recognized in the hall of fame. Canton can never get to crowded to me, because one inductee can never take anything from another inductee, even if one is superior in every way.

All that being said, Corey Dillon never achieved the kind of greatness I'm talking about, regardless of his ring or his touchdowns. Corey Dillon was a pretty great Bengal and he helped achieve one of the greatest moments in patriots history, but he is not one of the greatest in the league.

[Ravens1991]

The hall of fame should only be for players who changed the league and are some of the greatest of all time. If you are the greatest from your team then you belong in their ring of honor.

[Splat]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

Let's not let Davis or Dillon in and call it a day.

Originally Posted by Ness

Yes. And the same goes for Holmes.

Done. Moving on.

[bearsfan_51]

Originally Posted by Ravens1991

The hall of fame should only be for players who changed the league and are some of the greatest of all time. If you are the greatest from your team then you belong in their ring of honor.

Yeah, that's never going to happen. If that was the case, the HOF would induct one player every decade, and nobody would ever go.

[FUNBUNCHER]

If Corey Dillon had the same career for one the NFL's gold standard franchises, like the Giants or Dolphins, I think he'd be serious HOF candidate.

It's like people sort of forgot how great a RB he was until he went to the Pats.

[Ness]

Originally Posted by FUNBUNCHER

If Corey Dillon had the same career for one the NFL's gold standard franchises, like the Giants or Dolphins, I think he'd be serious HOF candidate.

It's like people sort of forgot how great a RB he was until he went to the Pats.

I don't think a lot of people actually knew who he was until he went to New England.

[jth1331]

Originally Posted by Ness

I don't think a lot of people actually knew who he was until he went to New England.

I'd guarantee that 90% of people didn't know who he was until his 278 yard game against the Broncos.

[nepg]

Originally Posted by Ness

I'll just say that while I don't think Dillon is getting in, I do believe that he should at least be talked about. I definitely put him higher than the likes of George, Taylor, and Warrick Dunn.

Pretty much this. He may have only had a few big moments, but he's a Top 20 RB of All-Time both by performance as well as by pure numbers. When a guy has numbers like that, he's got to be considered.

[nepg]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

And Martin was consistently a top 2-5 runningback. It's not like Martin ever played with an elite QB (Bledsoe, Testaverde, Chad Pennington) or elite offensive lines, but he always put up great numbers, and was on some winning ball clubs (making a Superbowl, which is more than Carter's teams had done).

I don't necessarily think Martin is a better player than Carter, I think they are quite similar, I just think Martin is more likely to get in sooner.

If there's a player Carter is likely to replace on that list, it's Chris Doleman.

Wait.

You just put Bledsoe, Testeverde, and Pennington in their respective primes in the "not elite" category? WTF?

[bearsfan_51]

Originally Posted by nepg

Wait.

You just put Bledsoe, Testeverde, and Pennington in their respective primes in the "not elite" category? WTF?

Not sure if serious.

[49ers1984]

Originally Posted by Ness

Was Curtis Martin ever considered a top three running back at his position? I think you can make a case for Reed being a top three player at his position at some point during his career. It's all subjective.

1989,1991 and 1994 were the only years he may have been one of the best receivers. Other then those years he was a pretty ordinary wr. Do you really want to elect someone who never lead the NFL in any category and only passed 1000 yards 4 times?

[yo123]

Nevermind you fixed it.

[Ness]

Originally Posted by 49ers1984

1989,1991 and 1994 were the only years he may have been one of the best receivers. Other then those years he was a pretty ordinary wr. Do you really want to elect someone who never lead the NFL in any category and only passed 1000 yards 4 times?

Well statistics are a hard thing to just go by. If you watched him back then you may have a different opinion about him. Reed came through when he was needed, was great in the YAC department, and was a decent deep threat. Art Monk only went over the 1,000 yard mark 5 times is was only elected to the Pro Bowl three times out of a 16 year career. He led the NFL in receptions once. But the way he played the game and for those who actually saw him probably has something to do with why he is in today.

[bigbluedefense]

The Terrell Davis debate is one that I haven't picked a side on yet. The guy was absolutely dominant but his career was cut so short. But should we penalize him for that? Afterall, he was a running back. And in his prime, the guy was one of the best RBs of all time.

This is a tough one for me.

[bearsfan_51]

Originally Posted by bigbluedefense

The Terrell Davis debate is one that I haven't picked a side on yet. The guy was absolutely dominant but his career was cut so short. But should we penalize him for that? Afterall, he was a running back. And in his prime, the guy was one of the best RBs of all time.

This is a tough one for me.

I think you have to. What settles it for me is the fact that a lot of his yards came from his linemen chop-blocking people.

[bigbluedefense]

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

I think you have to. What settles it for me is the fact that a lot of his yards came from his linemen chop-blocking people.

But he wasn't the first and wasn't the last RB who ran in that system. He was easily the best though.

In his prime, he was just as feared as Adrian Peterson. I don't think that's an exaggeration either.

If you put a gun to my head, I say exclude him. But the man was absolutely dominant during his short prime. The sweep to TD was almost unstoppable at one point.

[bearsfan_51]

Yeah I think that's an exaggeration. Davis was never punishing like Peterson, and Davis had a ton more talent around him than Peterson.

Also, if Peterson quit the NFL today, would he make the HOF? No. Not even a chance.

[bigbluedefense]

TD was running for 1800 yards in a season while sitting out the entire 4th quarter almost every game one year.

How was he not as dominant? He was sick. But yeah, the career was just too short.

[bearsfan_51]

He was statistically dominant, but I was responding to your statement that he was "feared" like Peterson, who guys would literally shy away from tackling for his first few years in the league because he was such a brutal runner. Davis never got that kind of treatment, and he never saw 8 in the box consistently like Peterson does.

I'm not saying Peterson is better, but he's certainly more physically dominant.

[bigbluedefense]

Ok, I can agree with that. TD could truck people too though. Let's not sell him short. I remember him putting the hit stick on people.