The New Era of the NFL is About Special-Teams: The Hall Should Recognize That

Looking at the list of Hall of Fame candidates for 2008, I was hit with the "has the time passed that fast"; feeling. Well, sort of.  Only because, many of the first-time candidates are those that I still remember playing.  I think the reason why is that the 2003-2008 has been a football blur because Oakland, has well, sucked.  So those are the players I still remember well: Dana Stubblefield, Rod Woodson, Shannon Sharpe, Hardy Nickerson, Steve Wiskiewski,* Bruce Smith, John Randle, Frank Wycheck, Larry Centers, Eric Allen, Lincoln Kennedy, Jessie Armstead, etc.

 The only sure-fires I can see are Shannon Sharpe, Rod Woodson, and Bruce Smith.  This might be Cris Carter's (not first-time) last chance for several years, because he wasn't the best receiver of his generation, while Jerry Rice and Tim Brown will be eligible after this year.

The quarterback class lacks a sure-fire name like "Montana," "Marino," or "Manning."  However, there are 2 former Bengals (Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason), 2 Raiders (Plunkett, Stabler), and 2 Redsksins (Doug Williams, Joe Theisman), and then Phil Simms.  I could believe that those 3 duos would cancel each other out and give the induction to Simms.  BUT, considering the nomination of Doug Williams -- the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl -- in this political year, the NFL Hall of Fame voters might be tempted to induct Williams, just to spite Rush Limbaugh.  If not, I think that the best QB of the group is Stabler -- best combo of stats, star-power and significance.

 
With that said, I think that the most likely Raider to be inducted is punter Ray Guy. The reasons I believe so are, Guy is unquestionably the best punter in the history of the NFL, and the only punter, selected with a first round pick (he also has an award for Best Punter named after him).  Guy was also a finalist last year, and because of the bulk of other special-teams players as nominees: RS/RB Brian Mitchell, RB/RS Greg Pruitt, ST/WR Steve Tasker, P Rich Camarillo, K Nick Lowery, and P Reggie Roby. 
 
It seems that the NFL is beginning to recognize the importance of special-teams, whereas, the only 2 special-teams players currently in the Hall of Fame are K Jan Stenerud and K/QB George Blanda.  I think that the reason for reluctance to induct special teams players is quite simple, the fear of inducting too many of them.  They know that some players get inducted practically by default in some years, because that particular year, lacks a group of no-brainers.  Thus, if they *must* induct players by default, they'd rather induct quarterbacks and runningbacks by default, not an "idiot kicker."
 
As we've seen in this New Era of the NFL** though is a reliance on special-teams and the entirety of the team, and an inverse decline in the traditional reliance on stars in the offensive backfield.  That's not a new concept, but I think we're seeing it across the board, whereas in the past, those teams were considered mavericks (Al Davis/John Madden/Tom Flores, Dick Vermeil, Bill Parcells, Marv Levy, Bill Belichik), and an exception to the rule of quarterbacks like Montana, Marino, Jim Kelly, John Elway, etc.  You need only to look at players like RS Devin Hester (Bears), P Todd Sauerbrun (Panthers), K David Akers (Eagles), K Matt Stover (Ravens), RS Jermaine Lewis (Ravens), P Shane Lechler (Raiders), K Sebastian Janikowski (Raiders), RS Dante Hall*** (Chiefs), K Adam Vinatieri (Patriots), ST Brendon Ayanbadejo (Bears), RS Az-Zahir Hakim/Tony Horne (Rams) and ST Larry Izzo/Troy Bown/Lonnie Paxton (Patriots), to realize the reliance that Super Bowl winners/also-rans have had on special-teams.  And of course, who could forget the Music City Miracle?  Well, that was in 1999, so today, there are 8 year olds rooting for the Titans who would be precluded by the rules of time to remember that.

Appendix:

Full List of Nominees--

First-Year Eligible Nominees

RUNNING BACKS – Larry Centers, Brian Mitchell (also KR/PR)
TIGHT ENDS – Shannon Sharpe, Frank Wycheck
OFFENSIVE TACKLE – Lincoln Kennedy
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN – John Randle (DE/DT), Bruce Smith (DE), Dana Stubblefield (DT)
LINEBACKER – Jessie Armstead
DEFENSIVE BACKS –Darren Woodson (S), Rod Woodson (CB/S)

Additional Nominees

QUARTERBACKS – Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Ken Stabler, Joe Theismann, Doug Williams

RUNNING BACKS – Ottis Anderson, Roger Craig, Terrell Davis, Greg Pruitt (also KR/PR), Herschel Walker, Ricky Watters

WIDE RECEIVERS – Cliff Branch, Harold Carmichael, *Cris Carter, Wes Chandler, Gary Clark, Isaac Curtis, Henry Ellard,
Irving Fryar, Roy Green, Harold Jackson, Herman Moore, Stanley Morgan, *Andre Reed, Sterling Sharpe

TIGHT ENDS – Mark Bavaro, Todd Christensen, Ben Coates, Russ Francis, Brent Jones, Steve Jordan

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN – Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Jim Covert (T), Randy Cross (G/C), Dave Dalby (C),
Dermontti Dawson (C), Ray Donaldson (C), *Russ Grimm (G), Jay Hilgenberg (C), Kent Hill (G/T), Chris Hinton (G/T),
Kent Hull (C), Joe Jacoby (T), Mike Kenn (T), *Bob Kuechenberg (G), Jim Lachey (T), Henry Lawrence (G/T), Mark May (G/T/C),
 *Randall McDaniel (G), Max Montoya (G), Marvin Powell (T), Steve Wisniewski (G)

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN – Ray Childress (DT/DE), *Richard Dent (DE), Chris Doleman (DE/LB), Carl “Big Daddy” Hairston (DE/DT),
Charles Haley (DE/LB), Ed “Too Tall” Jones (DE), Cortez Kennedy (DT), Joe Klecko (DE/DT/NT), Steve McMichael (DT/NT),
Leslie O’Neal (DE), Fred Smerlas (NT), Art Still (DE)

LINEBACKERS – Cornelius Bennett, Robert Brazile, Kevin Greene (LB/DE), Ken Harvey, Rickey Jackson, Tom Jackson,
Clay Matthews, Karl Mecklenburg, Sam Mills, Hardy Nickerson, Chris Spielman, Pat Swilling, Darryl Talley, *Derrick Thomas

DEFENSIVE BACKS – Eric Allen (CB), Steve Atwater (S), Joey Browner (S), LeRoy Butler (S), Deron Cherry (S),
Raymond Clayborn (CB), Kenny Easley (S), Lester Hayes (CB), Albert Lewis (CB), Ken Riley (CB), Eugene Robinson (S),
Donnie Shell (S), Louis Wright (CB)

PUNTERS/KICKERS – Rich Camarillo (P), *Ray Guy (P), Nick Lowery (K), Reggie Roby (P)
SPECIAL TEAMS/WIDE RECEIVER – Steve Tasker

COACHES – Don Coryell, Tom Flores, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Clark Shaughnessy

CONTRIBUTORS – Bud Adams, Gil Brandt, C.O. Brocato, Leo Carlin, Ed DeBartolo, Jr., Ben Dreith, Bob Harlan,
Jerry Jones, Art Modell, Art Rooney, Jr., Ed Sabol, Steve Sabol, *Paul Tagliabue, Ralph Wilson, Jr., Ron Wolf,
George Young

*-Wiskiewski is not a first-time candidate
**-New Era of NFL = 1999-Present
***-Dante Hall has yet to appear in a Super Bowl.