as usual, Joe Klecko is left out by the writers - this time in his MMQB edition on CNN.SI - Peter King. King Chooses 10 to get in: Thurman Thomas, Mick Tingelhoff, Michael Irvin, Dermontti Dawson, Charlie Sanders, Roger Craig, Bob Kuechenberg, Derrick Thomas, Gary Zimmerman and Bill Parcells. No way Thomas gets in over Klecko and LC Greenwood! That's a travesty. Sorry he died young, but Thomas was a one hit wonder - a pass rushing LB. Dermontti Dawson over Klecko? Hell no! Zimmerman was very good, but the NFL HOF? I'm anti-Irvin... Charlie Sanders was a nice player, but the HOF? Klecko is always overlooked because he played for the Jets, didn't win a Super Bowl, and was overshadowed in NYC by LT. Klecko is a Hall of Famer for sure!
How isn't Irvin a HOFer? Performance-wise, numbers-wise......big game guy, big play guy. One of the top receivers in the league every year he played, pretty much. I understand all the side stuff makes people hate him, but doesn't what you do on Sundays at 1 determine if you should be in the HOF? Are you anti-LT regarding the HOF as well?
I would be a tough marker if I had a vote. I don't like Kenneth Davis outrushing T. Thomas in three of the Buffalo Super Bowls, although in the first one he should have been the MVP, even though his team lost. Regular season he was very good, but I don't know that I'd call him Hall of Fame great. It's close with him. Tingelhoff got manhandled in the SB by Buchanan and Culp. He was a steady player for a long period of time, but not a dominating player. Sort of like a Don Sutton of football and those type of guys usually don't make the Pro Football HOF. Irvin, Dawson, Sanders, and Craig are worth strongly considering. At the end of the day, I'd probably vote for Irvin, flip a coin on Sanders and say no to the others. Parcells will be in someday.
Thomas lead the league in Yards from scrimage 4 consecutive years and was arguable a better back than Martin every was. To me the guy that should be in that nobody mentions is Stabler.
Derrick Thomas is the only linebacker to come as close to Lawrence Taylor as a pass rusher.... Does Joe Klecko touch: Bob Lilly Joe Greene Alan Page Merlin Olsen Randy White Buck Buchanan Ernie Stautner Big Daddy Lipscomb? I do not think so.... The fact is Klecko will have to wait to get in and I think Thomas is better than Klecko... Thurman Thomas was a great RB too
zimmernamn dawson and irvin all deserve to be in no way d thomas deserves to be in over klecko the man made 3 pro bowls at three different d line positions no oine else has ever done thta if he hadnt had the run ins wiht the law after he retired i believe hed be in
Klecko was a better pass rusher than Lipscomb. Did Ray Childress also make the Pro Bowl at DE, DT, and NT?
Pros- gritty, winning player, good completion percentage Cons- had a hideous TD to INT ratio of 86-121 after the 1978 rules changes (that included two years with Oakland, two with Houston, and three with New Orleans); he almost helped the Saints to their first ever winning season, but in Week 16 1983 he threw a huge interception at the end of the game and the Rams won 26-24 and the final playoff spot from the Saints He was also an ass who once planted drugs in a writer's car.
Klecko's the fan favorite, but I absolutely take Thomas in the HOF over him. He was destined to be the next LT. 127.5 sacks in 11 seasons, 40 forced fumbles.
You really have to throw out the last 5 years of Stablers career after he left Oakland. He was a major league drinker and was pretty much shot by the time he was in his early thirties. I think he threw a ton of INT's after he left Oakland. For four or 5 years he was superb, he looked like he was throwing darts on the football field.
If you did that his career would only come down to 5 good years in Oakland. His last two years in Oakland he threw 42 touchdowns and 52 interceptions.
former Raiders and Oilers teammate Dave Casper, after Stabler was traded to New Orleans: "Stabler set coaching back 50 years. He knows everything there is to know on a football field, but when they give him his game plan on Wednesday he probably takes it home and throws it in the wastebasket. No one ever suspected how little he knows about the game plan on a particular week. He's fooled them all his life and he continues to fool them." Hall of Fame committee member Paul Zimmerman on Stabler: "Casper was a real weirdo. I don't know how many friends he had. Strange guy. Stabler was too. He was not a good guy either. When Stabler's name came up for the Hall of Fame, it was one of the few times in my life, during a Hall of Fame committee meeting, that I ever stood up and really dinged a guy. I said, 'You cannot elect this man to the Hall of Fame.' One jackass there had said, 'He's always been great with the press.' Well, he wasn't great with the press. Bob Padecki of The Sacramento Bee was down in Mobile to interview him once. (Stabler and his friends) planted drugs in his car and he wound up in prison for the night until the police let him go. It was a rigged drug-bust that Stabler had organized. That's the kind of thing he does with those fucking redneck friends of his. As for the Hall of Fame, "Snake" was one of the greatest passers that ever lived. He had that Joe Montana-like timing. But he refused to dedicate himself to the game of football, and because of that he is one notch lower than the quarterbacks that are in the Hall. He doesn't get my vote." Zimmerman was asked if Stabler was capable of leading the 1980 Raiders to the Super Bowl had he not been traded to Houston before the season. "No, because I don't think they would have played as hard for him. The Raiders played really hard for Plunkett. They responded to him. I think the players had had enough of Stabler. That team needed some new direction at quarterback. That's why they went after Pastorini, although that probably wouldn't have worked out real well either. Plunkett kind of fell into their lap and was ready to go after sitting on the bench for a few seasons to clear his head."
Dan Hampton got in because of his rings....but I still rate him over Klecko, just slightly....He deserves it, but over Derrick Thomas? No WAY
