2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class

Art Powell became the first Senior nominee not to make it (outside of the monster Centennial nominee group in 2020) since 2009

 

Huge shout out to the voters who got this right sure Hester belongs in the hall but the huge win here was electing Mongo to the HOF

 

Didn't watch the honors - they still filming the knocks? Interesting when you think about the "knocks on the door" in football, one means the coach wants to see you and bring your playbook, the other means you are in the Hall of Fame.

 

Obviously all of these guys are deserving, but it feels a little like a "Clean up on Aisle 4" class with all the defensive players and Hester. Like the voters were saying, "OK, let's clear out all the guys on this side of the ball and then circle back around to the offense next year."

 

gradishar and mcmichael were senior picks, so the voters it was 3-1-1 for modern candidates. Powell would have been an offensive senior guy but got voted down.


they could go 3-1-1 in the opposite direction next year with Eli, Gates, either Holt or Wayne, Kuechly and then Vinatieri

 

a good theory but in the last three classes it’s been 11 defensive players, three offensive players and a specialist.

and two of the three offensive guys were linemen

 

Freeney's induction means the All-Decade 2000s first-team defense has been inducted. Peppers gets in from the second team. The 2nd teamers not inducted are La’Roi Glover, Kevin Williams, Joey Porter and Darren Sharper

 

it's almost become like baseball, some voters won't vote certain candidates in, in the first or even second year ... how many years of eligibility has it been for Antonio Gates?

Don't think we gotta worry about a Sharper candidacy

 

All those guys are worthy. But suprised about Gates. Maybe would have chose him over Freeney, who is “only” 18th in career sacks.

 

It was Gates’ first.

They tried to get Sharper in once I think 2016 and the backlash was so bad he hasnt been nominated again and he didn’t get past the initial candidate list

 

The Hall problem is simple. The limit on inductees means there's always going to be a backlog of worthy candidates, if not at one position, then at another. When they founded the thing in 1963, voters were choosing the elite of an era before there was even two-platoon football. (Note: there were almost as many owners and league officials in the inaugural class as players). There were also less than half as many teams to think about. Roster sizes were 33. Now voters are dealing with era of intense specialization and 53-man rosters. This sends up more players who excelled at what they did, so now the voter has to weigh not only that candidate's merits, but how important he or she deems that position in the macro scheme of NFL play. Running back is an obvious case, but slot receivers are another on the other side of the ledger. Every team has at least one, and some of them really become vital to their team's offenses, but even the best of them are going to struggle to make the Hall. Long story short, modern football creates even more possible candidates, leaving voters with more and more difficult and seemingly arbitrary decisions.