Deion Sanders is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he thinks that club is adding too many members.
Sanders said on the Dan Patrick Show that he believes there are too many players being allowed into the Hall of Fame, even if they weren’t truly great players, and it’s watering down the honor.
“What is a Hall of Famer now? Is it a guy who played a long time?” Sanders said. “It’s so skewed now. Once upon a time, a Hall of Famer was a player who changed the darn game, who made you want to reach in your pocket and pay your admission to see that guy play. That’s not a Hall of Famer anymore. Every Tom, Dick and Harry, you’re a Hall of Famer, you’re a Hall of Famer, you’re a Hall of Famer. They let everybody in this thing. It’s not exclusive anymore. And I don’t like it.”
Although Sanders didn’t want to name any specific players who he thinks have watered down the Hall of Fame, when Patrick asked him about Eli Manning, Sanders answered, “You get the point.”
Sanders added that he doesn’t think there should be a minimum number of new Hall of Famers each year. The Hall has enshrined at least six new members in every class since 2006, and Sanders thinks that’s too many.
“It should be based on, ‘Are you that guy?’ Not just because we have to meet a quota,” Sanders said.
Sanders’ comments may not make him popular among some of the Hall of Fame finalists hoping to get voted in on Saturday, but he sees the Hall of Fame as a club that ought to be more exclusive than it is.