10:08 a.m.
Slightly more than an hour ago, I walked out of the meeting room where the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee is holding its annual election meeting to pick the Class of 2010. The doors were closed and a security officer was posted on duty to assure that no one (that includes me) enters the area.
Down the hallway are a group of accountants from Deloitte & Touche who will patiently wait to tally the votes from today’s meeting. First, the 44-member selection committee will debate the merits of our two senior candidates, Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little. After the in-depth discussion, our selectors will vote. The accountants will enter the room and collect the ballots and return to their meeting room to tally the results. LeBeau and Little must receive 80% of the vote to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The results will be sealed and we won’t know until later today at our press conference whether the long-time Detroit Lions cornerback and former Denver Broncos running back will join pro football’s most elite fraternity.
From there, the group of selectors will turn their attention to the 15 modern-era finalists. I can’t imagine much time will be spent talking about Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith but there are 13 other greats that will get plenty of debate. Since it appears that Rice and Smith are obvious choices, that leaves just three more spots available as bylaws stipulate no more than five modern-era nominees can be elected per year. After what traditionally is a lengthy period, the selectors will trim that 15 down to 10. Then, we let them have a break! When they return to the room, discussion heats up as they now tasked with further reducing the list from 10 to five. From that point, the final five must get 80% of the selectors’ votes to earn election.
As I’ve said many times this week, it’s really not a case of “if” on any of these finalists rather more of a “when.”
I’ve made my way down to the main floor of the Super Bowl Media Center in the Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. It’s a ghost town as media (other than our selectors) and NFL personnel are catching up on some much needed sleep or turning their focus to Sun Life Stadium and tomorrow’s game between the Colts and Saints. A once-bustling area called Radio Row is now being dismantled as I tap away and there are only four other individuals in a large media workroom that has been filled with hundreds of media members over the past week.
This is really the Hall of Fame’s day here in Ft. Lauderdale. Later this afternoon, the media will return to the Convention Center in large numbers for our Class of 2010 announcement. For the first time ever, the “envelope” will be opened during a special show on NFL Network that airs at 5:00 p.m. ET this afternoon. Be sure to watch and find out who will join the 253 immortals already enshrined in Canton.
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Super Bowl week is in full force as we head toward a big weekend. I arrived in South Florida on Tuesday and have been running around getting the lay of the land of the Media Center as we prepare for the Class of 2010 announcement on Saturday afternoon.
It’s a great week for football – a who’s who of the NFL. It seems I can barely walk 10 feet without bumping into someone and striking up a conversation. Aside from the obvious, you know that game on Sunday between the Colts and Saints, much talk has focused on who will make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Every year during Super Bowl week, the attention really starts turning toward the Hall of Fame election that takes place Saturday morning. Especially starting today and more so tomorrow, there seems to be quite a buzz building for our big announcement.
In the past, I’ve always felt a certain momentum building for one candidate or another during the days leading up to the annual selection meeting. This year seems different so far. Two candidates appear to be locks, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith. That means that there are only up to three more spots available for the remaining 13 modern-era finalists. The senior nominees, Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little, are voted on separately from the others.
As I talk with many members of the media, a number of whom serve on our Selection Committee, this is going be one tough year. The debate is more “when” than “if.” I think it just goes to show that our selection process works very well. The finalists that will be before our Selection Committee when they meet on Saturday are quite obviously among the best to have ever played and coached in the NFL.
As one of our Committee members told me, it’s hard to get into the Hall of Fame, and it ought to be!
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The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY announced today the logo selections for the Hall of Fame plaques of its 2010 inductees. So baseball fans now know that Andre Dawson’s plaque will have him in a Montreal Expos hat.
Which brings me to the point of this blog that hopefully will answer most football fans commonly asked question of us, especially when someone like Kurt Warner or Brett Favre starts hinting at retirement.
How does the Pro Football Hall of Fame determine under which team someone is enshrined?
The answer is simple. We don’t!
An individual is elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player, coach, or contributor not as a member of a declared team. Also, it helps that our bronze busts don’t have helmets or coaching caps.
However, even though an enshrinee doesn’t choose a team, you will notice that we list enshrinees by team on our website, in our publications, and at the museum in Canton. We always list every team for which a person was associated. Our lists are broken down by noting whether an inductee spent a MAJOR or MINOR portion of his career with a team.
Assuming that Favre and Warner don’t come back next season, they’d be eligible for the Class of 2015. Further assuming that they get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Favre’s name would show up under the Green Bay Packers but he’d also be noted as spending a “minor” portion of his career with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings. Warner, on the other hand, would have his name listed under the St. Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals with a notation about him spending a brief or “minor part” of his career with the New York Giants.
Hope this clears up the issue!
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Who?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
About two weeks ago we added an element to Profootballhof.com that now allows visitors to post comments on many of the stories on that appear on our website.
Not at all surprising is the fact that the story with the most comments so far is the page about our 2010 finalists. Browsing the comments just reinforces how passionate NFL fans are about the sport, especially the teams and players, they love so much.
It also sheds a bit of light on just how difficult it is to serve on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee. Somehow this panel of 44 football experts needs to determine who from the 17 finalists will be elected to the Hall of Fame. I think one thing we can all agree on is that there are 17 deserving candidates under consideration. Yet, the Selection Committee can only pick up to seven. Our bylaws stipulate that no more than five modern-era candidates can be elected; and none, one or both of the seniors can be voted into the Hall.
We can all have some fun now by debating the merits of all of the finalists but it ultimately falls on our much respected Selection Committee to decide. They meet in South Florida on the morning before Super Bowl XLIV to discuss the merits of each candidate. The meeting will last for hours and hours but eventually we’ll find out who makes it to Canton this year. Tune in at 5 p.m. ET on Feb. 6, 2010 to find out who is in the Class of 2010.
In the meantime, go ahead and post your comments to this blog or join a debate on our Facebook page. Or, thanks to our friends at VanHeusen and JC Penney, you can voice your choice at Fanschoice.com.
Pete’s picks?
I’m generally not much into predictions on NFL games as it is far easier to analyze the games AFTER they’ve been played. However, my fellow “teammate” here at the Hall, Steve Strawbridge has included some predictions in his “Straw’s Nest” blog during the past season. He went 0-4 in his Wild-Card game predictions last weekend. I have to admit I’m not sure I would have done any better (although I’m liking the Cowboys momentum and may have picked them over the Eagles). With that stated, I’ll give it a shot for the Divisional Playoff round.
Here goes.
Saints 33, Cardinals 31
Colts 28, Ravens 17
Cowboys 30, Vikings 24
Chargers 35, Jets 17
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