There are a number of great players who have not gotten for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of their play. The Denver Broncos had one of the all-time great linebacker cores of the 1970s including Randy Gradishar. They did not get in largely due the hang-over of Denver’s reputation as a terrible franchise in the 1960s.

There are a number of other examples . . . What about Cookie Gilchrist? He is not in largely because of erratic behavior following an obscene number of concussions. However, he was considered a monster running back, the Jim Brown of the AFL. A Hall of Fame without him is not really a Hall of Fame.

–please not well : Seniors do NOT take away a space from modern era players. They are nominated separately and voted on separately. Jack Butler’s being elected this time around did not prevent a modern era candidate from being voted in.

–whether the casual fan has ever heard of the Senior nominee or not is irrelevant. I say casual fans should broaden their knowledge more — I did, and in doing so I learned a lot about the process and how to identify potentially deserving Senior candidates.

–many of the Seniors, among them Butler and Chris Hanburger and Les Richter and Benny Friedman and Fritz Pollard and Nick Buoniconti and Dave Wilcox and Billy Shaw and Stan Jones and Bill Willis, were HoF deserving and never even got a chance to have their cases heard except via this route. They all got in, and rightly so. And there are scads more — Lavvie Dilweg, Verne Lewellen, Al Wistert, Mick Tingelhoff, Walt Sweeney, Dick Schafrath, Bobby Dillon, Jimmy Patton, Kenny Easley, Billy Howton, Billy Wilson, Del Shofner, Harold Carmichael, Harold Jackson, Drew Pearson, Cliff Branch, Pete Retzlaff, Maxie Baughan, Robert Brazile, Chuck Howley, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Dave Grayson, Lemar Parrish, Tommy Davis, and more.

–a few of the Seniors who were finalists before and were voted down were in my opinion wrongly turned out — Dick Stanfel and Claude Humphrey are the recent examples, but there have been others such as Mac Speedie and Jerry Kramer. And a few have gotten in (and rightly so) on their second time as Seniors, specifically Lou Creekmur and Henry Jordan. Plus several deserving folks were regular finalists before finally making it in as Seniors, among them Tommy McDonald, John Henry Johnson, Gene Hickerson, Bob Brown, Leroy Kelly, and Frank Gatski.

While I don’t think the Senior process should be scrapped, I do think it needs to be changed. Currently, there is no guarantee the nominating committee will put forth good candidates, nor that the general HoF voting committee will elect good Senior candidates. Instead, I think there should be a panel of knowledgeable football historians who identify, research, nominate, and directly elect players in this category. Regardless, there is a big need for a Seniors process given how many deserving candidates are still not in.

Keeping that self promoting clown out is one of the things they’ve gotten right.

In similar fashion, HoF nominees should be chosen by those who competed and defended against them. So receivers would be nominated only by the receivers, defensive backs, and coaches who were in the league when they played. After nominees are selected, all coaches, players, and execs of their era vote for the inductees.

Only those who competed in the same era know the best of their time. You cannot compare Baugh to Namath to Montana to Rodgers. The game has changed too much through the decades. That’s why setting some arbitrary stat requirement won’t work. Players know who dominated when they played.

so, i say, keep the senior selection committee.

a lot of these guys with massive stats today, especially in the passing game, wouldnt have done jack in the old days.

a bill james style of approach needs to be undertaken to assess the value of differing players / styles across the different ages.

scrapping the senior committee basically enshrines the idea that current players are so much better than previous players. and that idea is massive bs.

and then when u consider the obvious character flaws of a lot of modern players, including some stats-rackers… divas… why should they get into any hof?

Let former head coaches be the ones to decide. Media jocks should out.

There needs to be an established criteria which should meet before any player gets in.

Present system stinks.

But … as long as you have men who deserve to be in the Hall, put them in the Hall. Assemble a Blue Ribbon panel of sports historians, Hall of Fame coaches and players, some current voters, whatever, and have them select a one-time class of the 50-100 best senior players overlooked by the Hall since its inception. Give those men their due in one big ceremony separate from the usual HoF presentation. Then proceed forward with the new, corrected voting system as you’ve suggested.

After the 2000 election debacle, Fla. dumped all its voting machines. It was difficult and expensive to change, but we’ll have no more hanging chads. If we can rework our voting procedures in a hot minute, so can the Hall.

Again, gotta plug RANDALL CUNNINGHAM too. IMO, if you win 2 NFL MVPs, your peers obviously consider you great.

Ken Stabler and Cliff Branch are two guys that have shouldve been in years ago. Compare Branch’s numbers to those of Lynn Swann. Branch destroy Swann’s numbers. And Branch only has one less ring (3 to 4). Makes no sense that he isnt in.

Same with Stabler. His number compare to those of Griese, Namath, Dawson and other QBs of that era. And he played some of the NFL’s most memorable games. Makes no sense he isnt in.

Ray Guy. Guy passes the eye ball test to many voters as the best punter of all time but since many dont want a punter in, Guy gets the shaft. Makes no sense.

Tom Flores and Jim Plunkett. When it is all said and done, Flores and PLunkett will be the only coach/QB combo who have at least TWO Super Bowl rings and are NOT in the HoF. Parcells will get in soon enough. Shannahan will be in one day. Same with Bellicheck. Listening to the media, Eli and Coughlin will be in soon too. Yet Flores and Plunkett dont make it. MAkes no sense.

These are all reasons why the senior selection is needed. Its the best chance to get in for many deserving players who have been snubbed by crooked voters.

The problem isn’t the side door, it’s the number of players in the waiting room. When your favorites continue to get passed over year after year like the Randy Gradishar’s of the world, you’ll can only hope to find the side door someday. I’m sure they have seats for Reed & Carter already waiting.

This is true. But the Senior Selection Committee should be disbanded AFTER the process is fixed, not before. And if the process is fixed, say, next year, that doesn’t mean that suddenly all the guys who should be in the hall are in the hall. The “mop-up” will need to continue for a few years after the new process is put into place.

The criteria seems to be: 1) Location. 2) Name recognition. 3) Stats and performance.
In that order.