Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Wanted to get everyone's input here on if you would vote for Hester for the HOF or if you think he will get in.

I'm not sure he will ever get in via the usual ballot procedure but could definitely see him as a guy the senior committee puts in.

He's the best kick returner of all time. He has scored one more TD in his career than Terry Metcalf did. I'd rather have Metcalf. I'd rather have Eric Metcalf as well.

I consider Ray Guy's selection to be a joke. Hugely overrated player. But if you're going to put in a KR, Hester's the best there has been. There have been others who played other positions, were better overall, but Hester will probably get some support.

Brian Mitchell might be my guy.
(led the NFL 4 times in all-purpose yards)
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcBr00.htm

More interesting than any single player being inducted would be the "flood gates" (long ago rent asunder) that would open for a plethora of special teams players.
"If ABC (Devin Hester, Ray Guy) is enshrined then why isn't XYX (Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Adam Vinatieri)?" will be the dominant argument.

But I think that is the future of the Hall of Fame...
(There will be more special teams players in the Hall)

JuggernautJ wrote:Brian Mitchell might be my guy.
(led the NFL 4 times in all-purpose yards)
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcBr00.htm

More interesting than any single player being inducted would be the "flood gates" (long ago rent asunder) that would open for a plethora of special teams players.
"If ABC (Devin Hester, Ray Guy) is enshrined then why isn't XYX (Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Adam Vinatieri)?" will be the dominant argument.

But I think that is the future of the Hall of Fame...
(There will be more special teams players in the Hall)

I have been hard on Vinatieri in the past, but I think he will go in on the first try. He's at 2378 points scored, just behind Gary Anderson with 2434, so he will pass him next season as he only needs 57 points. Morten Andersen is the career leader with 2544, so Vinatieri will get the record in 2018 as it is unlikely he will get 167 points next season as his career high is 141. I think he will last at least two more seasons; even with two mediocre seasons he will break Andersen's career record Over the past three seasons Vinatieri has been 82-89 in FG and 126-129 in XP, and by the way, over that span he was 42-44 years old. He seems to be getting better as he gets older, and there are few historical parallels for this in pro football history. I used to think he was overrated but now I think he is one of the five greatest kickers ever, and by the time he retires, he should very well be in the top three with Groza and Stenerud. Morten Andersen has had trouble getting into Canton, but the fact that Vinatieri will likely retire the career scoring leader, and have more Super Bowl rings than any other kicker (4), and will have been in the postseason virtually every season of his career, and had quite possibly the greatest clutch kick of all time (the long kick to tie the game at the end of regulation of the Tuck Rule game) along with last second game-winners for Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII, it's a no-brainer.

As far as Hester is concerned, I think he is a Hall of Famer. I've always believed if you could put together a top ten video of a player's greatest moments as a video resume, you would know if he was a HOFer. In the case of Hester, I think he would qualify. He was dynamic, a game changer, did things that had never been done before (returned the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl for a TD), was the top return guy of his era.

Steve Tasker is another special teams player who was dominant in his role with those outstanding Bills teams. I think there's been an issue with quantifying his excellence over the years, unlike Devin Hester, Tasker wasn't especially fast, but found a way to make countless tackles on those special team plays. I don't recall the number of individual honors he received, but he was great in his role.

Hester has had the best career of any punt returner ever, and is probably the best combined return man ever. As a pure kickoff returner, I would take Gale Sayers or Josh Cribbs.

What special teams players would you consider worthy of nomination (I'm not debating enshrinement here) for the Hall of Fame?
Possibles:

Kickers:
Gary Anderson http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... rgar02.htm
Morten Andersen http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... rmor01.htm
Adam Vinatieri http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tada01.htm

Punters:
?

Returners:
Billy Johnson http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... hnBi01.htm
Abe Woodson http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... odAb00.htm
Eric Metcalf http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcEr00.htm
Terry Metcalf http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcTe00.htm
Brian Mitchell http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcBr00.htm
Devin Hester http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... stDe99.htm

Coverage:
Steve Tasker http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... skSt00.htm

Who did I miss?

JuggernautJ wrote:What special teams players would you consider worthy of nomination (I'm not debating enshrinement here) for the Hall of Fame?
Possibles:

Kickers:
Gary Anderson http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... rgar02.htm
Morten Andersen http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... rmor01.htm
Adam Vinatieri http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tada01.htm

Punters:
?

Returners:
Billy Johnson http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... hnBi01.htm
Abe Woodson http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... odAb00.htm
Eric Metcalf http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcEr00.htm
Terry Metcalf http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcTe00.htm
Brian Mitchell http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... tcBr00.htm
Devin Hester http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... stDe99.htm

Coverage:
Steve Tasker http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... skSt00.htm

Who did I miss?

I think an argument can be made that Shane Lechler is the greatest punter of all time, and perhaps should be considered for the HOF. He led the NFL in punting five times, tied with Baugh, and Jerrel Wilson led the AFL twice and NFL three times. Lechler did this, of course, in a 32-team league, which is significantly more difficult than doing it in a much smaller league. Lechler's 47.5 career yards per punt average is the best all time and a half yard better than the next man on the list, Thomas Morstead of New Orleans. Lechler has two of the top four single season yards per punt totals, three of the top 11 and four of the top 17 best seasons all time. Seven Pro Bowls, Six times First Team All Pro, and First Team All 2000's Team. His HOF resume looks pretty solid, I think.

JuggernautJ, I would include Nick Lowery among the deserving PK and both Tommy Davis and Verne Lewellen among the deserving punters.

I would rather have another punter than Tasker.

If Tasker was the best gunner, who was second best?

If kick coverage is a must for HOF, maybe pick someone from George Allen's teams like Bill Malinchak, since Allen always had outstanding coverage teams. For Tasker to make it the Bills needed to be close to the best ever, and they weren't.

Are you allowed to make a presentation against someone's induction? Probably be tempted with Tasker.