More Raiders deserve to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame
By Aaron Juarez
Most people don't seem to understand the importance of Super Bowl Saturday. That's right, I said Saturday. Because you know what happens on Saturday? The NFL Hall of Fame's 39-member Board of Selectors gets together the morning before the game, takes a list of the 15 finalists for enshrinement, then mercilessly debates over and eliminates names until between three and six men have been given the thumbs-up for Canton.
The 39 members consist of one media representative from each NFL city, plus one writer from the Pro Football Writer's Association, and six at-large members.
The process sounds great, to sit in on this meeting and watch 39 of the most knowledgeable football minds gather and debate would be a dream. I made an honest effort last year in San Diego to gain entry into the San Diego Convention Center, where the meeting was held.
Another great reason to sit in on the meeting is for the age-old desire to second-guess just about every selection.
As an Oakland Raiders fan, it hurts to see some of the great Raiders of the 1970s and early 1980s go overlooked every year. Last year was no different. Although, yes, Marcus Allen was voted in on his first try, Kenny Stabler was given the shaft. Other deserving players such as wide receiver Cliff Branch, punter Ray Guy, cornerback Lester Hayes (a finalist this year) and quarterback Jim Plunkett have been passed up in favor of players like Lynn Swann, John Stallworth and Joe Namath.
Now, I'm not saying that the latter three players don't belong in the Hall, I'm simply saying that their credentials are in league with the former Raiders I mentioned above.
Swann and Stallworth benefited greatly from being part of the Steelers' four Super Bowl championship teams of the 1970s, yet a hard look at their career numbers does not necessarily blow one away.
Swann only caught 336 passes in his career, for 5,462 yards and 51 touchdowns. Yet what seemed to mesmerize voters was his performance in Super Bowl X, where Swann made some catches that defied belief.
Stallworth's numbers are better: 537 catches for 8,723 yards and 63 touchdowns, and it seems he was only elected in 2002 because Swann vouched for him during his induction speech in 2001.
Branch, in contrast, caught 501 passes for 8,685 yards (17.3 a pop) and 67 touchdowns. He even played on three Super Bowl-winning teams to boot! Where's the justice?
Joe Namath also is a questionable Hall of Famer, to be honest. Namath completed only 50.1 percent of his passes with 173 touchdown passes against 220 interceptions! Without Super Bowl III, it's highly debatable whether Namath would even be in the Hall today; my gut tells me no.
Plunkett, by comparison, is regarded too often as a first-round bust who had only a few decent years with the Raiders. True, Plunkett also threw more interceptions (194) than touchdown passes (164) in his career, like Namath. Yet the bulk of Plunkett's interceptions were thrown between the years of 1971 and 1977, when he played under poor systems in New England and San Francisco and took such a physical and psychological beating. In New England, Head Coach Chuck Fairbanks even attempted to install the option offense, even though Plunkett had been a drop-back passer his whole career. When Plunkett came to Oakland, he spent two years behind Ken Stabler healing old wounds, and, when finally given the starting job, led the Raiders to two Super Bowls wins while completing over 50 percent of his passes each season. If Namath is in, Plunkett deserves it just as much.
That leaves this Saturday morning at 10 a.m. It's a new year, and hopefully a new Raider will be in the Hall. Dave Casper got his due two years ago, and with luck, this year Lester Hayes will get his.
û Contact Aaron Juarez at (408) 554-4852 or ajuarez@scu.edu.