Lori

"This board"? Ain't just this board, or Bills fans. It's all over the league. Must be you missed this:

As previously noted elsewhere -- Moon went undrafted only because he'd already signed a CFL contract before the 1978 draft took place. The #17 pick in the first round of that draft? The Buccaneers selected QB Doug Williams, Grambling State. Edited to add Moon's college credentials, from his bio on the HOF media website: So: 242-496 (48.8 completion %), 3277 yards, 19 passing TDs, 17 INTs. To compare, let's look at PSU QB Michael Robinson's college stats: 248-505 (49.1 %), 3531 yards, 23 passing TDs, 21 INTs. And at the Senior Bowl, they wanted Robinson to switch to WR. No wonder they were projecting Moon as a mid-round pick...

Some of the pundits are beginning to weigh in...

Crap. I should've watched this thread instead of the game -- would've been more entertaining...

They'd better care -- unlike the pizza-parlor analogy, you kind of need opposing teams if you're going to run a sports league...

Year? As in only *one* year? I fear you're being optimistic...

Watched an episode of "In My Own Words" earlier this week with Stan Savran interviewing Dan Rooney. At one point Savran mentioned the bad blood between TD and Cowher, and Rooney made a crack about drafting a certain player because the two of them agreed he'd be a good selection "and they never agreed on ANYTHING." Later, when Savran asked him about deciding which one of the two of them he had to get rid of, Rooney smiled and responded, "It wasn't that difficult a decision." Hmmm...

Checking around some different boards... found a link to this thread at patsfans.com (from the 'Squawk board at the Seattle P-I): The ESPN thread is great - just about every team in the league is represented: "Green Bay here. This game sucked." "1000% AGREE. <Panthers Fan>" "Redskins fan. Agreed." "Giants fan. This was pathetic." "Raiders fan. They should have sent a memo to the Hawks that they didn't need to show up for the game." "Browns fan...angry I wasted my time watching such a BS game." "Patriot Fan who wanted the Steelers to win but not like this....it was disgusting." ...and so on... and so on....

Must be they thought we couldn't live without our yearly Brady fix. Where's that :barf: smiley when I need it?

There is that... All of a sudden I don't feel quite so bad about the Bills' poor clock management. What a comedy of errors.

Personally, I could see where Roethlisberger *might* have nicked the plane with the ball when he was first being hit. Wondered the same as many of you about the linesman running with one hand raised (as if to spot the ball short), then changing his mind once he saw BR on the ground in the endzone. Knew they weren't going to overturn it, though... It was definitely closer to being a TD than the infamous "Vinny's helmet" score for the Jets a few years back, but I'll leave it at that. But when the F%#! did it become a penalty to attempt to make a tackle? "Blocking below the waist"?!? WTF?!?!?!? Watched the game with two good friends, both Steeler fans. They were happy with the outcome (of course), but agreed the officiating was questionable at best.

For some reason, I don't see J.P. as being an "E-ville" kind of guy. Not until he buys a yacht.

I can buy that. After all, I don't think Aikman is a first-ballot guy either -- with a TRUE first-balloter like Emmitt lining up behind him, one of the most dominant o-lines in recent memory, and that defense, Cowboys backups Steve Beuerlein and Bernie Kosar could've won those Super Bowls against Buffalo. Felser vs. Gaughan is a valid point as well. Nothing against Mark, but he just took over the HOF vote what, three or four years ago? Felser's seniority may well have gotten TT over the hump. What I really don't get, though (and Sully mentioned this as well): last year, Young and Marino were the only two modern-era candidates to get the required 80%. So how does Harry Carson NOT make it last year, but all of a sudden becomes a better candidate this year in a much stronger class? Or were they just tired of listening to him? (FWIW - I thought Carson belonged, but if *I* had Buffalo's vote, I probably would have accomodated his "wish" to be taken off the list when he whined about it....)

One more thing to note here: if that trade up had happened, the Bills would have Big Ben... but they'd also have Moulds/Josh Reed starting at WR, since they wouldn't have drafted Lee Evans. Anyone remember how the offense looked with Moulds/Reed starting in 2003?

IF Bettis retires tonight, he won't be eligible until 2012. Thomas made the top 10 this year, and has five more chances before Bettis even shows up on the list. Care to rethink that?

Interesting that some here compare Moon to Tarkenton. FYI, it took Tarkenton -- who retired with just about every career passing record -- three tries before he made it into the Hall. He became eligible in 1984, but wasn't inducted until 1986. A few other QBs of note: Joe Namath - third year of eligibility Bob Griese - fifth year of eligibility Len Dawson - seventh year of eligibility Warren Moon is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and none of these gentlemen are?

Attaboy, Nick. PS: Take a close look at the picture of Bakay at the top of that page. Yes, that is a #34 jersey...

They changed those rules in 2003: Hall of Fame Board of Trustees modifies selection process Not every Seniors Committee candidate gets in, though -- Bob Hayes was passed over in 2004.

No, no, no -- after all, it's the PRO Football Hall of Fame....

As previously noted- This question originally came up when Doug Flutie was playing for Buffalo. According to Joe Horrigan, Pro Football Hall of Fame VP of Communications, the differences between the CFL and NFL games are great enough that Flutie's CFL career -- unlike Jim Kelly's and Steve Young's time in the USFL -- would not be considered by the HOF electors. The CFL has their own HOF. Those Grey Cups may have made a favorable impression on some voters... but if they were going by the rules of the selection process, Moon made it to Canton based on his NFL career alone. Edited to add: Jeff Legwold (formerly the Titans beat writer for the Nashville Tennessean, now covering the Broncos for the Rocky Mountain News) goes into more detail:

Valid point. Sometimes I hate being right...

Faine can't seem to stay healthy, though. Three seasons, three trips to I.R. ...

That was XXVI - Conlan injured his knee early in the first quarter, and the infection in Smith's knee turned out to be career-ending.

Thinking back - I seem to recall him bashing the crap out of the Bengals when they drafted Levi Jones in the first round. Gee, I wonder how that pick worked out...

I was only on their website long enough to copy their 'manifesto'... but I think even that short-term exposure dropped my IQ ten points. Flashback to college days: we (SF society) were selling buttons in the student union building (to finance our next boozefest), when one of those peace/justice/nuclear freeze groups set up shop next to us. They didn't last long, though, after we broke out the decks of Nuclear War cards and started playing... Ah, good memories.