The first item on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s mission statement is to “honor the heroes of the game.” It’s a shame that they have to honor some of those heroes after their deaths.
Is it really as honoring to deceased football heroes as it is to one that is alive? They can’t savor the moment. They can’t thank all the other people that helped them along the way. They can’t put on the gold jacket.
In its current form, the selection process is broken. Attempts to fix it have fallen flat or have not been enough.
It’s clear now more than ever that the selection process needs a major makeover.
The previous fix to a flawed system was to add senior committee nominees and the contributor category. The senior committee nominated Ken Stabler, who passed away in July, as a candidate on Wednesday. Since 18 of 21 senior committee nominees are now in, Stabler’s odds are very good, but it still feels wrong.
Why did it take Stabler’s death for the hall of fame to honor him? Why does there even have to be a senior committee candidate? Why did they have to add a “contributor” category in 2015 to honor people that clearly deserved the honor?
The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee has 47 members—one for each city with an NFL team (two for New York), one member from the Pro Football Writers of America and 13 at-large delegates. The senior committee includes the nine veteran members of the overall selection committee and there is a subcommittee to select finalists for the new contributor category.
Once selected, committee members have the job as long as they show up. They don’t even have to cover the team, live in the city or cover the sport anymore. The Supreme Court of the United States has similar rules for its justices, but they still have to do work in their field.
SCOTUS also uses a simple 4-3 majority. A nominee for enshrinement needs 80 percent of the votes to get in. More limiting is the fact that there can be no more than eight selections in any given year, even if there are dozens of candidates that would get 80 percent of the vote.
Certain players have to wait many years get in. Stabler’s time ran out. He hadn’t even been a finalist since 2003—12 years after being a finalist for consecutive years in 1990 and 1991.
The more time passes, the harder it can be for players to get in. They become forgotten childhood heroes and it can be harder to compare them to other greats of the current era because the game evolves.
The selection committee has a tough job, but the process is begging for an overhaul. It’s dishonoring to the men that deserve enshrinement now and in the future to continue such a flawed process.
