Hall of Very Good Class of 2016

[Ken Crippen]

The Hall of Very Good Class of 2016 has been announced:

• Gary Collins: Wide Receiver/Punter, 1962-71 Cleveland Browns
• Gale Gillingham: Guard, 1966-76 Green Bay Packers
• Jim Katcavage: Defensive End/Tackle, 1956-68 New York Giants
• Joe Klecko: Defensive Line, 1977-87 New York Jets, 1988 Indianapolis Colts
• Harvey Martin: Defensive End, 1973-83 Dallas Cowboys
• Don Perkins: Running Back, 1961-68 Dallas Cowboys
• Duane Putnam: Guard, 1952-59 and 1962 Los Angeles Rams, 1960 Dallas Cowboys, 1961 Cleveland Browns
• Isiah Robertson: Linebacker, 1971-78 Los Angeles Rams, 1979-82 Buffalo Bills
• Louis Wright: Cornerback, 1975-86 Denver Broncos

Congratulations to all of the inductees!!

[JuggernautJ]

My initial reaction (as it should be) was that "I would have thought all these guys were already in."
Meaning they all seem (to me, for what little that's worth) to be excellent candidates well deserving of "enshrinement."

Except for Duane Putnam who has no name recognition with me.
Which is also how it should be in that I always learn something new when I come here.

I am off to look up Putnam and learn some more football history.

As always, well done and congrats to the PFRA for another outstanding class!

[ChrisBabcock]

Great list of players! One of my nominees made it all the way to induction. (Robertson) Latone snubbed again though.

Except for Duane Putnam who has no name recognition with me.
Which is also how it should be in that I always learn something new when I come here.

^^^
That's the great thing about the HOVG. It forces us to dig deeper into one section of pro football history or player that one PFRA member may be very knowledgable on, but another may not have, or had even maybe never heard of. This is my second year of casting a ballot for the HOVG and each time its been an enjoyable experience researching the careers of each of the nominees to try to narrow down my list of 10 votes. As for Putnam, I'd barely heard of him before this year. He got a vote on my ballot after seeing the impressive career he had.

[JuggernautJ]

Duane Putnam Info:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tnDu00.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Putnam
From Wikipedia:
After retiring, he was the offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Any other links?

[BD Sullivan]

Putnam came to the Browns from the Cowboys in 1961 after annoying Landry by telling him that he couldn't report on time for camp because he was still running a summer camp for kids. Paul Brown asked for permission to speak with him after Gene Hickerson broke his leg and then traded for him. The Cowboys had picked him up in the expansion draft.

On a non-football note, Putnam's daughter was married to Michael Reagan in 1971, a marriage that only lasted about a year.

[TanksAndSpartans]

I was looking at this Pro Football Illustrated, 1947 list documented in Bob Gill’s article (http://profootballresearchers.com/archi ... 06-243.pdf) recently. In checking for players not in the HOF or HOVG, I noticed:

Cub Buck
Carl Brumbaugh
Ernie Caddel
George Christensen
Ed Danowski
Red Dunn
Jug Earp
Butch Gibson
Ace Gutowsky
Duke Hanny
Joe Kopcha
Jack Manders
Harry Newman
Curly Oden
Duke Osborn
Clyde Smith
Gus Sonnenberg
Mule Wilson
Wildcat Wilson

Does that look accurate? I quickly eliminated players I knew were in the HOF, then I was able to knock off plenty of players based on HOVG inclusion. Not lobbying for all of these players to get into the HOVG, but interestingly (I didn’t know at the time), 4 of them were on my HOVG ballot. The fifth, Tony Latone, I first learned of via PFRA articles (At least I think those predate my reading that book about the Maroons, but it might be the other way around) and with this being my 1st year as a member, I actually assumed he was already in the HOVG. Once I realized he wasn’t, he was the first player I listed. With the HOF senior candidate from the 80s this year, I don’t think its going to get any easier for players from the early days to get much of a look. I think HOVG is still considering players from all eras, but at some point, I wonder if HOVG will need a special senior candidate? One of the Nesser brothers just got in last year, so its probably premature, but maybe in the future....

[Ken Crippen]

Does that look accurate? I quickly eliminated players I knew were in the HOF, then I was able to knock off plenty of players based on HOVG inclusion. Not lobbying for all of these players to get into the HOVG, but interestingly (I didn’t know at the time), 4 of them were on my HOVG ballot. The fifth, Tony Latone, I first learned of via PFRA articles (At least I think those predate my reading that book about the Maroons, but it might be the other way around) and with this being my 1st year as a member, I actually assumed he was already in the HOVG. Once I realized he wasn’t, he was the first player I listed. With the HOF senior candidate from the 80s this year, I don’t think its going to get any easier for players from the early days to get much of a look. I think HOVG is still considering players from all eras, but at some point, I wonder if HOVG will need a special senior candidate? One of the Nesser brothers just got in last year, so its probably premature, but maybe in the future....

It is really up to the membership as to who is considered. In order to keep players like the ones you listed in consideration, make sure you nominate your favorites each year!!

[Reaser]

I was looking at this Pro Football Illustrated ...

That's my favorite issue of Pro Football Illustrated, for that reason. The list of players was always interesting to me.

Also, I've nominated Tony Latone nearly every year for the past seven or so years, so you can choose another player so you're not wasting one of your spots on a player guaranteed to be nominated - at least would get one more of your guys nominated.

[ChrisBabcock]

Also, I've nominated Tony Latone nearly every year for the past seven or so years,

I tried to nominate Latone this year too. However Roy Sye (or Andy? I can't remember) gave me a "do over" telling me he'd already been nominated.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Thanks for the responses. 3/5 of my selections were on the final ballot, so I can't complain. But with the earliest career start year being 1952 this year, it got me to wondering about the old timers. I liked the 1947 article just because logically 1920 wasn't as long ago in 1947 Some of the players listed were included in John's all career year teams which is also a nice recognition. I noticed we didn't have a thread where candidates were discussed, cases made etc. Would that have been frowned on?