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Thurman, Andre and Ralph on the Hall list


duey

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I always wonder why they put Art Modell on this list. He fugged over his city & some of the most loyal fans in football. And they want to honor him? I hope if he ever gets in, the people of Cleveland drive to Canton and utterly make a mockery of the induction. I know I would if I was in their shoes.

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HOF Locks: Thurman, Reggie, and Troy

 

I think Michael Irvin will get in this time around. Warren Moon will be close also.

 

I don't think Andre gets in right away. Eventually he will but not for a couple years. The next couple years will have a lot of good players coming through for HOF condsideration.

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I always wonder why they put Art Modell on this list.  He fugged over his city & some of the most loyal fans in football.  And they want to honor him?  I hope if he ever gets in, the people of Cleveland drive to Canton and utterly make a mockery of the induction.  I know I would if I was in their shoes.

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I recall reading an article awhile back that said as much of a prick as Modell was for moving the Browns, he actually helped stabalize the NFL. It sent a shock to the other NFL cities that they should build/improve or consider building/improving stadiums and improve lease agreements or they too could lose their team.

 

Off the top of my head, since the Browns moved:

Bills: Renovated the Ralph

Steelers: New Stadium

Cincinnati: New Stadium

Patriots: New Stadium

Indy: Trying to work out new stadium deal

Philly: New Stadium

Washington: New Stadium

Chicago: Renovated/New Stadium

Detroit: New Stadium(i think)

Tampa: New Stadium

Seattle: New Stadium

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Steve Tasker is on the list, so is Darryl Talley, Cornelius Bennett, Fred Smerlas, Kent Hull

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Have I mentioned how much I despise Smerlas lately? No...

 

Well, now I have

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Devil's Advocate here.

A co-worker asked me if Ralph was in the HOF, I told him no & here's why he isn't:

For years Ralph was a known cheapskate who wouldn't pay anyone their worth.

He's the only owner I know of who lost the top pick in the NFL draft to the CFL.

When the USFL came around, his team lost a #1 pick and the team's top RB (Joe Cribbs) to the upstart league.

For years, the Bills were the laughingstock of the NFL, having the league's worst record in 1968 (AFL), 1971, 1984 and 1985. Among his more bizzare moves was the resignation of John Rauch before the 1971 season. In July 1971 Rauch criticized ex-Bills Maguire & McDole. Ralph told Rauch he was going to make a public statement defending the 2 players. Rauch resigned 5 days into camp and Ralph made Harvey Johnson, who wanted nothing to do with the head coaching job head coach. That was a 1-13 season.

Currently praised for keeping the Bills in Buffalo, we older fans remember his threats to move to Seattle, among other cities.

There was the dark period between the late 1960s and mid 1980s which would once in a while have some light due to fan disinterest to the point that Ralph would hire a decent coach to fix the franchise. It worked in the early 70s when Lou Saban came back before getting disgusted with Ralph & in the early 80s when Chuck Knox brought the team back to respectability before getting too upset with Ralph's stinginess. Although he lasted through the 1982, Knox was POd at Ralph from 1979 on when he lost Cousineau to the CFL.

Ralph gained favor among fans after the Super Bowl years, but reverted to the old Ralph in 2001 when he fired Wade Phillips and tried to get out of paying him by saying Wade was insubordinate because he wouldn't fire Ronnie Jones. His treatment of Wade-he even cancelled Wade's family health insurance without Wade's knowledge turned off some people who were forced to remember how Ralph can act at times, possibly dooming any chance he had at the HOF.

Ralph has been notorious for underpaying his coaches. Some on this board claim TD doesn't want a head coach who could threaten his power-more likely it's Ralph not wanting to pay top $ for a head coach who would demand Ralph's money.

 

I like Ralph, but I understand that the guy's got a dark side that rears it's ugliness. It's that dark side that has kept Ralph out of the HOF, the Wade stuff possibly being the final straw at a time that Ralph's induction seemed imminent. I hope Ralph makes it to the HOF in his lifetime, but if the voters turn him down, I can understand why, better than a lot of the bandwagon folks from the 90s or the younger Bills fans who haven't seen the worst of Ralph.

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Devil's Advocate here.

A co-worker asked me if Ralph was in the HOF, I told him no & here's why he isn't:

For years Ralph was a known cheapskate who wouldn't pay anyone their worth. 

He's the only owner I know of who lost the top pick in the NFL draft to the CFL. 

When the USFL came around, his team lost a #1 pick and the team's top RB (Joe Cribbs) to the upstart league.

For years, the Bills were the laughingstock of the NFL, having the league's worst record in 1968 (AFL), 1971, 1984 and 1985.  Among his more bizzare moves was the resignation of John Rauch before the 1971 season.  In July 1971 Rauch criticized ex-Bills Maguire & McDole.  Ralph told Rauch he was going to make a public statement defending the 2 players.  Rauch resigned 5 days into camp and Ralph made Harvey Johnson, who wanted nothing to do with the head coaching job head coach.  That was a 1-13 season. 

Currently praised for keeping the Bills in Buffalo, we older fans remember his threats to move to Seattle, among other cities.  

There was the dark period between the late 1960s and mid 1980s which would once in a while have some light due to fan disinterest to the point that Ralph would hire a decent coach to fix the franchise.  It worked in the early 70s when Lou Saban came back before getting disgusted with Ralph & in the early 80s when Chuck Knox brought the team back to respectability before getting too upset with Ralph's stinginess.  Although he lasted through the 1982, Knox was POd at Ralph from 1979 on when he lost Cousineau to the CFL.

Ralph gained favor among fans after the Super Bowl years, but reverted to the old Ralph in 2001 when he fired Wade Phillips and tried to get out of paying him by saying Wade was insubordinate because he wouldn't fire Ronnie Jones.  His treatment of Wade-he even cancelled Wade's family health insurance without Wade's knowledge turned off some people who were forced to remember how Ralph can act at times, possibly dooming any chance he had at the HOF.  

Ralph has been notorious for underpaying his coaches.  Some on this board claim TD doesn't want a head coach who could threaten his power-more likely it's Ralph not wanting to pay top $ for a head coach who would demand Ralph's money. 

 

I like Ralph, but I understand that the guy's got a dark side that rears it's ugliness.  It's that dark side that has kept Ralph out of the HOF, the Wade stuff possibly being the final straw at a time that Ralph's induction seemed imminent.  I hope Ralph makes it to the HOF in his lifetime, but if the voters turn him down, I can understand why, better than a lot of the bandwagon folks from the 90s or the younger Bills fans who haven't seen the worst of Ralph.

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Very well said. I haven't forgotten those dark times either, what a disgrace. I'm glad he eventually loosened up & began spending $ on the team, but IMO he still doesn't belong in the HOF.
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Hull, perhaps. Reed lifted his leg and piddled on football, so he's out. Thomas was certainly a decent player, but so were other rb's during his playing time. And he had his snits, too, that didn't exactly endear him outside of Buffalo...

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I like your avatar :doh:

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I recall reading an article awhile back that said as much of a prick as Modell was for moving the Browns, he actually helped stabalize the NFL.  It sent a shock to the other NFL cities that they should build/improve or consider building/improving stadiums and improve lease agreements or they too could lose their team.

 

Off the top of my head, since the Browns moved:

Bills: Renovated the Ralph

Steelers: New Stadium

Cincinnati: New Stadium

Patriots: New Stadium

Indy: Trying to work out new stadium deal

Philly: New Stadium

Washington: New Stadium

Chicago: Renovated/New Stadium

Detroit: New Stadium(i think)

Tampa: New Stadium

Seattle: New Stadium

489036[/snapback]

Didn't Green Bay also do some renovations?

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If it wasn't for Ralph Wilson, who knows where the NFL would be today? He was cheap in the 70's, no question about it but he single handedly kept the AFL afloat in the 60's, specifically lending money to Al Davis and Billy Sullivan to keep the Raiders and Patriots from folding. No Oakland, no New England and the AFL probably would have folded. That would have probably meant no merger and no Superbowl. More importantly, no Buffalo Bills. Starting in 1986, RW spent $$$$ and the Bills built a team that went to the playoffs 6 straight years from 1988-1993 including 4 straight Superbowls and had 10 playoff apperances in 12 seasons from 1988-1999 (only missing in 1994 and 1997). If anyone belongs in the HOF, it is Ralph Wilson.

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The official announcement from the HOF website:

2006 Preliminary Nominees Announced

alphabetical list

 

2005 finalists: Harry Carson, Richard Dent, L.C. Greenwood, Russ Grimm, Michael Irvin, Bob Kuechenberg, Art Monk, Derrick Thomas, Roger Wehrli, George Young. Odds are at least one of them gets enough votes this time; I was mildly surprised Thomas didn't make it last year.

 

Notable 2006 first-timers: Aikman, Moon, Andre, Thurman, Reggie. (Bruce Armstrong and Dermontti Dawson were darn good linemen, but the big uglies rarely get in on the first try - John Hannah, Anthony Munoz, and Jackie Slater are the only ones since 1987.)

 

Reggie's as automatic as it gets - I wouldn't be shocked if his vote was unanimous. Aikman probably gets in because of the Super Bowl hardware, even though IMO he doesn't measure up to the other recent QBs enshrined. Moon? I don't know. His CFL numbers don't count, remember, and some voters might make the argument that his NFL yardage is merely the result of the run-and-shoot...

 

As for the Bills:

-Thurm's got a decent chance - every single eligible RB ahead of him on the all-time rushing list is already in, he's on the 1990's All-Decade Team, and nobody else has ever led the league in yards-from-scrimmage four straight seasons.

-Andre should have a shot, but I'm not holding my breath. WRs tend to be marginalized; Steve Largent was the last first-time eligible receiver to be elected. Fair or not, I can also see Irvin going in before 'Dre. Reed has better numbers, but Mikey's got the rings, the nickname, and the national TV gig...

-Biscuit? Borderline at best. He'll be on the Wall of Fame sooner rather than later, but didn't make enough of an impact on a national level.

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Guest BackInDaDay
The official announcement from the HOF website:

2006 Preliminary Nominees Announced

alphabetical list

 

2005 finalists: Harry Carson, Richard Dent, L.C. Greenwood, Russ Grimm, Michael Irvin, Bob Kuechenberg, Art Monk, Derrick Thomas, Roger Wehrli, George Young. Odds are at least one of them gets enough votes this time; I was mildly surprised Thomas didn't make it last year.

 

Notable 2006 first-timers: Aikman, Moon, Andre, Thurman, Reggie. (Bruce Armstrong and Dermontti Dawson were darn good linemen, but the big uglies rarely get in on the first try - John Hannah, Anthony Munoz, and Jackie Slater are the only ones since 1987.)

 

Reggie's as automatic as it gets - I wouldn't be shocked if his vote was unanimous. Aikman probably gets in because of the Super Bowl hardware, even though IMO he doesn't measure up to the other recent QBs enshrined. Moon? I don't know. His CFL numbers don't count, remember, and some voters might make the argument that his NFL yardage is merely the result of the run-and-shoot...

 

As for the Bills:

-Thurm's got a decent chance - every single eligible RB ahead of him on the all-time rushing list is already in, he's on the 1990's All-Decade Team, and nobody else has ever led the league in yards-from-scrimmage four straight seasons.

-Andre should have a shot, but I'm not holding my breath. WRs tend to be marginalized; Steve Largent was the last first-time eligible receiver to be elected. Fair or not, I can also see Irvin going in before 'Dre. Reed has better numbers, but Mikey's got the rings, the nickname, and the national TV gig...

-Biscuit? Borderline at best. He'll be on the Wall of Fame sooner rather than later, but didn't make enough of an impact on a national level.

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Lori, you are a treasure... :doh:

I'd like to see Carson get in. He was the Giants' Shane Conlan.

Thomas is a sentimental favorite, considering his untimely death, but production wise, I put him on par with Biscuit.

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