Pro Football Hall of Fame 2012: Former Raider Great Tim Brown Deserves Election

He has the numbers: 1,070 career receptions for 14,734 yards, along with 19,431 all-purpose yards and 104 total touchdowns.

He has the records: most consecutive seasons with 75 or more receptions (10), most consecutive starts by a wide receiver (176), most consecutive games with at least two receptions (147).

He has longevity: 17 seasons, 255 games played.

He even has the nickname: Mr. Raider.

Yes, Tim Brown has all of the individual accolades, accomplishments and attachments one could hope for having played as long as he did in the NFL. Brown ranks fourth in career receiving yardage, fifth in receptions, tied for sixth in touchdown receptions. He is a nine-time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He led the entire league in kickoff-return yardage as a rookie. He played the second-most number of games at the wide receiver position in NFL history. They are achievements that anybody would assume earned Brown a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And yet, in his first and second years of eligibility, 2010 and 2011, Brown did not earn a call to the Hall. Perhaps the third time will be the charm?

On Saturday, voting takes place for the election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Inductions will be held in August.

In 2010, Brown was overlooked, primarily because a former Raiders wide receiver teammate was a shoo-in to be elected: the greatest of all time, Jerry Rice. The most prolific running back was also inducted that summer, Emmitt Smith. Last year, the Hall of Fame made an effort to usher in a class that included the best coverage cornerback of all time (Deion Sanders) and the player who, at his retirement, was the most prolific receiving tight end in history (Shannon Sharpe).

This year is no less crowded with formidable candidates. Among this year’s 17 finalists are fellow wide receivers Cris Carter and Andre Reed, along with running backs Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martins and defensive stalwarts Chris Doleman, Kevin Greene, Charles Haley and Cortez Kennedy. Not to mention former head coach Bill Parcells and former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartalo, Jr. Needless to say, it will be a daunting task to choose from such an elite group of candidates, and no doubt someone—or more—will be squeezed out from Hall of Fame immortality. At least temporarily, of course.

It’s true that most of the eligible nominees are undisputed football greats. The problem with the Pro Football Hall of Fame is that there are so many people to choose from each year. After all, one football team alone is 53 players, with numerous positions on offense, defense and special teams. Add a couple handfuls of coaches and front-office members, and the list grows incredibly long. It’s impossible to elect 10 to 15 players and football contributors each year, even though they are all considered universally worthy.

That’s why a player like Brown, who retired with the second-most receiving yardage and the third-most receptions and receiving touchdowns, has been left out of the Hall two years running. And it’s possible that he will be overlooked again this year. Both Reed (2006) and Carter (2008) have been Hall of Fame-eligible for longer. Though Brown’s numbers certainly stack up against and above both Carter’s and Reed’s, it’s a bit tough to separate any one of triumvirate outside the other two—at least as a receiver.

But Brown has one distinguishing footnote to his NFL bio, and that is his versatility as both a punt returner and kickoff-return man earlier in his career. Hopefully, his 3,000-plus punt-return yardage and 19,000-plus all-purpose yards give him an edge over his fellow receivers. His consistency, reliability and professionalism as part of one of the more successful and turbulent franchises earned him the distinction as Mr. Raider.

Obviously, Brown’s greatness was lost by the general football public, being a part of an organization on the West Coast that had numerous losing seasons, coaching changes and internal tantrums. But there’s no dispute: During the entire decade of the '90s, in both Los Angeles and Oakland, Brown was the Silver & Black—and the Silver & Black was nothing without Brown.

So, can Brown will his way into the Hall this year? Or will he fall short again?

If the Hall of Fame was truly about honoring and immortalizing the best of the best football players, then Brown—and Carter and Reed—would already be enshrined. But here’s hoping that Brown gets his call to the Hall on Saturday.

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