The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection process has attracted another fresh wave of criticism recently as several deserving candidates are set to wait at least another year for induction. That has sparked some high-profile criticisms of the current process.
On Wednesday, it was announced that a 12-person committee had selected Buddy Parker, who coached the Detroit Lions to a pair of championships in the 1950s, as a candidate for induction next year. Parker was selected ahead of the likes of Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, and Robert Kraft.
The decision was enough for ESPN reporter Adam Schefter to launch a blistering criticism of the entire process on Thursday in an appearance on “Schlereth and Evans” on 104.3 The Fan in Denver.
“I think it’s a bunch of BS,” Schefter said. “I love how these guys get into the Hall of Fame 30 years later and they’re not alive to enjoy it. Ken Riley. Oh, Ken Riley morphed into a Hall of Fame cornerback within the last year that he got in? Why didn’t he get in when he was alive? Ken Stabler — it bothers me, it really bothers me, that all of a sudden, after a certain amount of time, because of some political BS, there’s a push on a guy and he gets in. Because it’s a highly political process, and it’s unfortunate. Mike Shanahan is a Hall of Famer yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So let’s just make him wait, and we’ll keep making him wait, because we only allow one coach in per year. Who comes up with these stupid rules?
“Who made these 50 people the voices of God and the deciders of fate? … Mike Shanahan is a Hall-of-Famer. He’s just not in the Hall of Fame. He belongs in the Hall of Fame. He should have been in before. He’s not in now. He’s going to get in, but let’s just make him wait until 2024, or 2026, until the judges of the game, the arbiters of the truth, get to issue that pass to go to the Hall. OK, give me a break.”
Schefter got fired up here, and plenty would probably agree with him. While it is understandable that the powers that be want the Hall to remain exclusive, the narrow pool of voters and strict criteria for selection may be a bit too restrictive at times. Shanahan is one of several who deserves that honor. Just look at the coaching tree he has spawned.
