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Gretz Says Hall of Fame Presentation Critics Have No Clue
Feb. 10, 2005
KCFX's Bob Gretz took a couple of days off after a busy weekend that included the Pro Football Hall of Fame vote on Saturday and the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Now that he's back in town, he's firing back at his critics.
First up is Sports Illustrated's Paul Zimmerman, who attacked Gretz's presentation on Derrick Thomas to the Hall of Fame voters and basically suggested that Gretz blew Thomas' chances of gaining entry. Gretz told me Wednesday that he stands by that presentation and that Zimmerman broke the most revered rule among Hall of Fame voters.
“The one thing we're told, the one rule that is stressed over and over and over,” Gretz said, “is that what is said in that room stays in that room. Certainly you can generalize your comments about what goes on in there, but you never attach names.
“I find it interesting that he's the one person who has emphasized that rule to everyone else over the years, yet he would break that rule himself.”
Gretz also responded to those in the Kansas City media who have piled on the criticism, as well as anyone in the Chiefs' front office who may have done so privately.
“If anyone out at Arrowhead has something they want to say to me,” Gretz said, “they know how to reach me. They certainly haven't hesitated in the past.
“As for some of the people (in the Kansas City media) who've said some things, I guess I'm not surprised. You consider the source in those individual cases.”
The controversy started after Gretz, Kansas City's Hall of Fame voting representative, made his presentation of Thomas on Saturday to the 38 other voters. Thomas subsequently did not receive enough votes to make the Hall.
Zimmerman, also a Hall of Fame voter, then wrote that Gretz made the mistake of mentioning that some people questioned Thomas' skills as an all-round linebacker. “Once that was in the voter's mind,” Zimmerman wrote, “that (ended) Thomas' chances.”
“What Zimmerman doesn't get is that basically my entire presentation was based on debunking the myth that Derrick wasn't an all-round linebacker,” Gretz said. “I rattled off testimonials from Marv Levy and Bill Cowher and Marty Schottenheimer and Dan Reeves and Jim Kelly.
“In fact, since Zimmerman wrote what he wrote, I've had three phone messages from other voters, and I won't reveal their names, who've said that the presentation is what changed their minds to go ahead and vote for Derrick.
“What's clear to me, if you've ever read anything (by Zimmerman), is that he's the one who had his mind made up not to vote for Derrick before we even started.”
from Kansas City.com
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