The Super Bowl also brings with it a tradition highlighting the NFL’s history, the election of a new class of selectees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This year’s Hall of Fame class includes cornerback Jack Butler, center Dermontti Dawson, defensive end Chris Doleman, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, running back Curtis Martin, and offensive tackle Willie Roaf. Guard Dick Stanfel, who was one of the two seniors nominees with Butler, was the only of the seven finalists not selected for enshrinement.
With no high profile players in their first year of eligibility, this seemed like a good year for the board of selectors to enshrine strong candidates who’d been close in the past but hadn’t had quite the record of accomplishment or played a position that tends to be less well-represented in Canton. Doleman and Martin seem to fall into the former category, being a cut below the top-level players at their position like Reggie White and Emmitt Smith, while Dawson, Kennedy, and Roaf are in the latter category. I’m particularly happy to see Dermontti Dawson make it, as he’s one of the absolute best centers of all time and was chosen All-Pro six consecutive seasons.
Before voting up or down on modern-era candidates Dawson, Doleman, Kennedy, Martin, and Roaf, the board of selectors first cut the list of fifteen finalists down to ten. The five players eliminated in that round of cuts were running back Jerome Brown, wide receiver Tim Brown, owner Eddie DeBartolo, outside linebacker Kevin Greene, and offensive guard Will Shields. The list was then whittled down from ten to five, and wide receiver Cris Carter, outside linebacker/defensive end Charles Haley, coach Bill Parcells, wide receiver Andre Reed, and cornerback Aeneas Williams were eliminated.
One of the stories not related to the six selectees will be the board of selectors’ continuing problems with the wide receiver position. Tim Brown, Cris Carter, and Andre Reed all have numbers on par or better with wide receivers who have already been enshrined, but none made it to the group of five finalists this year, and receivers with even better numbers are on the horizon. Art Monk, a very controversial choice in some circles, was enshrined recently as an attempt to break the receiver logjam, but it seems not to have worked, and the problem will only get tougher going forward.
Congratulations to Messrs. Butler, Dawson, Doleman, Kennedy, Martin, and Roaf, all of whom are very worthy enshrinees.
