http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/10/20/mail/index.html?eref=sihp NYSE representation if it happens.
I've been waiting to go to Canton for when a jet finally gets inducted. i thought for sure I'd be waiting a few years till C-mart is eligible..but if Klecko can get in thats even better. it's about time the sack exchange is represented in Canton..This is the first good jets news in about 2 weeks.
I got an email the other day that tickets for the induction are available...It's going to be tough to get them for next year with Emmitt and Jerry Rice going in though.
Here you go: http://www.profootballhof.com/enshrinement/ticket_policies.aspx I've been to the HOF twice and it would be nice to see Klecko go in, but I'm waiting until Curtis gets inducted to go back.
Am I missing something? How has anything changed, just because Peter King has decided that he supports Klecko? I will be completely shocked if Klecko ever gets in - the only way I see it happening is if the Jets become perennial contenders, which would then begin to attach a positive connotation to previous players for the franchise. Until that happens (if it ever does), I don't think that there is any chance that a player from a "loser" franchise like the Jets will suddenly be considered after years of being ignored. It's not fair, but it's the way it is.
You might be right but I don't see what determines that. If I'm not mistaken Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus played together and never appeared in a playoff game.
He totally deserves to get in, is better then many who are already in, and it is a joke that he's not in. That said, I expect the screwjob to continue, hope Im wrong
It would just be nice to have a bright spot from our long-suffering history (i.e. The N.Y.S.E.) get some recognition without it having to do with Gastineau's late hit.
Obviously it's not impossible for players on bad teams to get in, but you just named possibly the greatest linebacker who ever played, and someone who might have broken every running back and kick return record if his career hadn't been drastically cut short by injuries. IMO at his best Klecko was not close to the level of either Sayers or Butkus at their best. Namath was, and that's a big reason why he made the Hall despite mediocre career numbers. Again, this has much less to do with reality than with perception. I think that Klecko is viewed as a very good player who was the best defensive lineman ever for the Jets, but since the Jets are a "loser franchise" that gets undervalued and dismissed (even thought the Jets obviously weren't losers at all some of the years Klecko played). Sayers and Butkus are viewed as all-time greats (one of whom having had his career cut short by injuries) who hapened to play on a bad team. That's a very different thing.
Do you think it hurts Klecko's chances because the Sack Exchange is/was viewed as a collective entity? Gastineau had sack numbers almost worthy of the Hall and he played ten years, maybe people attribute Klecko's success to that? I see what you're saying about the franchise as a whole, but those Jet teams were mostly good ones, went to the playoffs four times in a six-year span and to the AFC Championship game. You can liken them to the Chargers of the same era--never reached the Super Bowl but they had Fouts, Winslow, Joiner, etc. Of course offensive numbers are easier to quantify, too, but I think Fouts is in the Hall, maybe Winslow, too.
I think one of the things that hurt Klecko is a lot of his high sack total years happened before the sack became an official stat. His 20 sack season isn't even on record.
That's a great point, I forget about that all to often. LT would be the Giants sack leader if not for that.
Deacon Jones would have the single season sack record if they were recorded back in the day. he had somewhere around 26 in one season.
This is exactly my point - the Jets teams of that time were, in fact, good, yet that doesn't change the perception. It's just another example of the Same Old Jets mindset. It's not only fans who fall into that trap - it's the media too. The Chargers never had that, and that's part of why Fouts, Joiner, and Winslow are all in the Hall of Fame, despite the fact that they only made the playoffs four times and never won more than one playoff game in a season. The points about offense being easier to quantify, sacks not being an official stat for part of his career, and the view that part of his success came from Gastineau could be part of it too, which only goes back to the point of my original post - I see no reason to think that this year will be any different from years past. Klecko desrves to get in, but he won't.
