billsfreak Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 I listened to the entire interview when he had Simms in the studio with him, and I never heard him say that Simms was better than Kelly. The way I took it was that he thinks that only the very elite should get in the Hall of Fame and he didn't think Kelly, Dawson and a few others were actually at that level. He basically said that he thought that if Kelly and Dawson were in the Hall, than Simms should be too, and actually as a life long Bills fan, I don't disagree. He is tight with along of NYC athletes and he should be, since NYC is 99 percent of his listening audience, and he is opinionated, but a pretty good radio guy. I have been listening to WFAN for years, since I have been a Mets fan since the early 1970's. There was a good reason why, when they had to break up Mike and the Mad Dog that Mad Dog isn't on the Fan anymore, they clearly kept the more knowledgeable and interesting sports guy of the two.
billsfreak Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 Simms was a good QB, but he was helped immensely by a great defense, running game, and Mark Bavarro, not to mention Parcells and Belichick. Had Jeff Hostetler not led the Giants to a SB win after he got hurt during the 1990 season, Simms probably would have been considered a HOF'er. I really don't think that you can point out a Hall of Fame QB (including Kelly) who didn't have great players around them, no QB wins by himself. I do agree though, that missing the Superbowl with an injury and Hostetler getting the win, hurts his chances quite a bit.
DERRICK O Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 ...belong in the HOF along with Len Dawson. He stated Phil Simms was a better QB and should be in. I know Mike is a Giant homer, but he is one of the more knowledgable sports radio hosts across the country. I was a little dissappointed by that statement. !@#$ THAT FAT BASTARD.
McD Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 A lot of people, sportswriters included, forget it's the "Pro" Football HOF, not the NFL HOF. You have to take Kelly's play in the USFL into acct as well...those were some great years for Jimbo. Now, most will point out that the USFL wasn't a great league and I agree, but it did showcase Kelly's arm. There are two of Kelly's best years and there all but forgotten by most. Take away Marino's first couple of years, and see how much closer they are in stats. Kelly had almost 10K yds in two years there! Add that to his 35K in yds and he's at 45K. Also Marino had over 8,200 attempts vs Jimbo's 4,700. That's a HUGE difference! I bring this up because a lot of people just look at raw#'s, and that's not the total picture. Kelly was a GREAT leader and called his own damn plays...what QB does that these days, or even back then?!?! Not many, and he did a great job of mixing it up. Don't you think Kelly could have thrown for a ton more yds if he wanted to? Reed, Lofton, Beebe, Metzelaars, Thomas....Jimbo had weapons,, but he was unselfish as hell. He deserves to be a first ballot HOFer because he was a game changer, a difference maker...and that's what a true HOFer is.
McD Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 BTW...Simms played in 4 more games than Jimbo did and had a 55.4 Comp% compared to Jimbo's 60.1%...had 199 TD's to Jimbo's 237...had 2,000 LESS passing yds in roughly the same amount of attempts. Simms had only 10 Playoff TD's to Jimbo's 21. Kelly had more yds per game and took over 100 less sacks than Simms. Kelly was a Pro Bowler 4 times, and All Pro 1 time compared to Simms' 2 Pro Bowls, and ZERO All Pro's. The only thing Simms has on Kelly is his SB MVP where he had one of the best games a QB could have in a SB. Simms had a great career for sure...HOF worthy?? Not so sure.
billsfreak Posted February 4, 2009 Posted February 4, 2009 A lot of people, sportswriters included, forget it's the "Pro" Football HOF, not the NFL HOF. You have to take Kelly's play in the USFL into acct as well...those were some great years for Jimbo. Now, most will point out that the USFL wasn't a great league and I agree, but it did showcase Kelly's arm. There are two of Kelly's best years and there all but forgotten by most. Take away Marino's first couple of years, and see how much closer they are in stats. Kelly had almost 10K yds in two years there! Add that to his 35K in yds and he's at 45K. Also Marino had over 8,200 attempts vs Jimbo's 4,700. That's a HUGE difference! I bring this up because a lot of people just look at raw#'s, and that's not the total picture. Kelly was a GREAT leader and called his own damn plays...what QB does that these days, or even back then?!?! Not many, and he did a great job of mixing it up. Don't you think Kelly could have thrown for a ton more yds if he wanted to? Reed, Lofton, Beebe, Metzelaars, Thomas....Jimbo had weapons,, but he was unselfish as hell. He deserves to be a first ballot HOFer because he was a game changer, a difference maker...and that's what a true HOFer is. True it is called the Pro Football Hall of Fame not the NFL, but is it really that? If that is truly used to vote on than Flutie should be a first ballot HOFer, but we all know he will never get it. Herschel Walker would be in with his USFL years-they were unbelieveable.
KnightRider Posted February 4, 2009 Posted February 4, 2009 A lot of people, sportswriters included, forget it's the "Pro" Football HOF, not the NFL HOF. You have to take Kelly's play in the USFL into acct as well...those were some great years for Jimbo. Now, most will point out that the USFL wasn't a great league and I agree, but it did showcase Kelly's arm. There are two of Kelly's best years and there all but forgotten by most. Take away Marino's first couple of years, and see how much closer they are in stats. Kelly had almost 10K yds in two years there! Add that to his 35K in yds and he's at 45K. Also Marino had over 8,200 attempts vs Jimbo's 4,700. That's a HUGE difference! I bring this up because a lot of people just look at raw#'s, and that's not the total picture. Kelly was a GREAT leader and called his own damn plays...what QB does that these days, or even back then?!?! Not many, and he did a great job of mixing it up. Don't you think Kelly could have thrown for a ton more yds if he wanted to? Reed, Lofton, Beebe, Metzelaars, Thomas....Jimbo had weapons,, but he was unselfish as hell. He deserves to be a first ballot HOFer because he was a game changer, a difference maker...and that's what a true HOFer is. That is all true. The thing that stands out to me is his record against other HOF quarterbacks. Out of his HOF peers, Aikman, Elway, Marino, Montana, Moon and Young, he had a winning record against everyone but Aikman and maybe Young. Certainly in the big games he beat everyone but Aikman. An argument can be made that QBs don't play against each other, but it wasn't our defense that won most of those games. Therefore, I think the comparison can be made.
Recommended Posts