Super Bowl XLIII Running Thread

While I don't necessarily disagree that Namath is overrated, comparing passing numbers straight up between Namath's era and the current era is idiotic. Defensive backs were allowed to be so much more physical with receivers back then and teams just didn't pass the ball the way they do today.

 

Easiest to get enshrined in? Tell that to Dick LeBeau and Derrick Thomas. Is there any other sport where an eligible player in the top five in a major statistical category (at the time of his retirement) isn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

Maybe in terms of the voting process, football is easier than baseball (I'm not sure to how the hoops and hockey halls work). But in terms of sheer volume of newly eligible candidates each year and the cap on each year's enshrinees (six), it takes a while for a lot of guys to get in.

 

Fine, don't compare.
Look at Namath's stats as they stand. Throw out the the Super Bowl win and tell he merits consideration, muchless a bust, in the HOF.
Hell, consider the Super Bowl win and he still doesn't merit consideration.
He got in because of a combination fo things, mainly on the strength of his popularity, the least of which was his abilty to win football games.

 

I'll concede that's a valid point, rule changes have certainly made the game more passer friendly. But, even compared to the other QBs of his era, Namath was only an above average QB for about 4 season, the rest he sucked. And we're not just talking about yardage totals here, this is a guy who threw 50 more interceptions than TD passes making it in the Hall of Fame.

 

They played the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th best passing offenses in the league and none topped 300 yards.

They cannot play the entire league.

 

But if they did, they'd shut them out, by God. Put those 11 blessed gentlemen on the field against the 341 offensive starters from the other teams and those 341 players wouldn't gain ONE. FUCKING. YARD.

HUZZAH, STEELERS!

 

Per Peter King:
Hines has a strained right knee ligament. Will be good to go for Super Bowl.

 

Joe Namath's decision to play for the New York Jets probably allowed the AFL to survive long enough for the merger. He won Super Bowl III, which was the most important game in league history as it validated said merger, which wasn't looking too good after two Packer blowouts wins.
That's plenty of reason to be in the Hall of Fame. Stats and historical significance are not always synonymous.
An extreme case, and gang, by no means am I comparing these two men and their historical significance. If I put up Jackie Robinson's career stats here with his name erased, I bet many would say, that can't possibly be a Hall of Fame career. But a baseball Hall of Fame without Robinson would be useless as history and a moral abomination.

 

Gee just gave you all my answer. Thanks, mike.

 

I'm as big a Namath admirer as you'll find, but I think the biggest thing he has going against him is not the stats, but the fact that he never again beat a team that ended the season with a winning record after winning Super Bowl III.

That said, he's a Hall of Famer on meritorious service if nothing else, the same way John Madden is.

 

I disagree. That is not even close to be enough reason to be in the Hall of Fame.

I think similar logic can be applied to Warner. His five years of superior performance really stands out when you consider where he came from.

 

Dear Evil: Try this thought experiment. Imagine pro football without Namath. Imagine the AFL dying on the vine and one or two franchises being absorbed a la the ABA and NBA. Imagine there being no Super Bowl, just the NFL Championship Game. Imagine maybe 20-24 NFL teams instead of 32.
That's real different, isn't it? That's historical significance as plain as it can be. Without Namath and what he did, pro football would not be what it is today.
Dan Marino is a Hall of Famer and rightly so. He was an infinitely more productive player than Namath. But if Marino hadn't existed, pro football wouldn't be much different at all.