Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I've always liked Witten but never really thought of him as a HOFer...but he has nearly 11,000 receiving yards and IIRC is the 2nd leading TE in history to Tony Gonzalez. Do you think he is a HOFer?

I think his level of consistency for so long gets him in. He was never The Best at his position, (uh oh, there's that argument again!), but probably a top 5 TE for a decade stretch of time. Probably top 3 most of those years.

Definitely think Jason Witten's a HoF-er. 1st team all-pro 3 times, 10 pro bowls. Has 992 catches currently placing him 11th all-time, and he'll move up (likely 8th or so) by season's end, which is excellent -- especially for a TE (only Tony Gonzalez has more at his position).

I thought of him as a Hall of Famer while watching him. Many voters will see it the same, I would imagine. The Pro Bowl stuff and stats will help.

Rick Gosselin's take on Witten's candidacy for the PFHOF:

http://www.sportsdaydfw.com/dallas-cowb ... terference

Ken Crippen wrote:Rick Gosselin's take on Witten's candidacy for the PFHOF:

http://www.sportsdaydfw.com/dallas-cowb ... terference

I recall a Larry Felser article on pro football HOF selection. He wrote that tight ends don't excite selectors.

We're dealing with a new age when it comes to thinking about these positions, where there's a blurring between the roles TEs and WRs play. I forget the source for this, but my recollection is that the thing that finally swung the last few votes over for Art Monk was Joe Gibbs telling them that Monk basically operated as a tight end in that offense, which I guess put a little extra shine on his numbers.

I get why they made Ditka and Mackey and the others wait. But given that it's not like there was a stampede of receivers bulldozing their way past those guys into Canton, I don't know that the waits were as egregious as Gosselin suggests. Gonzo will go in on the first ballot, obviously. Gates will wait, but not too long. Witten will have to wait a little longer, and probably he should. You look at his teammates over the years, and he had an awful lot of quality players there contributing to his success, which makes the argument for inclusion a little bit more challenging.

Kind of saw him as a "compiler" like Craig Biggio, who hung around for 3.000 hits but was never considered dominant at his position. And I say that as a Dallas fan.

Ken, thanks for posting. Gosselin's probably right -- Witten will likely wait a while, but he'll get in. And as he correctly points out, no TE has ever been first ballot. It's possible Tony Gonzalez becomes the first, but it's no guarantee.

Two other things likely impacted John Mackey's HoF case besides the usual slowness to elect TEs:

-his Union presidency and activism.

-a perception that he didn't have the best hands. Or at least that's what Baltimore HoF panelist John Steadman claimed, and he apparently tanked Mackey's case to the committee for this reason. There used to be an article up by Baltimore sportswriter Mike Preston (unfortunately no longer online) saying he exposed Steadman's behavior publicly, and Mackey was finally elected the following year.

Bryan wrote:I've always liked Witten but never really thought of him as a HOFer...but he has nearly 11,000 receiving yards and IIRC is the 2nd leading TE in history to Tony Gonzalez. Do you think he is a HOFer?

Isn't the position more commonly known as a BTE - "Big Tight End" - In nearly every game the player
at this position is referred to as a "big tight end". No other football position gets an adjective as often.