Least Deserving Hall of Famers: Round 2, Heat 7
 

78 players have made - or rather, not made - the initial cut. I'll present 7 heats in Round 2, and we'll cut that list down to the top 21.

As with Round 1, vote for the THREE least deserving guys clogging up the real estate of the Hall of Fame.

There are all sorts of overrated players in this heat. In looking at the list, I come to the following conclusions.

Waterfield, Zimmerman, Leemans, and Irvin don't astonish me, but they're good enough to get off the list immediately. Same with Fortmann even though his career was too short to be a shoo-in.

Tinglehoff couldn't handle Buck Buchanan and Curley Culp when it counted, but he's not at the bottom of the list.

Lynn Swann got in because of his media connections, but he was at least entertaining.

Munchak? Whatever. In other heats, he'd get my anti-vote, but he was at least decent.

I'd like to vote against Buoniconti, but he's not the weakest player on this list.

My three votes are therefore:

1. Jerome Bettis. 3.9 ypc. Media guy. Get him out of here.

2. Paul Hornung. Earlier discussions have convinced me that Jim Taylor was the workhorse and Hornung was the showhorse. He was never really dominant.

3. Elroy Hirsch. One-year wonder, though in fairness it was a really good one year.

Bettis is a completely indefensible member of the HOF.

Lynn Swann was before my time so I headed over to Pro Football Reference to take a gander at his career stats. His best season was 61 catches for 880 yards and 11 TDs. He averaged 55 yards per game.

........... Why does anyone still talk about this guy?

(Shrug.)

He was a good receiver, probably one of the top receivers in the league during his era. But he didn't last that long, and I don't think he was better than Stallworth.

He was a media darling while he played, though. They couldn't get enough of him. Then he got involved in the media after retiring, and ... voila. The media voted him into the HoF.

If you compare his stats to Otis Taylor's there's no question that Otis was the superior player. Played longer, more production, and a far higher ypr.

He's a fraud along with Bettis and Terrell Davis then.

Again, pretty-boy HB in the golden age of HBs, so Hourning, you gotta go.
Swan was pretty pedestrian through most of his career, but just happened to be on a team that was SB dominate in their period.
Buoniconti wasn't anything special. Mr. Lanier and Dick Butkus were better. Just happened to be on the Fins in the SB years.

Bettis is one of the most brutally effective and unique backs of all time

The numbers don’t tell the whole story, numbers don’t track the crucial and innumerable just gotta have it third and short or goal to go situations, numbers can’t define how he could single handedly make a defense look weak and scared to tackle late in games

Teammates fed on it

If Earl Campbell belongs, then so does Bettis

13 seasons Jerome Bettis played. In only four of those seasons did he average greater than 4.0 YPC. Only two of those seasons did he reach double digit TDs.

13 seasons he played and had 1,400 receiving yards.. total.

He leveraged longevity and playing for a big market team into the Hall.

Earl Campbell ran for nearly 2,000 yards in his 1980 season. I've seen highlights of him plowing through grown men where I'm not sure if the other guy survived.

Jerome Bettis was a fatass known for having nimble feet.

13 seasons of team lifting dominance

7th best all time rushing yards

Retired 2006, HOF 2015

The End

Swann and Bettis...that's it.

Earl Campbell...one of the most fun backs to watch ever.

Bettis to me was a lot like Bam Morris in style. And they had a similar ypc. Bettis just played a lot longer and didn't go to prison.

I'll admit, though, that I was a big Bettis fan his first couple of years with the Rams when he wasn't just a bowling ball.

Patently false lol

The Hall of Fame, and my memory, says you’re wrong

He was a crushing beast, Okoye with instincts

Vote your conscience, it changes nothing