 |
| Bengals Wide Receiver Terrell Owens sporting Air Jordan III cleats |
In reality, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was created in 1963 to recognize individuals who were top performers within the sport. The expectations were to identify and commemorate the NFL elite company. There was even a system created in to uphold this process, however, this system is flawed and has disappointed. On November 4th, the voting committee (made up of 44 sports writers), determined that wide receiver Terrell Owens should not be a member of the 2017 Hall of Fame Class.
Morten Anderson, Kicker
Terrell Owens Davis, Running Back
Kenny Easley, Safety
Jerry Jones, Owner
Jason Taylor, Defensive End
LaDainian Tomlinson, Running Back
Kurt Warner, Quarterback
The committee’s decision to exclude Owens was comical, pathetic and personal. “Unfortunately I did not make it again this year.” “Thanks to all my fans & supporters. #FlawedProcess” tweeted Owens. T.O. is right. There is a faulty voting method for the Hall of Fame.
" I think people change, but the media, they never allowed me to change. They never allowed me to be a better person." - Terrell Owens
 |
| Get your popcorn ready |
In my opinion, it doesn’t make any sense to me for sports writers to have a vote. The overwhelming majority of sports writers haven’t even played a snap in the NFL or college yet they make the decision. As a result of this, the Hall of Fame process has shifted away from its original purpose of honoring players to empowering the media.When Terrell Davis and Morten Anderson get nods before T.O., eyebrows should be raised. The decision to deny Owens his Hall of Fame bid was clearly payback for how Owens treated the media during his career.
I’ve always felt like players are in a lose-lose situation when it comes to the media. They are hounded with questions they clearly shouldn’t answer or be asked in the first place, yet the responsibility always falls on the player’s shoulders. These are the same people intentionally provoke players and fish for negative information to pit teammates against one another, but the players are the ones who get the blame. Now I’m not taking complete blame away from Owens, but I don’t see how any of that matters in the HOF process.
 |
| Terrell Owens had 9 recs/122 yards in the Super Bowl |
Career Receiving Yards
|
15,934
|
Career Receptions
|
1,078
|
Pro Bowls
|
7x (2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2007)
|
1st Team All Pro
|
5x
(2000,2001,2002,2004,2007)
|
Numbers don’t lie. Owens is ranked 2nd all-time in career receiving yards behind hall-of-famer Jerry Rice. If that’s not impressive, Owens also has 624 more career receiving yards than Randy Moss. Owens is ranked 8th in all-time receptions and 3rd in all-time receiving touchdowns. Based off those stats alone, Owens should be wearing a gold jacket.
 |
| Chad Ochocinco & T.O. |
Some have said Owens was a “cancer” and shouldn’t get in even with those numbers. I absolutely hate that excuse. The Hall of Fame is about individual accomplishments… not team building. Boomer Esiason even took up for Owens after his snub. Players like Randy Moss and our own Chad Johnson were considered “cancers” by the media at one point during their careers. That still isn’t an excuse for them to be excluded from the Hall of Fame.
We all are familiar with Owens and were excited when he signed with our Bengals back in 2010. This was an exciting moment for me because he was one of my favorite receivers playing for my favorite team. Although we went 4-12 that year, Owens was the lone bright spot for that season. He appeared in 14 games and recorded 72 receptions, 983 receiving yards, and 9 touchdowns. Owens did speak out about some issues in Cincy, but these were the same issues our fan base has harped about for years.Some issues that are still being brought up to this day.
After this disaster, the NFL should simply take matters into their own hands and amend the voting process. Clearly current and former NFL players were upset about T.O.’s snub. The voting power should be assigned to a committee made up of current hall of fame players and/or NFLPA members. In my mind, this would definitely help balance things out and keep the media’s influence out of the process.
No comments :
Post a Comment