An Early HOF Preview

So J.C Penny is doing some thing where you can vote on who you think is the most deserving nominee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Check it out here. Obviously, Jerry Rice and Emmit Smith lead the list. What intrigues me is the other candidates that are there but are not getting the same attention. Really, it boils down to four players- Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby, Brian Mitchell and Ray Guy.

Grimm and Jacoby are both members of the Hogs, arguably the greatest offensive line in the history of football, Grimm at guard and Jacoby at tackle. They each won three Super Bowls with the Redskins. They were each selected to 4 straight Pro Bowls. They were elected members of the All-Decade team for the 1980s. It baffles me that there is no representative for the Hogs in the Hall of Fame.

Ray Guy and Brian Mitchell are examples of the bias against special teams players in the NFL. They are, simply put, the greatest players to ever play their position. Guy was such an amazing punter that they named the punting award after him. Mitchell is not only second in total yards in the NFL's history (behind Rice and ahead of Walter Payton), but he is first in both kick-off and punt return yardage, second in punt returns for touchdowns and was easily the most effective special teams player of the 1990s and early 2000s. Again, these two belong in the Hall. Maybe the voters will listen.... but I doubt it.