Our effort to overhaul the Hall of Fame selection process has received largely positive feedback. Though different opinions exist regarding what needs to change, there’s a growing sense that something needs to change.
And someone whose opinion I respect, but who isn’t a Hall of Fame voter, has suggested that the call for change take direct aim at the folks who run the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame president Steve Perry (not that one) and the Hall of Fame’s Board of Trustees have the power to change the rules, to expand the pool of voters, and to exclude folks who shouldn’t have a seat at the table (including one voter who just started covering football in September 2011). Last year, we suggested an overhaul of the Board of Trustees, which sports a hybrid of football people (like Daniel Snyder, Pat Bowlen, Mike Brown, Jerry Jones, Dan Rooney, and Roger Goodell) and Canton-area businesspeople who likely are more concerned about networking than ensuring the best possible filter for determining who gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.
These folks have the power -- and the responsibility -- to effect change. If they can’t or won’t, the Hall of Fame needs a new Board of Trustees, consisting not of local lawyers looking to schmooze with potential clients but of people who care primarily about ensuring that the best and most deserving candidates achieve the ultimate honor the sport can give.