This sucks for Holmgren!

[Rat]

I think this is accurate. I don't know a lot of professional football players, but I'll bet that the majority of them have a huge amount of respect for gold jacket wearers and yearn to be included in that club someday. It may not mean much to us as fans, but I'll bet it means everything to the players and coaches.

Regarding the LOB, the only slam dunk that I see is Bobby Wagner. Earl probably makes it if they don't hold some of his off-field issues against him. Kam was never named 1st team All Pro and appeared in the Pro Bowl just 4 times. Beast has an uphill battle, never led the league in rushing, a lot of his peers ahead of him on the all-time rushing list, ie Adrian Peterson, Shady McCoy, Stephen Jackson, et al.

Both Pete and Russell were borderline a few years ago and needed something extra on their resumes, a league or SB MVP for Russell and another Lombardi for Pete, but both have recently blown whatever chance they may have had.

You're forgetting someone obvious.

 

[Rat]

If Cower is in so should Mike. Simple. Cower won a scripted super bowl.

Holmgren probably deserves it, but I don't like this reasoning. If you open it up to everyone who is better than someone who shouldn't have made it, you risk diluting the entire Hall. Like, how many RBs not in the Hall are more deserving than Bettis? Many. Including two HOF eligible RBs connected to this franchise alone.

 

[Seahawker]

It's really simple.
If the Seahawks win SB XL Holmgren becomes the first and only head coach to win a Superbowl with two different teams and is a first ballot HOFer. Conversely, Cowher never even sniffs Canton without an XL win.

That game was a farce, if called fairly the Seahawks have a 60+% chance of winning, a coin toss odds at worst.
Cowhers Pittsburg swansong and the Bettis homecoming were too much for the Seahawks to overcome.

 

[RiverDog]

If Cower is in so should Mike. Simple. Cower won a scripted super bowl.

Holmgren probably deserves it, but I don't like this reasoning. If you open it up to everyone who is better than someone who shouldn't have made it, you risk diluting the entire Hall. Like, how many RBs not in the Hall are more deserving than Bettis? Many. Including two HOF eligible RBs connected to this franchise alone.

I was going to mention that. There are a number of coaches that are at least as qualified as both Cowher and Holmgren, including Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, and when they're eligible, Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy, Pete Carroll, and John Harbaugh.

As far as Jerome Bettis goes, his admission wasn't nearly as egregious as Cowher's. Bettis ranks 8th on the all-time rushing list, and every eligible RB above him on that list and the next 8 eligible RB's below him are in the HOF.

NFL Rushing Yards Career Leaders | Pro-Football-Reference.com

1. Emmitt Smith (18,355), 2. Walter Payton (16,726), 3. Frank Gore (16,000), 4. Barry Sanders (15,269), 5. Adrian Peterson (14,918),

www.pro-football-reference.com

But I agree with your point. You don't right a wrong by throwing the door wide open to everyone with a better resume. You right it by raising the standards in the hope that less qualified nominees don't make the cut again.

 

[RiverDog]

You're forgetting someone obvious.

You must be thinking of Richard Sherman, and yes, I did overlook him. I don't think he's a slam dunk, at least not on the same level as Wags. He might not get in on the first ballot, but I do think he eventually gets in.

 

[Hollandhawk]

Holmgren probably deserves it, but I don't like this reasoning. If you open it up to everyone who is better than someone who shouldn't have made it, you risk diluting the entire Hall. Like, how many RBs not in the Hall are more deserving than Bettis? Many. Including two HOF eligible RBs connected to this franchise alone.

Holmgren doesn't probably deserve it. He definitely deserves it. He is in a group of 5 coaches who have won a super bowl and have also taken a different team to the super bowl. Those coaches are Don Shula, Bill Parcells, Dick Vermeil, Andy Reid and Mike Holmgren.

 

[flv2]

The NFL isn't going to snub Belichick and putting Holmgren in at the same time would make Holmgren look like an afterthought. Maybe next year, so long as Reid isn't on the list.