Players That Should Be HOF Inductee's But Are Not .

[Doc Brown]

Steve Tasker just so I can stop hearing callers say that he should be in the Hall of Fame on One Bills Live.

 

Non Bills would be Steve Smith and Zach Thomas.

[BillsPride12]

6 hours ago, BoccesOnTransit said:

Kent Hull

He was great, I really think he got overshadowed by there already being so many Superstars on those Bills teams

[ComradeKayAdams]

12 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

Good topic for the offseason!

 

Sterling Sharpe...  When you watched him play, you thought: Here's a future Canton guy.  Some guys actually in the Hall didn't impress me that way when they played.  

 

Cookie Gilchrist...  6x All-Pro in CFL; 4-time All-Pro in AFL; 1962 AFL MVP; led team to AFL Championship in 1964; set the professional single-game rushing record (243 yards); AFL All-Time starting FB.   Larry Felser used to say Cookie was every bit as good as Jim Brown.  

 

Steve Tasker... We all know why.

 

Tommy Hughitt...  The best player on the old Buffalo All-Americans playing QB, WR, RB, punter, kicker, and defense while also serving as coach.   In 1920, Hughitt and the All-Americans finished the season with the highest point total & point differential and tied for the best record in the NFL.  With no playoffs back then, the championship was decided by a vote which we, of course, lost. 

 

In 1921, Hughitt led the Buffalo All-Americans to a 9-1-2 record.  Again, they had the highest point total and point differential.  Again, they tied for the league lead.  However, the NFL counted a Buffalo exhibition game against them and awarded the title to Chicago in a scandal known as the "Staley Swindle."   If not for corrupt NFL politics, Hughitt would have been able to claim championships in the first two years of the NFL, both as a star player and head coach.   

 

Hughitt currently sits 6th on the all-time NFL winning percentage (.694) as a coach - ahead of Belichick, Cowher, Dungy, Shula, Paul Brown, and many other current and future HOFers.  

 

Great post! I’m an amateur internet Bills historian (over at BillsFans.com), so this is a fun topic for me.

 

Regarding Cookie Gilchrist: absolutely! He was the AFL’s most Hall-worthy HB/FB running back, one of that league’s first superstars, and also a 1960’s civil rights icon for the entire sports world. The CFL was considered on par with the NFL and AFL way back then, so Cookie’s 6 years of dominance there should factor in any consideration for the PRO FOOTBALL Hall of Fame.

 

Unfortunately, Cookie is a victim of the Hall’s heavy bias against the AFL. I’ll name 3 other AFL Bills who deserve to be in the Hall of Fame:

 

1. Tom Sestak, DT: arguably the greatest defensive lineman in AFL history. He was the best player on a legendary 1960’s defense.

2. Mike Stratton, OLB: a rangy do-it-all LB (stopping the run, covering, rushing the QB) and the prototype for the modern era LB. He delivered perhaps the greatest and most impactful single tackle in pro football history (1964 AFL championship game against Keith Lincoln).

3. George Saimes, S: among the very best open-field tacklers in pro football history. Booker Edgerson couldn’t have been the shutdown CB that he was and Butch Byrd couldn’t have been the playmaking CB that he was without Saimes roaming the secondary.

 

Regarding Tasker: yes, definitely! This isn’t even up for debate with anyone who properly respects special teams…i.e. anyone who knows anything about football.

 

Regarding Tommy Hughitt: love the reference! But…he won’t ever make it in and probably doesn’t deserve to be in, either. That inaugural 1920 season has a large asterisk next to it because the All-Americans played half of their 10 games against second-rate opponents outside of the league. So the franchise really only had 1.5 excellent seasons. Also, Hughitt wasn’t obviously the best player on those early teams. They were called the “All-Americans” because they were stacked with elite college talent. I would put teammate, Swede Youngstrom, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame before Hughitt.

 

Having said all that, Hughitt was the undisputed leader of that franchise and someone whom I consider the “Godfather of Buffalo pro football.” I would recommend a spot for him in the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame and possibly also an official retirement of his jersey number, 1. Ralph Wilson doesn’t place the Bills in Buffalo had it not been for the attendance success of the 1946-1949 AAFC Buffalo Bills, and the AAFC Bills don’t exist in Buffalo without Tommy Hughitt’s successful efforts in the first half of the 1920’s.

[Lost]

Brian Moorman

[Dunkirk Donski]

Of all the players in the history of the nfl with 10 or more receptions has there ever been a better player with catches to TD ratio than Butch Rolle? 

[Augie]

Can we start with putting Butch Byrd on the Wall? THAT is a no brainer. 

[WMDman]

Boobie D 

 

for the nickname alone

[dpberr]

Leslie O'Neal, Defensive End

Played 1986-1999

Chargers, Rams, Chiefs

NFL DROY

6 Pro Bowls

132.5 career sacks, 14th in NFL History, tied with LT

 

I think he gets overlooked because he played for some very crappy Chargers teams between 86-95.  

 

[Pecos Bills]

Randy Gradishar - not the longest career, but he was dominant during his time, as part of a famous named D in Denver's "Orange Crush."

2000+ tackles in 10 seasons, 7-time Pro Bowler, 2-time 1st-team (and 3-time 2nd-team) All-Pro, 1978 Defensive MVP, that is a HOF resume in my book.

Hopefully the Seniors Committee finally lets Randy in next year.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Pecos Bills

[oldmanfan]

Bills:  Tasker obviously, Ruben Brown, and from the glory days Saimes.

 

Others:  Otis Taylor

[Gugny]

I never thought Tasker was a HOFer and I still don’t. 

[Real McClappy]

WR's

Wayne

Holt

Ward

S. Smith Sr.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Real McNasty

[mannc]

Priest Holmes.  I didn't dig deep into the stats, but for at least three seasons, in which he had more than 2000 yards combined rushing and receiving, he was clearly the best running back in football.  To me, that makes him a Hall of Famer.

[Robert Paulson]

17 hours ago, loyal2dagame said:

Steve Tasker. 

The f'n league had to change rules because of him. 

Ted Washington was a beast, but he did not define nor change or evolve his position. 

the list begins and ends with Steve Tasker for me

[DrDawkinstein]

Ryan Fitzpatrick, first ballot HoFer or the NFL is garbage.

[Chicharito]

Cornelius Bennett. The Biscuit should be in!

[BillsPride12]

31 minutes ago, Chicharito said:

Cornelius Bennett. The Biscuit should be in!

Love Biscuit he should definitely be on the Bills Wall of Fame but his NFL career was a notch below reaching the Hall of Fame 

 

Ruben Brown not even close to being a HOFer.  He was very good but made it to some extra pro bowls than he should've towards the end of his career based on name recognition.

 

Kent Hull was probably slighted on some Pro Bowls he definitely should've made it to more than he did.  

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Browns fans would tell you that Clay Matthews belongs in the HOF. 

 

19 year NFL career. 

[The Frankish Reich]

Ken Anderson.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Ted Washington

 

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Washington

 

You suck Greg Williams