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Gretz: D.T. Disappointment in Jacksonville
Feb. 8, 2005
The Chiefs have never had much success winning in the state of Florida.
That run of bad luck continued Saturday when Derrick Thomas was not voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Thomas, in his first year of eligibility, did not make the final cut to six.
He started as one of 15 and survived the first vote to 10, but did not earn enough votes to knock out any of the final six: Harry Carson, Bennie Friedman, Michael Irvin, Dan Marino, Fritz Pollard and Steve Young.
From that last group, Friedman, Marino, Pollard and Young became the Hall of Fame Class of 2005 and will be inducted during ceremonies this coming August in Canton, Ohio.
Voting totals are not released by the Hall of Fame, so there’s no way to analyze how close any of the votes may have been.
As the Kansas City representative among the Hall’s Board of Selectors it’s hard to explain why Thomas did not reach at least the final six. Going into the Saturday morning meeting, I would have placed Thomas’ chances for first-year induction at 50-50, but would have put his chances of reaching the final six at 80-20.
Discussion among the 39 voters with Thomas lasted for 15 minutes and there was only one negative comment; one of the voters questioned his consistency from game-to-game. Even post-meeting comments indicated that Thomas has a large body of support among the group. There seems little doubt that he will eventually gain induction.
What worked against him this year were two factors: a pair of long overlooked seniors candidates and controversy surrounding Carson, a former Giants linebacker who last year wrote the Hall of Fame and asked to have his name removed from consideration. Carson was upset that he’d come close for several years but had yet to earn induction.
Pollard and Friedman were two of the pioneers of the professional game who had never received the recognition due them from their playing careers in the 1920s. Discussion centered on righting a wrong that had gone on for too long.
Each Hall of Fame induction class has a minimum of three people and a maximum of six. This was the first time that two Seniors candidates were selected as part of the class; that’s at least 33 percent of the potential spots taken right there, leaving 13 candidates fighting for a maximum of four spots. Those long odds did not improve Thomas’ chances.
There was a great deal of discussion in the selection room about Carson, his career and his desire to have his name removed from consideration. Interest in seeing him breakthrough the process and gain a spot in Canton, may have taken some votes away from Thomas.
Eliminated in the vote from 15 to 10 were DE Richard Dent, DE Claude Humphrey, G Bob Kuechenberg, CB Roger Wehrli and former GM George Young. Eliminated in the vote from 10 to six were Thomas, DE L.C. Greenwood, G Russ Grimm and WR Art Monk.
The outcome was disappointing for Chiefs fans everywhere, but Thomas will continue to be eligible for induction, and figures again to be part of the class of 15 that will be discussed next year in Detroit.
from KC Chiefs.com
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