Doug Flutie in the HOF?
Excuse me? Is this a joke? Yes, the CFL is "professional football," as was so astutely pointed out by Mark Kreidler. But minor league baseball or hockey is also professional. Should we consider AHL statistics when evaluating Hall credentials in hockey? Doug Flutie is a very likeable character, for a variety of reasons: his history at BC, his size and underdog status, his work on autism and so forth. But he had his success in a minor league football league against minor league competition, and didn't do all that much in the NFL. Maybe he was underestimated based on his size and could have done more in the NFL. But he didn't. He is a painfully obvious "no."
posted by Todd Martin at 10:23 AM
7 Comments:
Even more insane is White Sox-mark Phil Rogers' piece on the Sox farm system. He cites their Triple A team's hot start as evidence that they have a great farm system which would be compelling if it didn't fly in the face of reason. Baseball Prospectus rated their farm system 29th while Baseball America had a dismal outlook. Some of the "prospects" Rogers cites include Josh Fields, a thrid baseman with ridiculous strikeout rates (142 last year) and poor OBPs. SS Pedro Lopez had a sub .300 OBP (!!) at both AA and AAA last year and his hit ten home runs total over the last two seasons.
I could go on but you get the idea. It's baffling the incompetence at the "world leader" sometimes.
Yeah.. The CFL has a Canadian Football HOF and Flutie is a lock for that. The College Football HOF in South Bend, maybe Flutie will get in there. Canton... forget it.
Another situation, which was brought up on PTI yesterday -- is Testaverde going to end up in Canton? Look at his career stats, pretty tough to leave him out when you look soley at the stats.
Guys like Testaverde and Bledsoe don't belong in the Hall. When they face real defenses, they fold like a cheap paper towel.
The problem is that Canton claims to be the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Such a claim is obviously incorrect if Flutie is excluded. If they were to change the name to the NFL Hall of Fame, or even the American Football Hall of Fame, the claims would be more accurate.
A similar argument was made for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and Paul Henderson. Henderson had a decent NHL career, but nothing spectacular. But his goals in the 1972 Summit Series have placed him in the pantheon of hockey legend. Some felt that his goals should get him in the HHOF, while others felt his career didn't warrant such an honour. To the best of my knowledge, the HHOF was able to solve the problem by inducting the entire 72 Summit Series team.
Flutie had a phenomenal CFL career, and a decent NFL career. Does he belong in the NFL Hall of Fame? No. But does he belong in what is making claims to be the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I believe so.
But then again, I'm a Canadian who cheers for the Toronto Argonauts and the New England Patriots, so I might be somewhat biased. Maybe they can induct his drop kick.
The big problem, as I see it, is the Pro Football Hall of Fame was set up to be the NFL Hall of Fame, they just decided not to call it that. They work closely with the NFL, and I think Flutie is the first real test of this problem.
But if you put Flutie in because of his outstanding CFL career, where do you draw the line? Do you start inducting great Arena League players who have moderate success in the NFL?
The Hall of Fame board needs to get together and set stronger guidelines for induction, drop the dumb "we have to elect at least three each year" and rename themselves the NFL Hall of Fame.
It need not be renamed the NFL Hall of Fame. It is simply a Hall for the best football players in history, all of whom played in the NFL.
I agree with Houston's other point that the quota of three needs to be removed.
Phil dont say that last comment to some of the players from the cfl. The CFL is a completely different game than the NFL. Being in the NFL doesnt neccessarily mean you're a better player at football, just at the NFL style of the game. Have a look at Ricky Williams. But of course they for the most part are more successful moneywise. The pro anylsts never rip on the CFL and that is becuase its such a different game. It cannot be compared to as minor pro like the AHL.
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