Another Chance for D.T.
Jan. 30, 2009
Let me answer the most often asked question first: what are Derrick Thomas’ chances of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2009?
My answer is not very satisfying: I do not know.
After serving as part of the Hall of Fame Board of Selectors for over a dozen years, I’ve given up trying to predict what will happen in the meeting room Saturday morning at the Tampa Convention Center. Along with my fellow 43 voting members of the media we will decide on the Class of ‘09, considering 17 finalists in a meeting that can at various times be cantankerous, passionate and boring.
Going into last year’s session I thought D.T. had his best chance since he became eligible six years ago. But when the dust settled, there was one Thomas from the red and gold in, as Emmitt Thomas made the Hall, and another Thomas again on the outside. Instead, the group voted in a pair of players who in my humble opinion are not in D.T.’s class: Fred Dean and Andre Tippett.
Part of my responsibilities is presenting Thomas and when you’ve done something five times and the guts of the story have not changed in that half-decade, how do you re-write the history enough to make it compelling. I’ve watched other selectors wrestle with the same type of issues with guys like Lynn Swann, Jack Youngblood, Harry Carson and Art Monk. All eventually made the Hall. Swann was a finalist for 14 years before he earned induction. Youngblood was eight years, Carson was seven years and Monk was eight years.
It’s further evidence of how tough it is to get into the Hall of Fame. And it should be. Just being considered is quite an honor and once a player gets to the final group, you are talking about splitting hairs. It really comes down to timing.
Will this vote on Saturday be D.T.’s time? I’d like to think so. It’s close, very close.
Again, I hesitate to predict but there appear to be two automatics in the voting: defensive end Bruce Smith and cornerback-safety Rod Woodson. That takes two of the five spots available for modern-era nominees.
Tight end Shannon Sharpe has a very good chance of induction in his first season of eligibility. Let’s say he makes it, and that leaves two spots for the other 12 players.
There is a huge inequity in the Hall of Fame right now between offensive and defensive players. The selectors tried to address some of that in the Class of ‘08 with four of the six inductees coming from the defense.
Still, among the 170 modern-era players in the Hall, the offense has 107 while 62 played defense. (The remaining player is Chiefs kicker Jan Stenerud.)
That’s 63 percent vs. 36.5 percent.
Among the top five positions, four are on offense. Among the bottom seven positions, five are on defense. It breaks down over the last 11 classes to 27 on offense, 16 on defense.
If the selectors continue to address the lack of defensive players, that improves D.T.’s chances.
How it comes down, I cannot predict.
from KC Chiefs.com
