| | By Greg Garber
Special to ESPN.com
Two years ago, character evolved into the overriding issue as the Pro Football Writers of America wrestled to determine whether Lawrence Taylor met Hall of Fame standards.
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In-depth: Halls of Fame
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For three days, ESPN.com takes a look at Halls of Fame in the four major sports. Among the items to expect:
Tuesday: What exactly is a Hall of Famer? ESPN.com's Greg Garber explores the notion along with closer looks at what it takes to get into the baseball, football, basketball and hockey halls of fame. Plus, your chance to sound off on what the criteria should be?
Wednesday: ESPN.com's Rob Neyer looks at two famous Hall of Famers who don't necessarily belong. In addition, we make the case for five players on the fence and ask you the question in each sport: who isn't in who should be, and who is in who shouldn't be.
Thursday: Your feedback.
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Taylor's on-field credentials were unimpeachable -- not only was the former Giants linebacker an unstoppable pass-rushing force, he changed the way teams played defense -- it was his off-the-field behavior that was in question. There was Taylor's fascination with cocaine, a host of unsavory friends and even a deadbeat dad rap.
"The bylaws are very clear," says Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated, who lobbied strenuously on Taylor's behalf. "Basically, the other side said, 'We don't care what the bylaws are -- we in good conscience can't vote for this guy.' He got in, but there were five against him and three on the fence.
"Someone asked me how I would have voted if he were a child molester. I honestly don't know. The argument, I guess, is technically the same, but we're still humans. We have opinions. Consistency, in the big picture, is overrated.
"The only consistent people are dead people."
Saturday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will embrace five new enshrinees: quarterback Joe Montana, safety Ronnie Lott, defensive end Howie Long, linebacker Dave Wilcox and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney. Montana (a three-time Super Bowl MVP), Lott (a member of the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team) and Long (eight Pro Bowls) are all marquee names with impeccable numbers.
But what about Wilcox, who waited 26 years since his 1974 retirement to join the rows of bronze busts in Canton, Ohio? He played 11 seasons for the San Francisco 49ers, intercepted 14 passes and was voted to seven Pro Bowls by his peers. The 49ers reached two NFC Championship Games with Wilcox, but couldn't beat the Dallas Cowboys either time.
|  | | Lawrence Taylor's on-the-field play was a no-brainer; it was his off-the-field conduct that made him a question mark. |
Is Wilcox a true Hall of Famer, whatever that is? Clearly, this is not an exact(ing) science. So, just what IS a Hall of Famer?
Jack O'Connell, the secretary/treasurer of the Baseball Writers Association of America, oversees the annual voting for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
"Speaking for myself, not our 498 other voters, to me a Hall of Famer is that player who was dominant at his position in his era," says O'Connell, who covers baseball for the Hartford Courant. "You have to ask yourself the simple question: Did he achieve fame? The guys who used to argue [against] Nolan Ryan ... I used to shake my head. The man was famous. He pitched seven no-hitters and struck out 5,000 guys. I don't care if his record was just over .500. I mean, what else do you have to do?
"It should be more than looking at a page in an encyclopedia."
This year's enshrinees at Cooperstown, catcher Carlton Fisk and first baseman Tony Perez, both received the mandated 75 percent of the ballots that were returned. According to O'Connell, about 550 ballots went out last Dec. 1 to eligible voters (active baseball writers for 10 consecutive years) and 499 came back by the end of the month. Fisk, who is the all-time leader in games caught (2,226) and homers by a catcher (351 of his career 376) got 79.6 percent of the vote, while Perez, who was a seven-time All-Star and drove in 1,652 runs, came in at 77.2 percent.
"We get criticized for not putting enough people in, but the fact of the matter is that this isn't supposed to be for everybody," O'Connell says. "The White House would be perpetually unoccupied if the President needed 75 percent of the electorate. Think about it: For every four ballots, you've got to be on three."
There is no particular formula, but Hall of Famers in any sport tend to have nice career numbers. Most have a degree of longevity and many experience team success. Championships never hurt, but are hardly a guarantee for a marginal player. Then again, there is Joe Namath.
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You have to ask yourself the simple question: Did he achieve fame? The guys who used to argue [against] Nolan Ryan ... I used to shake my head. The man was famous. He pitched seven no-hitters and struck out 5,000 guys. I don't care if his record was just over .500. I mean, what else do you have to do? ” |
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— Jack O'Connell, baseball Hall of Fame voter |
The New York Jets quarterback was enshrined in 1985, based largely on one game, Super Bowl III. Namath famously predicted a victory for the Jets over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts and delivered. In retrospect, that seems to have been the catalyst for his election. Namath was the first passer to surpass 4,000 yards in a season but his career completion percentage was 50.1 percent and he threw only 173 touchdowns, offset by 220 interceptions.
Consider Buffalo's Jim Kelly, who completed 60.1 percent of his passes and produced 237 touchdowns and only 175 interceptions. The real difference? Namath was 1-for-1 in Super Bowls, while Kelly was 0-for-4. That could cost him entrance in Canton. Another factor: the size of the New York markets Namath and Kelly performed in. Broadway Joe had a bigger audience than Kelly ever did in upstate New York. In terms of markets and Hall of Fame status, size does seem to matter.
Football, as far as Hall of Fame voting, tends to be a little more unpredictable than baseball. This is because there are far fewer voters (currently 36 from the PFWA) and the vote takes place the Saturday before each Super Bowl in a vocal and emotional meeting. The mandatory minimum is 80 percent, but it is generally easier to crash the gate at Canton than at Cooperstown.
Part of the reason, points out Howard Balzer, secretary/treasurer of the PFWA and a contributer to Pro Football Weekly and SportswritersDirect, is that the Pro Football Hall of Fame mandates that four new members be added each year. Sometimes, the fourth inductee doesn't collect the needed 80 percent.
"When you ask, 'Should he be in the Hall of Fame?' you shouldn't hesitate to answer," Balzer says. "The reality, of course, is that the halls have to put in a certain amount of people.
"But I still believe you should have a Hall of Greatness, not a Hall of Very Good."
Baseball has no annual minimum; as recently as 1996, the BBWA didn't not elect a single player.
Still, O'Connell sees the general malaise of inflation that has crept into all of our lives affecting Hall of Fame standards. The case in point, he says, is Perez, who made it on his ninth year on the ballot.
"He is the first player we've voted in who made it as a supporting player," O'Connell says. "The Veterans Committee has been putting those guys in for years, but this is something new for us. His [Cincinnati Reds] teammates got all the ink, but everyone you talk to says they wouldn't have won without Tony Perez.
"The standards are definitely lower today than they used to be. Years ago, most ballots wouldn't have five names checked off. Today, most of them have eight or nine names each. It's much more liberal."
Another wrinkle to consider: How will the juiced baseball affect Hall of Fame voting in the coming years? Joe DiMaggio had only 361 home runs in 13 seasons with the New York Yankees but is acknowledged as one of the game's greats. Where does that leave, say, Jose Canseco, who already has punched out 438 home runs? What about Boston slugger Jim Rice and catcher Gary Carter, who were third and fourth in 2000 BBWA voting with 52 percent and 50 percent, respectively? How many more homers would they have hit today, and would it be enough to take them off the fence? Probably.
The most (in)famous Hall of Fame debate in recent years is Pete Rose. He has been barred from Cooperstown because of his alleged involvement in gambling when he was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Unlike football, baseball has a morals clause in its Hall of Fame bylaws.
"We ask the voters to consider character, integrity, sportsmanship and the contributions to the teams for which an athlete played," says Jeff Idelson, of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. "We think those are important issues."
For O'Connell, who has been covering baseball for 25 years, Hall of Fame voting is a sacred honor. He urges baseball writers who join the voting block after 10 years in the business to visit Cooperstown to better understand the responsibility.
"I tell them to get in the car some weekend in November, or fly up to Albany to see what they're a part of," he says. "We have a cocktail party every year and seeing all the old Hall of Famers is really something. You realize you're part of something special, something bigger than all of us." | |
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