Football HoF Trivia…

A former colleague sent me an email yesterday with a piece of trivia possibly portending frustration for Bengals’ QB, Joe Burrow; here is the tidbit:

“Did you know that the last 15 quarterbacks to lose their first Super Bowl appearance never made it back to another Super Bowl game?”

That is a stark circumstance, and it checks out; the last NFL quarterback to lose the first time he went to the Super Bowl was Jim Kelly with the Bills in 1990.  Kelly went back – – and lost – – three more times from 1991-1993.  Now in going to check out that assertion, something else about Super Bowl QBs struck me:

  • The QBs for winning Super Bowl teams are well represented in the Hall of Fame.

In fact, there are only 9 QBs whose teams won the Super Bowl who are not enshrined in Canton.  Here is that list chronologically:

  1. Jim Plunkett – – he won twice
  2. Joe Theismann
  3. Jim McMahon
  4. Phil Simms
  5. Doug Williams
  6. Jim Hostetler
  7. Mark Rypien
  8. Trent Dilfer
  9. Brad Johnson.

I suspect that no one on that list is ever going to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame but there are 10 other Super Bowl winning QBs who are not in the Hall of Fame simply because they are not yet eligible for consideration.  Here is that list with my guess as to their likelihood of entry:

  1. Tom Brady – – The only reason he might not get in would be if the entire Hall of Fame dropped into a giant sinkhole never to be seen again.
  2. Ben Roethlisberger – – He should be a first ballot entry.
  3. Eli Manning – – I know my opinion is not universally held, but I think Eli Manning belongs in the Hall of Fame.  His durability plus his two upset victories in the Super Bowl would get my vote – – if I had one.
  4. Drew Brees – – His passing statistics cannot be overlooked.
  5. Aaron Rodgers – – I realize that Aaron Rodgers is not a particularly likeable person, but he is a Hall of Fame QB.
  6. Joe Flacco – – I don’t think so…
  7. Russell Wilson – – Maybe so, but I would need to see more good seasons from him to get my vote – – if I had one.
  8. Nick Foles – – His TD in the Super Bowl on the “Philly Special” will be an NFL Films highlight for decades, but Nick Foles is not going to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
  9. Patrick Mahomes – – It is way too early to tell, but his career trajectory is on target.
  10. Matthew Stafford – – The decision here rests on a knife edge…

One person can look at Stafford’s win a month ago and say that he merely managed a game where other players carried the team to the win.  Another person can look at Stafford’s win a month ago and say that he showed what could have been for his career if only he had not been saddled with the rosters of the Detroit Lions for the first 12 years of his NFL career.  Po-Tay-Toe or Po-Tah-Toe?

Having opined about the future Hall of Fame worthiness of players above, let me say that I have no problem at all with the five players who will enter the Hall of Fame next summer.  I fact, I am glad to see that four of the five players are defenders and that the “offensive guy” is a lineman.  If you missed the announcement, here is the “Class of ‘22”:

  • Tony Boselli
  • LeRoy Butler
  • Sam Mills
  • Richard Seymour
  • Bryant Young

Having mentioned Patrick Mahomes above, there is a report on CBSSports.com today that the Washington Commanders have called all 31 of the other NFL teams to inquire about the potential availability of QBs on other rosters.  The Commanders clearly need an upgrade at that position, but I do wonder why they wasted the time and energy to call the Chiefs to find out what the asking price might be for Patrick Mahomes.

Finally, Dwight Perry had this note in his Sideline Chatter column last week in the Seattle Times:

“Mike Bianchi of the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, defending the Dolphins against ex-coach Brian Flores’ allegations that race played a role in his firing: ‘He could be right, but I believe the Dolphins fired Flores because they are a bungling organization more than a bigoted one.’”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………