Ask pretty much any astute observer of professional football and they’ll readily acknowledge that Mike Shanahan should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s a no-brainer.
But it hasn’t happened yet, and likely won’t for at least a few more years, given the Hall’s terrible system for selecting new members.
No Hall of Fame is perfect. Basketball, for example, lets pretty much anybody who’s done anything positive into its shrine. For instance, former Denver Nugget Dikembe Mutombo, a no-doubt Hall-of-Fame person, given all his extraordinary accomplishments off the court (like building hospitals in Africa) was nothing close to a Hall of Fame-worthy basketball player. He barely averaged double-figures in scoring and rebounding (along with one assist per game) during his 18-year career. Famous for his finger wag and strong defense, he was a one-dimensional player, and nothing close to dominant in his prime.
Baseball – more specifically the nose-in-the-air members of the Base Ball Writers Association of America – haven’t yet come to the understanding that museums are not cathedrals. The place should tell the story of the game, including the good and the not-so-good. It’s not just for choirboys. For example, two things can be true: Curt Schilling can be a horse’s you-know-what, and still be a Hall-of-Fame player. Same goes for a guy like Gary Sheffield. They are both great, HoF-worthy players, even with their personality issues. You think it’s only nice guys? Go ahead and Google Hall-of-Famer Ty Cobb.
And given all the revelations that have come out over the years from former players – including Hall-of-Famers – about the ways in which they “cheated” on the field back in their day – having the Hall choose to keep guys accused of using performance-enhancing substances (which were legal at the time) seems a touch hypocritical, right? You think it’s only ‘clean’ players? Go ahead and Google Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry.
Speaking of hypocrisy, how can the outfit that’s currently being bankrolled by online betting sites still see fit to refuse to posthumously induct its all-time leader in hits, Pete Rose?
It’s not perfect; it’s never been perfect. Will any of these places ever be?
Due to the egos involved, it’s very unlikely that we could ever get to a system that’s infallible; one that all sports could embrace. But it would be nice if each system were simpler and more transparent, as opposed to being so arduous and rigid as avoid electing a no-brainer candidate like six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick the first moment he was eligible, all because of some ridiculous voting rule.
Instead of the NFL’s mess, how about something simple like this:
As baseball does, just put 25 players (whom a panel can agree upon or who meet a statistical standard) on the ballot – and make that ballot public. Then let the most astute observers and evaluators out there – writers, broadcasters, current and retired executives, plus former players and all the living Hall-of-Famers from every NFL market – at let them each cast their votes for the 10 or 12 candidates they deem worthy of induction. Don’t place a limit on how many can be voted in during a single year. If a player reaches the necessary threshold – in baseball, it’s 75% of the votes – they’re in. Simple. If a player doesn’t make 75%, he returns to the ballot for the following year, provided that player had reached (like it is in baseball) 10% of the overall vote.
Baseball used to allow players to remain on the ballot for 15 years. That’s been amended to 10. Still, that seems more than reasonable.
This way, every first-ballot worthy player will very likely get elected on the first ballot, and the others will have their day too. And all-time NFL greats like Roger Craig, the first running back to ever gain 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season – wouldn’t have to wait three decades to get their due.
And most importantly, at least as far as Belichick and Shanahan are concerned, they should do something similar with owners and head coaches. There’s absolutely no justification for limiting the “contributors,” as they are called, to one spot per year. Why did Pat Bowlen have to wait until after Jerry Jones was elected? Bowlen’s accomplishments were just as, if not more HoF-worthy than Jones…but for whatever reason, they couldn’t go in at the same time. It’s nonsense.
Bowlen and quarterback John Elway have been in for a while now. Same with Terrell Davis, Gary Zimmerman and Shannon Sharpe. So what possible excuse could there be for Shanahan being excluded from joining them in Canton yet?
It’s the voting system, plain and simple.
Belichick will likely get in next time around, meaning all other worthy coaches like Shanahan, and former standout players who missed out during their first “window,” will have to wait. Again. And some of these guys aren’t spring chickens anymore.
Ironically, the required five-year waiting period for former players was reduced to one year for coaches, due to their advanced age. That didn’t help legendary coach Don Coryell, who was elected 13 years after he passed away – and nearly four decades after he coached his last game. Make sense of that.
Fingers crossed that Shanahan doesn’t have to wait that long. But under the current system, he might.
