The 15 finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame have been announced. Who would get your vote?

RB Marcus Allen

OL Gary Zimmerman
OL Joe DeLamielleure
OL Bob Kuchenberg

QB Ken Stabler

WR Art Monk
WR James Lofton

LB Harry Carson
LB Randy Gradishar

CB Lester Hayes

DE Claude Humphrey
DE Elvin Bethea

GM George Young
Owner Ralph Wilson
Coach Hank Stram

I'd have to vote for Allen, Zimmerman and Monk. Carson and Hayes I'd have to give serious consideration to.

Marcus Allen, for sure. I always enjoyed watching him play for the Raiders. BTW, his younger brother Damon still plays QB for the BC (Vancouver) Lions in the CFL.

George, I assume Joe Montana is already a Hall of Famer? What about John Elway? I'm not sure how long a player has to be out of the game before he qualifies for induction.

[quote]Originally posted by Marc:
George, I assume Joe Montana is already a Hall of Famer? What about John Elway? I'm not sure how long a player has to be out of the game before he qualifies for induction.

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A player/coach has to be retired for 5 years. Montana's in. Elway hasn't been retired for 5 years yet.

definately Marcus Allen and Art Monk. Although I am not a huge ---Skins fan, you can't live in DC and not be aware of Monk's contributions to the team. Don't know enough about the other nominees to know who is really deserving.

Dumb question - how many of the 15 will eventually be voted in?

At least 4 but no more than 7.

my votes go to Allen, Stabler, Monk and Lofton

Stabler was great to watch.

I'd cast my votes for Marcus Allen, Art Monk, Bob Kuchenberg and Hank Stram....while the NFL Hall of Fame is somewhat watered down (as compared to Cooperstown IMHO) with their REQUIRED MINIMUM number of inductees each year, those four are definitely deserving of enshrinement.

Ken Stabler may have been fun to watch but he is a notch below "immortal status" in my book (I admit that my long-standing deep hatred of Al Davis and the Raiders may influence my opinion here a bit)...and as for "the Snake" receiving credit for his "Holy Roller" playoff victory over Don Coryell's Chargers, that is absolutely ludicrous -- he broke the rules and should not be "credited" with leading his team to a miraculous victory -- but that is OLD history....speaking of history, Stabler's heart-breaking double OT victory over Bert Jones and the Colts in Baltimore's old Memorial Stadium doesn't earn him any points in my book either.

[ January 10, 2003: Message edited by: gamecock ]

gamecock, it would appear that the very reasons why you disagree with "the snake" being elected is the very reasons why he shoud be. Really can't say why Stabler brings up memories of that era of football. The era when teams were just that teams. Before free agency, when the game meant something besides $ and who was going to get what from whom. Each year we knew who would line up for our team and the opposing teams. As a Cowboys fan, we learned to dislike but respect guys like Kilmer, Monk, Ron J. (QB for Philly) espn guy, Harold Carmichael, Hart in St. Louis or now Phoenix, Larry Brown, daddy Metcalf (SL) and others. The list goes on and on. Old timers good ole days....

This can be said about all of these nominees but for me Stabler was just entertaining, simply fun to watch. Isn't there a receiver and tight end he threw balls to already in the hall. They should share their success with the one that threw the ball their way, Stabler.

Without a doubt, Allen, Hayes, Stram should be elected, Stabler is just a player that provokes those long ago memories and for that I hope he get elected. No other reason. It would appear he provokes a few memories of your own.

[quote]Originally posted by meric:
As a Cowboys fan, we learned to dislike but respect guys like Kilmer, Monk, Ron J. (QB for Philly) espn guy,

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Jaworski.

speaking of "Jaworski", he has to be one of the most annoying football tv analysts ever!! (but never competing with Erik Dickerson. . . . the runaway winner in this catagory.)

He usually does commentary for all the Bucs preseason games and I automatically turn down volume and turn on the radio broadcast.

The inductees have been announced. Marcus Allen as expected. Joining him are Elvin Bethea, Joe DeLamielleure, James Lofton and Hank Stram.

Class of 2003

Kind of surprised by the lack of support for Art Monk, who was eliminated in the first cut.