Defend your 2017 HOVG ballot!
Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:07 pm
Here is who I voted for:
Houston Antwine
Matt Blair
Bobby Boyd
Deron Cherry
Todd Christensen
Dave Grayson
Warren Lahr
Tony Latone
Bob Skoronski
Bill Stanfill
Antwine - a coworker of mine, much older and African-American, played football with Antwine at SIU. For whatever reason, SIU had a lot of black athletes in the early 60's...my coworker's sister dated Walt Frazier (he didn't care for Frazier). Anyways, my coworker was very impressed with Antwine, and Antwine's pro career has seemingly gone under-the-radar as his best years were in the AFL early days.
Blair - another guy with bad timing. Caught the tail end of the great Vikings teams, and was probably stuck on the bench a year too long. I remember Blair being a good all-around OLB who could also block kicks (seemed like every Viking could block kicks).
Boyd - a favorite of mine...tough tackler and one of the best INT rates in history. One of the best zone CBs ever...just don't ask him to cover Gary Collins man-to-man (or Don Maynard, really).
Cherry - one of the top safeties of the 80's. I liked him over Browner because it seemed like Cherry was better in coverage whereas Browner was kind of a product of terrific surrounding talent. My assessment could be completely off-the-mark, though.
Todd Christensen - perhaps the top pass target of the early to mid 80's.
Dave Grayson - I liked how Grayson was effective at different DB positions. Arguably the best DB in AFL history.
Warren Lahr - no real reason to include him at the expense of Browner, but it seems like Lahr and those Browns defenses have been underrated, so I am giving him his due. Lahr's career had a late start, and he remained productive well into his mid-30's.
Tony Latone - seemed to have a very high TD total for his era. Figured if he doesn't get in this year, he might not ever reappear on the ballot.
Bob Skoronski - Very durable player with not much in the way of honors. Probably a bad choice by me, but I think Skoronski was a very good player.
Bill Stanfill - he checks all of my illogical boxes....played on an underrated defense, a better DE is probably on the ballot (Faison), but I went with Stanfill anyway. I think he was a great all-around DE who was a crucial part to those Dolphins teams before injuries kind of prematurely ended his career.
Who didn't make the cut...
Browner - I thought he was kind of overrated when he played, but he was incredibly productive for a SS and has all the honors. Probably a snub on my part.
George Christensen - I didn't see enough on his resume, but perhaps someone can educate me.
Dwight Clark - interesting choice, I think he was a guy you could win with, but I also think there are better HOVG WR candidates out there.
Earl Faison - another snub on my part. Stanfill played in a tougher era on a team that accomplished more. Perhaps not fair to Faison. Turney can weigh in.
Joe Fortunato - kind of a weird career, with the majority of his honors coming as his career wound down. Definitely a worthy candidate...I'll probably vote for him next year.
Ken Gray - I was looking at his PFR comps...RC Thieleman, Ed Budde....just doesn't do it for me. Gets 1st team AP honors in 1969, jettisoned to Houston in 1970. Weird.
Cornell Green - If Browner is off the ballot, I can't put Green on it, although his resume is more impressive than I first thought.
Ace Gutowsky - similar to George Christensen, I just didn't see enough on his resume.
Stanley Morgan - had some nice deep threat years when the Patriots were underachieving, and his 1986 season was remarkable, but the rest of his career was kind of 'meh'.
Dan Reeves - probably the perfect HOVG resume, but I never thought Reeves was all that great of a coach. He was competent enough to have a long HC career, but no aspect of his coaching really stood out to me.
Houston Antwine
Matt Blair
Bobby Boyd
Deron Cherry
Todd Christensen
Dave Grayson
Warren Lahr
Tony Latone
Bob Skoronski
Bill Stanfill
Antwine - a coworker of mine, much older and African-American, played football with Antwine at SIU. For whatever reason, SIU had a lot of black athletes in the early 60's...my coworker's sister dated Walt Frazier (he didn't care for Frazier). Anyways, my coworker was very impressed with Antwine, and Antwine's pro career has seemingly gone under-the-radar as his best years were in the AFL early days.
Blair - another guy with bad timing. Caught the tail end of the great Vikings teams, and was probably stuck on the bench a year too long. I remember Blair being a good all-around OLB who could also block kicks (seemed like every Viking could block kicks).
Boyd - a favorite of mine...tough tackler and one of the best INT rates in history. One of the best zone CBs ever...just don't ask him to cover Gary Collins man-to-man (or Don Maynard, really).
Cherry - one of the top safeties of the 80's. I liked him over Browner because it seemed like Cherry was better in coverage whereas Browner was kind of a product of terrific surrounding talent. My assessment could be completely off-the-mark, though.
Todd Christensen - perhaps the top pass target of the early to mid 80's.
Dave Grayson - I liked how Grayson was effective at different DB positions. Arguably the best DB in AFL history.
Warren Lahr - no real reason to include him at the expense of Browner, but it seems like Lahr and those Browns defenses have been underrated, so I am giving him his due. Lahr's career had a late start, and he remained productive well into his mid-30's.
Tony Latone - seemed to have a very high TD total for his era. Figured if he doesn't get in this year, he might not ever reappear on the ballot.
Bob Skoronski - Very durable player with not much in the way of honors. Probably a bad choice by me, but I think Skoronski was a very good player.
Bill Stanfill - he checks all of my illogical boxes....played on an underrated defense, a better DE is probably on the ballot (Faison), but I went with Stanfill anyway. I think he was a great all-around DE who was a crucial part to those Dolphins teams before injuries kind of prematurely ended his career.
Who didn't make the cut...
Browner - I thought he was kind of overrated when he played, but he was incredibly productive for a SS and has all the honors. Probably a snub on my part.
George Christensen - I didn't see enough on his resume, but perhaps someone can educate me.
Dwight Clark - interesting choice, I think he was a guy you could win with, but I also think there are better HOVG WR candidates out there.
Earl Faison - another snub on my part. Stanfill played in a tougher era on a team that accomplished more. Perhaps not fair to Faison. Turney can weigh in.
Joe Fortunato - kind of a weird career, with the majority of his honors coming as his career wound down. Definitely a worthy candidate...I'll probably vote for him next year.
Ken Gray - I was looking at his PFR comps...RC Thieleman, Ed Budde....just doesn't do it for me. Gets 1st team AP honors in 1969, jettisoned to Houston in 1970. Weird.
Cornell Green - If Browner is off the ballot, I can't put Green on it, although his resume is more impressive than I first thought.
Ace Gutowsky - similar to George Christensen, I just didn't see enough on his resume.
Stanley Morgan - had some nice deep threat years when the Patriots were underachieving, and his 1986 season was remarkable, but the rest of his career was kind of 'meh'.
Dan Reeves - probably the perfect HOVG resume, but I never thought Reeves was all that great of a coach. He was competent enough to have a long HC career, but no aspect of his coaching really stood out to me.