Jason Whitlock on the HOF?!?!

[B100d_arrowz]

Sorry if this has already been posted, but the search function isn't working at my dorm for some reason.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7771002/Hall-of-Fame-should-be-reserved-for-the-greats

Decent argument at first, and than claims Art Monk isn't one of the top WR...

Thoughts?

[CliffBattles]

can you copy and paste the article, I can't open it up.

[jnhay]

click to print this page

Hall of Fame should be reserved for the greats

By Jason Whitlock

Award-winning Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock brings his thought-provoking style to FOXSports.com on a weekly basis.

Updated: February 7, 2008, 12:14 PM EST

It took Fred Dean's selection into the pro football Hall of Fame for me to understand baseball purists' obsession with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, performance-enhancing drugs and the sanctity of numbers.

While I still don't agree with the McCarthy-like witch hunt directed at the players, I at least now comprehend the motive.

Honestly, when I learned that Dean's bust would soon be placed alongside Deacon Jones' and Reggie White's, my first thought was: What will we tell the children? My second thought was: Who is to blame and how do I make them pay?

You see, like Bonds and Clemens and all the rest, Fred Dean is not responsible for the devaluing of one of America's great institutions. He's a victim in the dereliction of duty by the men and women charged with the task of keeping the pro football Hall of Fame pure.

As best I can, I won't turn this column into an all-out attack on Dean's very good NFL career. But let's be clear about one thing: Frederick Rudolph Dean has no (freaking) business in the Hall of Fame.

The Hall isn't for very good players. And it damn sure isn't for players who spent 40 percent of their careers as third-down, pass-rush specialists. Fred Dean played pro football for 11 years, participating in 141 games. He came off the bench in 59 of those games and earned a Pro Bowl berth in just four of his 11 seasons. A 230-pound defensive end, Dean was a liability on first and second down and, therefore, spent much of his career watching from the sideline as his teammates played run defense.

He was an oversized, highly effective nickel back/corner blitzer. He was the first situational pass rusher. Put that little piece of innovation on Bill Walsh's HOF resume, just like Mike Ditka gets credit for the Refrigerator backfield and Bill Belichick deserves praise for Mike Vrabel's goal-line TD catches.

But William Perry and Vrabel don't get to make the trip to Canton because their coaches found a unique way to occasionally use them.

I'm sorry. I'm spending too much time on Fred Dean. The problem here is the Hall voters. They're the Bud Seligs of this crime against sports integrity. They lack the backbone to make a hard-line stance for what is right.

Cowardice is going to ruin the most special place on earth, the pro football HOF. I get it now. I understand the passion to keep the baseball HOF righteous, uncontaminated and reserved for those who really deserve it.

As a child, I dreamed about one day being enshrined at the pro football Hall of Fame. I wrote a speech, and used to read it to my mother. I remember when Dick Butkus and Johnny Unitas went in together.

Dick Butkus, Johnny Unitas and Fred Dean? What do we tell the children?

Well, tell them that the HOF has become more about the voters (a collection of longtime, respected NFL writers) than the players, and getting someone elected is more important than getting the right player selected. There's a lot of voter back-patting when a very good, marginal HOFer gets elected (Rayfield Wright, Roger Wehrli, Elvin Bethea, Joe DeLamielleure, Charlie Sanders, Art Monk and Andre Tippett).

Tell them that Harry Carson scared the (spit) out of Hall voters. Carson, a very good pro, ****ed and moaned his way into the 2006 Hall class and convinced a lot of former players (especially the many players who won't sniff the Hall who think they should) that Hall voters lacked the knowledge to hold such important jobs.

Carson's whining and the criticism unleashed by former players-turned-NFL Network broadcasters caused Hall voters to take the approach that it's better to reward a long-suffering, so-so candidate than put in a no-brainer such as Cris Carter.

Other than Darrell Green, the whole 2008 class is an attempt to avoid creating another Harry Carson. The thinking seemed to be: "Let's put 'em in before they start ****ing and people start talking about how we don't know what we're doing."

Talk to Whitlock

Someone should've had the testicular fortitude to tell Harry Carson, Fred Dean and Art Monk that they were good, but they just weren't good enough to take a seat next to Mike Singletary, Deacon Jones and Steve Largent.

To enter the Hall, your name needs to be included in the debate for top five at your position all time and/or the distance between the best at your position and you can't be so great that it denigrates the memory of a G.O.A.T.

Troy Aikman and Warren Moon are not among the five best QBs ever to play the game, but their inclusion in the Hall does not diminish John Elway or Joe Montana.

However, comparing Reggie White to Fred Dean is the equivalent of measuring Jenna Jameson against Paris Hilton. We're talking about a ho-fessional legend vs. a backyard camcorder queen. No one ever associated Carson and Butkus. Carson was Randy Gradishar. And Art Monk was rarely the best receiver on his own team. I refuse to use his name in the same sentence with Jerry Rice.

Again, I don't hold Dean, Carson and Monk responsible for backdoor-ing their way into the HOF. I'd do it myself, if I could. Just like I blame baseball owners for allowing the steroids era to happen, I fault Hall voters for not having the guts to lock the door on very good players.

Read this article at:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7771002/Hall-of-Fame-should-be-reserved-for-the-greats click to print this page

© 2008 Fox Sports Interactive

[doom44]

Monk was Rice before there was a Rice

Monk left the game as an all time best.

This Whitlock guy is disturbed.

[ECU-ALUM]

Get over it Jason.

It's over move on...once again another columnist who has never played the game trying to say it the Hall of Fame should be done.

Monk backing in? Sure all the records he had when he retired..yeah he really backed in...much like the Chiefs backed into the playoffs last year.

[nightbird]

What a maroon.

Monk "back-doored" his way in? How'd he do that exactly, by putting up ridiculous numbers, staying out of trouble, and keeping his mouth shut in retirement?

And I love this part: he doesn't deserve to have a bust alongside STEVE LARGENT.

Largent was great, but come on, Monk was the superior player by any objective measure.

[RDSKNfaithfull]

Monk was Rice before there was a Rice

Monk left the game as an all time best.

This Whitlock guy is disturbed.

Lets not go overboard Monk is not in the same league as Rice. To be fair though nobody is.

[81+83+84=Posse]

Seriously Whitlock?

Largent-

819 Receptions

13089 Yards

100 tds

177 consecutive games with a reception

0 Superbowls Rings

Monk-

940 Receptions

12721 Yards

68 tds

183 consecutive games with a reception

3 Superbowl Rings (and 1 Superbowl loss)

To say that Monk doesn't deserve to be in with Largent is a ridiculous argument.

[Burgundy Burner]

Whippedlock must be having a bad hair day and decided to take it out on new HOF members. Best part - not thing one he can do about it.

[kuraitengai]

whitlock is a moron. the only basis he has for his argument is the fact that monk was passed over what....7 times? so add that to the time he was already away before being eligible. other people caught up to his stats. thats his only argument. give it 10 more years and perhaps someone will knock off bradys 50 td passes. so then, assuming whitlock still has a job, will he say that brady wasnt really that good?

[kuraitengai]

oh yeah. and perhaps these mediots like whitlock should listen to the PLAYERS, who said monk deserved to be there. who cares what the writers, who most have never played an organized sport in their life, say. the only peoples opinions that i care about when it comes to determining how good at my job i am are my peers, i dont care what someone off the street thinks. if you can do what i can do, then your opinion of how good i am is worth something. if you are a wanna be, your opinion means ****

[maebu2]

This is the same columnist that rushed to judgement in regards to Sean Taylor. He is an attention whore. I applauded his decision to walk away from ESPN because his opinion differed from Lupica's. However, as of late I choose not to read his columns because it appears as if he just wants to ruffle people's feathers. (See S. Taylor column, V. Stringer/Rutgers column, P. Holmes column, etc.) I don't subscribe to his views on Sharpton and Jackson because I find it very hypocritical of him to accuse them of being attention seekers when he does the exact same thing himself. He just wants an overloaded email inbox because that feeds into his overweight ego.

In other words, whatever he said in his column I am not surprised. (I refuse to read it or anything else he writes) However, after the Sean Taylor column, I am surprised that others here at ES are so floored. Controversy--that's his MO. :2cents:

[bubba9497]

Cris Carter is NOT such a lock imo

I agree Dean was a curious choice, but Monk was "back doored" 8 years late

[GrimReefa]

Relax guys. This is the same guy who thinks that whatever team Jeff George signs with is the prohibitive Super Bowl favorite.

[OxonHillSkinsFan89]

He does these articles to get this kind of attention. He's an after-thought

[fwo40]

Seriously Whitlock?

Largent-

819 Receptions

13089 Yards

100 tds

177 consecutive games with a reception

0 Superbowls Rings

Monk-

940 Receptions

12721 Yards

68 tds

183 consecutive games with a reception

3 Superbowl Rings (and 1 Superbowl loss)

To say that Monk doesn't deserve to be in with Largent is a ridiculous argument.

That's what I thought immediately.

[pjfootballer]

And do we really care about their opinions anymore, since Monk is IN!!???

[pjfootballer]

Monk will have a bust in Canton that says, "Hall of Fame" player.

Witlock will have on his tombstone, "Guess I should have stayed away from those saturated fats after all."

[DGreenistheBest]

Whitlock says Monk doesn't deserve to be in but Cris Carter is a no-brainer. Well, IMO, Monk>>>Carter. If he can convince me otherwise, then I'll consider giving his argument merit.