I loved watching Freeman play in his day. I would certainly put him on the list. FOURTHANDLONGs is a good list too though.
I'm shocked at my forgetting Winston Hill - must be oldtimer's disease. He is actually the perfect choice as the answer - someone who deserves to make it, but IMO has absolutely no chance of doing it (since there's at least a small chance for Klecko). If I was going to add another name to my "good but not quite good enough" list after McNeil it would be Walker. If you think that Sauer retired because of injuries (it's not exactly clear), he would go with Toon on the "good enough but injuries shortened his career" list. Given the weakness of the current crop of Jets WRs, it is striking how many good ones (compared to other positions) the team has had through the years - Maynard, Sauer, Toon, Walker, Johnson, Coles, Chrebet.
Freeman was hurt too much, talent wise he was better than Curtis but production wise the 2 aren't close. Freeman had just 2 1,000 yd seasons.
Actually, thinking about Gastineau, he played ten years at a high level, didn't miss much time with injury and held the sack record for 15 years or so. A case could be made for him as well, he was a dominant player for most if not all of his career, transgressions aside.
I always felt they were very similar RBs in style and ability, of course durability being the difference.
Yeah, I can see why he's not going to get there, as well as others on the list. But I'm a fan... if it were up to me... :smile:
Freeman I remember as being flashier.. more spin moves and such. Cross between a Barry Sanders and a Walter Payton? Just not as talented as either.. lol Curtis always seems to be more of a straight ahead back... but maybe my memories are off.
Besides the off-the-field nonsense, Gastineau suffers from two big knocks against him - that he was completely one-dimensional, and that he wouldn't have been nearly as effective without the other guys (Klecko in particular). It's always difficult to sort those things out in football, where anyone's performance depends so much on what other people are doing and what the role of the person is in the offense or defense, but I think those perceptions are more true than not true in his case.
Totally agree about Toon as the greatest Jet not in the HOF. If I was ranking real Jets careers based who should be considered: Hill Mawae Klecko Powell Martin My guess is only Martin goes in maybe Mawae sneaks in. Martin goes in because of combined career numbers with the Pats and Jets, he wouldn't go in based on his Jets career. Mawae was the best center in the league for a few years as a Jet.
Yeah, true. The same case could be made against Klecko, maybe it is why he doesn't get the recognition from the Hall now. It's a team game, unit-oriented position, Gastineau wasn't asked to do more than he did for he most part. I'm not necessarily saying he should be in the Hall of Fame, but he should certainly qualify for "Greatest Jets Who Will Never Make It", no doubt ahead of Chrebet and Dedric Ward.
We also can't minimize the effect that the sack dance had on perceptions of him. The scorn heaped on him for it seems strange now, but at the time it was a very real thing, and caused many people to dismiss him as a clown, whatever he did on the field.
If gastineau didn't have the steroid cloud and quitting on his team stigma he'd be in. In my book he still holds the sack record, I don't honor that sham of a sack record that strahan has.
As noted in my followup above, I believe that your namesake Winnie is right up there with Klecko as someone who should be in the Hall, and even more likely to not make it. I wouldn't put Mawae on the list since I do think he'll make it (and of course he's still playing), and of course Martin will make it as well.
I think about this a lot when I watch football now. Almost every guy on D now has a little act every time they make a play, any play, and a lot of the time it's some stupid, planned out crap. It doesn't bother me, sign of the times I guess, but you think back to the big deal people made about Gastineau and it does seem silly. Even sillier to keep him out of the Hall of Fame for it. If you look at his performance as a DE from 1979-88 he has a case. The way he left the game doesn't help him, either.
Its amazing the lack of love Powell gets. The guy was an outstanding player and very consistent. He did fall off the cliff overnight but before he did he was pretty much as good as it gets.
Powell too, for sure should at least be on this list if not considered for the Hall. Joe Fields to a lesser degree--the list, not the Hall.
