Football Fan Site

One of the top centers of all-time will continue to play the waiting game.



Thirteen-year Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Dermontti Dawson, who made seven consecutive Pro Bowls from 1992-98, was once again passed over for the Hall of Fame. This was the sixth consecutive time he failed to make it to Canton since becoming eligible in 2005.



Dawson made the cut from 15 to 10 finalists this year. But Dawson wasn’t part of the five inductees that included Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Russ Grimm, John Randle and Rickey Jackson. Senior nominees Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little also are part of the 2010 class.



This year was perhaps the closest Dawson came to making the Hall of Fame. He also was a finalist in 2008 and a semifinalist in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009.



There is an impressive backlog of players currently not in the Hall of Fame. In addition to Dawson, strong candidates such as Cris Carter, Cortez Kennedy, Richard Dent, Andre Reed, Charles Haley, Tim Brown and Roger Craig were all rejected this year alone.



Several more impressive candidates such as Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders, Jonathan Ogden and Jerome Bettis also will be eligible very soon. That will further congest the Hall of Fame voting process, which doesn’t help Dawson’s candidacy.

Former NFL star Warren Sapp has been charged with domestic battery in South Florida.

The AFC West had four chances to be represented in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Only Floyd Little made it.



Let’s look at the other three people who didn’t get voted in:



Oakland receiver Tim Brown



What happened: He didn’t make it to the final 10.



Why: There is a glut of receivers. With Jerry Rice (who spent four years in Oakland and who retired while with Denver) a shoo-in, Brown, Cris Cater and Andre Reed suffered.



Will he get in? Sure, but it may take some time. Carter has been waiting three years and he and Reed will likely get in before Brown.

---

San Diego coach Don Coryell



What happened: He didn’t make it to the final 10.



Why: This was a very stacked class. Ultimately, getting a coach in who never went to the Super Bowl was too difficult of a task.



Will he get in? Maybe someday, but it may be difficult.

---

Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe



What happened: He made it to the list of 10, but didn’t make the final cut.



Why: Like Brown, Sharpe suffered because of the logjam of receivers. Many voters considered him a receiver even though he was a tight end.



Will he get in? He has to, doesn’t he? I’ve been surprised that Sharpe didn’t make it in both years of his eligibility.

Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith has taken the stage and he’s sitting next to his close friend and former teammate Michael Irvin. Smith described the moment he was announced in the Hall of Fame Class of 2010 as “surreal.” He got to share that moment with wide receiver Jerry Rice. The two men hugged as their names were announced.

Smith and Rice were emotional as they discussed the role their families played in their athletic accomplishments. Owner Jerry Jones had tears in his eyes as he listened to Smith talk about his career. Smith thanked Jones for “opening the door.”



“Nobody could’ve written a script this perfect,” said Smith, referring to the fact that he’s going into the Hall with Rice.



Smith thanked a lot of people, including Irvin and fullback Moose Johnston. He closed by talking about his legacy.



“Consistency was the most important trait that I wanted to display,” Smith said.



He also talked about his Florida roots and how important it was for him to have this announcement take place in his home state.

Redskins guard Russ Grimm was very brief in his remarks during a phone call to the Hall of Fame announcement show on the NFL Network a few moments ago. He said he’d been watching the announcement on TV with two of his sons. Grimm mentioned a lot of the famed Hogs and attributed much of his success to teammates. He talked a little about what it was like being an offensive lineman.



“If you don’t do your job, when you pick up that paper on Monday, then obviously it’s going to be your fault,” he said.



He said his sons congratulated him and then immediately decided to go fishing. I’m sure Grimm had prepared himself for getting passed over again. Longtime Redskins beat writer for the Washington Times, David Elfin, presented Grimm during the voting meeting. He obviously made a compelling argument. But of course, Grimm’s remarkable career provided him with some solid evidence.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Jerry Rice‘s enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame stood as a formality.



Little — OK, nothing — needed to be said about the greatest receiver in 49ers history and arguably in NFL history.



The big question at receiver heading into the Hall of Fame discussion next year is whether Rice’s enshrinement clears the way for other receivers to earn a spot in Canton. Former Bills great Andre Reed made the cut from 15 to 10 finalists at the expense of Cris Carter and Tim Brown.



Having so many receivers competing for limited spots could have led some voters to favor other positions on the reduction to 10 and ultimately five finalists. Voters still could have a tough time picking between those three because each produced at a high level for an extended period. But a case can be made that more receivers deserve enshrinement, particularly as passing games become more prominent.



Should the Bills’ Super Bowl appearances give Reed the edge over Carter, who caught 43 more touchdowns, and Brown, who also produced as a return specialist? These questions can be tough to resolve. Carter made the cut to 10 in balloting a year ago, but not this time. Reed did not make the cut to 10 a year ago, but he did Saturday.



There were no such complications with Rice, nor should there have been.

Before John Elway became the unofficial governor of Colorado, there was Floyd Little.



He was the face of the Denver Broncos long before Elway developed his rocket arm. Now Little joins his Denver successor in Canton, Ohio.



In what was likely his final chance to be immortalized, the former Broncos running back was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a senior committee nominee after a 30-year wait. Had he not been elected Saturday, there was no guarantee Little would ever be considered for enshrinement again. He joins Elway and tackle Gary Zimmerman as Denver players in the Hall of Fame.



While the team’s excitement was tempered by the failed candidacy of tight end Shannon Sharpe, the franchise was still ecstatic about Little’s induction.



Getting Little into the hall of fame was a mission for the franchise. Little thanked several members of the organization Saturday for their continual pursuit to get him enshrined.



“Floyd has made immeasurable contributions to this franchise and the NFL, and he deservedly will take his place among the greatest to play this game in the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Denver owner Pat Bowlen said in a statement released by the team.



The bow-legged Little carried the franchise on his back. By far the best player on some bad teams Little, who played from 1967-75, never made it to the playoffs.



He ranked seventh in the NFL in all-time rushing with 6,323 yards when he retired and trailed only O.J. Simpson in rushing yards in that period. Little was a star for a franchise that didn’t truly find its way until several years after he retired and was the first face of the Broncos.



Saturday, he was finally rewarded for it.

All-time greats Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith led a class of seven into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. The NFL’s career receiving and rushing leaders were joined in the Hall by John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau. Little and LeBeau were elected as senior committee nominees.

Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II released a statement Saturday evening on Dick LeBeau’s induction into the Hall of Fame.



The 2010 class will be inducted on Saturday, Aug. 7, at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio.



“I would like to congratulate Dick on his election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Rooney II said in the statement. “Few men in the history of the NFL have contributed more to the league as a player and coach than Dick LeBeau during his 51 years in the league. All of us with the Steelers are thrilled with his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010.”



LeBeau will be joined by Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson and Floyd Little.

In one of the least surprising moments in recent history, former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Smith became the final member of the Cowboys’ famed “Triplets” to enter the Hall, mainly because he stuck around for so long. Smith will be joined in Canton, Ohio, by a member of the Redskins’ famed Hogs, guard Russ Grimm.



The Skins’ offensive line played a huge role in the team’s four trips to Super Bowls in the 1980s and 90s, but it didn’t have a representative in the Hall of Fame. Grimm embodied the spirit of the Hogs. He was big, brash and funny. Offensive line coach Joe Bugel presided over this remarkable group of players. Grimm was named to the all-decade team of the 80s. There was absolutely no reason for voters to keep him out of the Hall any longer.



The voters probably saved a lot of time Saturday with Smith and wide receiver Jerry Rice, two of the greatest players in league history. Maybe that allowed for more time to consider deserving players such as Grimm, Rickey Jackson and John Randle — none were viewed as locks for the 2010 class.



Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and Rice owns most of the meaningful receiving records. It’s fitting the two will be inducted in the same class because they were part of the one of the league’s greatest rivalries. The 49ers and Cowboys were the best teams in the league during the 90s and they met in the NFC title game on a nearly annual basis early in that decade.



You’ll often read about how running backs fall off a cliff at age 30, but it didn’t happen to Smith. He gained nearly 5,800 yards after turning 30. And despite his huge success, Smith always seemed to play with a chip on his shoulder that probably dates back to him slipping to No. 17 in the 1990 draft.



Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson wanted to move up and take Baylor linebacker James Francis in 1990, but the Bengals selected him at No. 12. The Cowboys moved from No. 21 to No. 17 and looked at a list of players that included Rodney Hampton and Steve Broussard. Fortunately for Cowboys fans, Jerry Jones and Johnson eventually decided on Smith. He was available at No. 17 because he didn’t run a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and he was only 5-9, 210 pounds.



But all of that weight appeared to be in Smith’s legs, and he used them to punish defenders. If football was played on a straight line, maybe Smith’s numbers wouldn’t have been so remarkable. But he seemed to turn every carry into an adventure. Linebackers rarely got a clean shot because Smith could dart away at the last moment. And when he knew a tackle was inevitable, Smith made his body limp so that he could live to see another carry. One scout told me recently that other tailbacks looked like they had been “electrocuted” when they were hit by defenders.



Maybe that explains Smith’s longevity. He never had a true complementary back so that he could catch his breath. And I don’t think he would’ve had it any other way. I’ll never forget watching Smith rush for 168 yards against the Giants in the 1993 regular-season finale when he separated his shoulder early in the game. No one would’ve questioned Smith’s toughness had he left that game. Instead, he hung in there and led the Cowboys to a division title and a playoff bye.



The best thing about the “Triplets” is that they all realize how much they needed each other. I don’t think the Cowboys would have won three Super Bowls with only Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. And you can say the same thing about the other combinations.



Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley did not make the cut to 10 modern-day players. That’s pretty surprising when you consider the man has five Super Bowl rings and was one of the most feared pass-rushers in the game. But I think Haley will have more chances in the future.



Redskins and Cowboys fans are rejoicing this afternoon. Grimm helped pave the way for John Riggins to have a Hall of Fame career. He kept Joe Theismann and Doug Williams on their feet and helped keep things loose in the locker room. I’m sure Joe Gibbs is happier than anyone about today’s announcement.



Offensive tackle Joe Jacoby is probably the other member of the Hogs that received the most individual attention. He is probably also Hall of Fame worthy, but on this day, I think all the Hogs feel they are represented.



Pretty remarkable day for two NFC East players.