Steelers HOF Nominees

[SteelBucks]

Cowher, Bettis, Dawson nominated for Hall of Fame
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher and a number of his former players are among the 103 modern-day nominees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame that were announced this afternoon.

Cowher left the Steelers after the 2006 season and this is the first year he is eligible for the Hall of Fame after waiting the required five years.

Among those former Steelers nominated are two who were finalists last year, center Dermontti Dawson and halfback Jerome Bettis.

From the 103 nominees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee will choose 25 candidates who will advance as semifinalist nominees. The list of 25 semifinalists will be announced in mid-November.

The list of 25 semifinalists will be further reduced by a mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists and announced in early January.

The final list of nominees that will be considered for election will consist of the 15 modern-era finalists and the two senior nominees, former Steelers defensive back Jack Butler and former Detroit Lions guard Dick Stanfel, who were selected this last month by the Hall of Fame's Senior Selection Committee.

Preliminary List of Nominees for the Class of 2012

First-year Eligible Nominees

Quarterback -- Drew Bledsoe

Running Backs -- Tiki Barber, Stephen Davis

Wide Receivers -- Keyshawn Johnson, Rod Smith

Offensive Lineman -- Will Shields (G)

Defensive Back -- Troy Vincent (S)

Kicker -- Mike Vanderjagt

Coaches -- Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer

Additional Nominees

QUARTERBACK -- Phil Simms

RUNNING BACKS -- *Jerome Bettis, Larry Centers, Roger Craig, Terrell Davis, Eddie George, *Curtis Martin, Brian Mitchell (also KR/PR), Gerald Riggs, Herschel Walker, Ricky Watters

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11271/11 ... z1ZHcqQHDY (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11271/1178228-100.stm#ixzz1ZHcqQHDY)

[RuthlessBurgher]

This will be the year Dirt Dawson finally gets in. There are no slam-dunk Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice types among the first year eligible players, so it will be a "clean-up" type of year in which the HoF voters right some of the wrongs they've made in recent years, and Dermontti is at the top of that list.

[SteelBucks]

This will be the year Dirt Dawson finally gets in. There are no slam-dunk Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice types among the first year eligible players, so it will be a "clean-up" type of year in which the HoF voters right some of the wrongs they've made in recent years, and Dermontti is at the top of that list.

IMO, LC Greenwood should also be in.

[RuthlessBurgher]

This will be the year Dirt Dawson finally gets in. There are no slam-dunk Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice types among the first year eligible players, so it will be a "clean-up" type of year in which the HoF voters right some of the wrongs they've made in recent years, and Dermontti is at the top of that list.

IMO, LC Greenwood should also be in.

Yeah, but his 15 years of eligibility has elapsed, so his only hope for induction is via the Senior's Committee in the future (the Dick LeBeau route).

[papillon]

Cowher, Bettis, Dawson nominated for Hall of Fame
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher and a number of his former players are among the 103 modern-day nominees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame that were announced this afternoon.

Cowher left the Steelers after the 2006 season and this is the first year he is eligible for the Hall of Fame after waiting the required five years.

Among those former Steelers nominated are two who were finalists last year, center Dermontti Dawson and halfback Jerome Bettis.

From the 103 nominees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee will choose 25 candidates who will advance as semifinalist nominees. The list of 25 semifinalists will be announced in mid-November.

The list of 25 semifinalists will be further reduced by a mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists and announced in early January.

The final list of nominees that will be considered for election will consist of the 15 modern-era finalists and the two senior nominees, former Steelers defensive back Jack Butler and former Detroit Lions guard bad word Stanfel, who were selected this last month by the Hall of Fame's Senior Selection Committee.

Preliminary List of Nominees for the Class of 2012

First-year Eligible Nominees

Quarterback -- Drew Bledsoe

Running Backs -- Tiki Barber, Stephen Davis

Wide Receivers -- Keyshawn Johnson, Rod Smith

Offensive Lineman -- Will Shields (G)

Defensive Back -- Troy Vincent (S)

Kicker -- Mike Vanderjagt

Coaches -- Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer

Additional Nominees

QUARTERBACK -- Phil Simms

RUNNING BACKS -- *Jerome Bettis, Larry Centers, Roger Craig, Terrell Davis, Eddie George, *Curtis Martin, Brian Mitchell (also KR/PR), Gerald Riggs, Herschel Walker, Ricky Watters

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11271/11 ... z1ZHcqQHDY (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11271/1178228-100.stm#ixzz1ZHcqQHDY)

Cowher, Parcells and Bettis are the only opnes on that list that should ever get into the HOF. Some of the others were good football players, but not HOF: Johnson, Craig, Davis and Shields.

Even mentioning the others as potential HOF enshrinees is an embarrassment to the HOF. Drew Bledsoe? Please.

Pappy

[RuthlessBurgher]

Cowher, Parcells and Bettis are the only opnes on that list that should ever get into the HOF. Some of the others were good football players, but not HOF: Johnson, Craig, Davis and Shields.

Even mentioning the others as potential HOF enshrinees is an embarrassment to the HOF. Drew Bledsoe? Please.

Pappy

Curtis Martin should also get consideration for sure.

Of course, my vote goes to VANDERJAGT!!!

http://www.clubhousecancer.com/WindowsLiveWriter/MikeVanderjagt********_thumb.jpg

[Sugar]

I'm thinking that the only lock is probably Parcells. I'd think that Cowher and Dawson (for reasons previously mentioned) have a pretty good shot too. The Bus will probably get in as well, but it might take a while.

We should just have a black and gold year and enshrine all the Steelers greats that aren't yet there, then they can take a hiatus until Hines is eligible!! :tt2 :tt2 :tt2

[hawaiiansteel]

Bires: Sizing up the chances of latest Steeler Hall of Fame nominees

Thursday, September 29, 2011


The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced its list of nominations with 103 players, coaches and contributors eligible for induction in the Class of 2012.

Times sports reporter Mike Bires looks at the chances of eight nominees who played or coached for the Steelers.

BILL COWHER

This year? No, because Pro Football Hall of Fame voters believe he'll one day coach again.

Ever? Maybe. It all depends on how well he fares if he does coach again.

JEROME BETTIS

This year? Maybe. A finalist last year, but Curtis Martin, No. 4 on the all-time rushing chart, will probably be the running back who gets in this year.

Ever? Definitely. "The Bus" is the fifth all-time leading rusher.

DERMONTTI DAWSON

This year? I like his chances. The third time could be the charm. He also was a finalist the past two years.

Ever? Definitely. "Dirt" played in seven straight Pro Bowls (1992-1998) and was a first-team All-Pro center six straight years.

DONNIE SHELL

This year? No. The hard-hitting safety from the "Steel Cutain" era has only been a finalist once, and not since 2002.

Ever? Probably not. A lot of folks think the Steelers of the 1970s already have too many of their stars in the Hall of Fame.

KEVIN GREENE

This year? No. He's never been a Hall of Fame finalist, and it won't happen this year.
Ever? Probably. After all, he's one of the NFL's greatest sack artists. He's No. 3 on the all-time list with 160.

GARY ANDERSON

This year? No. Hall of Fame voters don't like voting for kickers.

Ever? Maybe. There are three kickers in the Hall of Fame (George Blanda, Lou "The Toe" Groza and Jan Stenerud). Anderson, who's No. 2 on the NFL all-time scoring list, has more points than all three.

BUD CARSON

This year? No. There are too many coaches on the ballot with far better credentials.
Ever? He was an outstanding defensive coordinator and mastermind of the "Steel Curtain" defenses. But he was only 27-27 when he later became a head coach.

JACK BUTLER

This year? Yes, he has better credentials that Dick Stanfel, the other senior committee nominee.

Ever? I hope so. Butler intercepted 52 passes in 103 games in the 1950s before a knee injury ended his career.

http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/s ... 0f31a.html (http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/sports/mike_bires/bires-sizing-up-the-chances-of-latest-steeler-hall-of/article_f97469fe-ea9d-11e0-9c87-0019bb30f31a.html)

[Dee Dub]

This will be the year Dirt Dawson finally gets in. There are no slam-dunk Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice types among the first year eligible players, so it will be a "clean-up" type of year in which the HoF voters right some of the wrongs they've made in recent years, and Dermontti is at the top of that list.

IMO, LC Greenwood should also be in.

Agreed...bu not before Donnie Shell. I say this every year...Donnie Shell is the greatest mission the hall of fame has. if you stack up Shell's numbers with the games best Strong Safeties who have ever played the game...Shell is at least top 5 and maybe even as high as number #3. Look at the numbers.

As good/great as L.C. was, that isnt something you can say about him at his position.

If you guys are going to jump on a Steeler cause, jump on the right one.

Donnie Shell was and is a hall of famer.

[Dee Dub]

Bires: Sizing up the chances of latest Steeler Hall of Fame nominees


DONNIE SHELL

This year? No. The hard-hitting safety from the "Steel Cutain" era has only been a finalist once, and not since 2002.

Ever? Probably not. A lot of folks think the Steelers of the 1970s already have too many of their stars in the Hall of Fame.

http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/s ... 0f31a.html (http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/sports/mike_bires/bires-sizing-up-the-chances-of-latest-steeler-hall-of/article_f97469fe-ea9d-11e0-9c87-0019bb30f31a.html)

This really urkes me!! To say this is to totally ignore where Donnie Shell ranks statically among all-time SS. These folks mentioned above ought to have there voting privileges revoked.

[RuthlessBurgher]

This will be the year Dirt Dawson finally gets in. There are no slam-dunk Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice types among the first year eligible players, so it will be a "clean-up" type of year in which the HoF voters right some of the wrongs they've made in recent years, and Dermontti is at the top of that list.

IMO, LC Greenwood should also be in.

Agreed...bu not before Donnie Shell. I say this every year...Donnie Shell is the greatest mission the hall of fame has. if you stack up Shell's numbers with the games best Strong Safeties who have ever played the game...Shell is at least top 5 and maybe even as high as number #3. Look at the numbers.

As good/great as L.C. was, that isnt something you can say about him at his position.

If you guys are going to jump on a Steeler cause, jump on the right one.

Donnie Shell was and is a hall of famer.

Shell, like Greenwood, would also have to be voted in by the Senior Committee in the future, because he is no longer eligible for typical enshrinement (folks that have been retired for more than 20 years are Seniors candidates...the standard HoF voting takes place after a 5 year waiting period following retirement, then 15 years of regular eligibility).

Shell and Greenwood should get in eventually, but they are probably too "young" for the Senior panel to give serious consideration yet (Shell is in his late 50's and L.C. is in his mid-60's...the Senior voters tend to favor old-timers who are a couple of decades older than that, like they did in nominating guys like Dick LeBeau and Jack Butler in recent years...a couple of guys who are in their mid-70's and mid-80's, respectively).

[fordfixer]

On the Steelers: Cowher not ready for Canton yet
Sunday, October 02, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11275/1179157-66-0.stm

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/201109/cowher1002a_500.jpg
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Bill Cowher after Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

Let the debate begin on Bill Cowher's credentials for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This is the first year he is eligible and he was nominated with 102 other modern candidates.

But it's too early for him, even though he has not coached since 2006.

Cowher won't make it this year or anytime soon for the same reason Bill Parcells did not make it his first time around. We don't know if he's finished coaching.

Before 2008, coaches were eligible after their last season. I and others on the selection committee pushed for the coaches to wait the same five years that players had to wait, and the Hall finally adopted that. Coaches were making a habit of unretiring and voters were leery of voting for a coach who might return to coach. Why? Because he may retire with a borderline Hall of Fame record, then return and lose a ton of games and the end result might be he would not have made it on his total body of work.

Joe Gibbs is a good example of a coach who returned and failed after he became a Hall of Famer, but his record was strong enough that it still would have held up.

Parcells could not convince the voters that he was finished coaching when he was nominated from 2001-03 and became a finalist. His friends assured everyone he was finished coaching. But then he returned to coach the Dallas Cowboys and went 34-30 from '03-06 and 0-2 in the playoffs.

Marty Schottenheimer did the same thing. He was nominated in 2000, but it generally was felt he would coach again. Not only did he coach again, but he also coached three teams -- the Washington Redskins in '01, the San Diego Chargers in '02-06 and currently the Virginia Destroyers of the UFL (which, apparently, means he is not retired from pro football even if the Hall considers him retired).

Those are good examples as to why the five-year wait was implemented for coaches, too.

That brings us to Cowher. It has been assumed by most everyone I've talked to that he is not done coaching, and he has not dissuaded anyone from those opinions. As long as that belief holds, he's not going to be taken seriously for the Hall of Fame. He is only 54. Schottenheimer, his mentor, is still coaching at 68 and last coached in the NFL at 63.

Even if Cowher announced today that he would never coach again, not enough voters would believe him. In his case, his waiting period might stretch to 10 years rather than five.

As for whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame or not, that's another debate. His record stacks up favorably with other coaches who have been inducted. Cowher, in 15 years, had a record of 149-90-1 (.623) with a postseason record of 12-9 (.571) that included two Super Bowl visits and one victory.

The man right above him with nine more victories, Bud Grant, coached 18 years and had a .621 winning percentage, four Super Bowl visits with no wins and a 10-12 post-season record. Grant is in the Hall of Fame.

So, too, is Marv Levy, who coached 17 years, did not win as many games as Cowher (143-112, .561) and was 11-8 in the postseason, including 0-4 in Super Bowls.

Hank Stram's teams won one Super Bowl (131-97-10, .574). He's in.

George Allen's teams won no Super Bowls (116-47-5, .712) and were 2-7 in the post-season. He's in.

Next to them, Cowher's candidacy for the Hall is legitimate. He just won't become a serious candidate until it's assured he won't come back for more.

James Harrison: Zero-for-2011

You could actually have made this bet before the season began: Over-under on the number of fines the NFL will issue James Harrison this year. Bodog.com set the line at 1.

Considering the linebacker was fined four times last season for $125,000 (later reduced to $100,000), the over would seem to be a safe bet. However, Harrison hasn't been whacked yet by the NFL after three games while teammates such as Ike Taylor ($15,000), Doug Legursky ($10,000) and Antonio Brown ($7,500) have already reached Harrison's over-under number.

Has the four-time Pro Bowl-starting linebacker changed how he plays defense?

"No, I haven't changed," Harrison said emphatically. "I guess it's just been the way things rode out. There haven't been too many opportunities where there's been a chance of what they would call an illegal hit I guess."

Harrison's clean shot Sunday night on quarterback Curtis Painter in Indianapolis led to a fumble that Troy Polamalu returned 16 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown in a 23-20 Steelers victory.

"Most of the time, I hit the quarterbacks clean," Harrison said. "I never hit them dirty. From what they call an illegal hit and a legal hit, it all depends on how you get to them. Sometimes you get to them face up and you can't change what you're about to hit at the last second and they're going to adjust to the way you hit them.

"That right there, they didn't see me so there was nothing for him to adjust to and nothing for me to adjust to."

Legursky said his fine for clipping a Seattle Seahawks player in the second game of the season came when he had no chance to adjust after the defender turned on a Steelers running play.

"Mine was just trying to go out there and make a play," Legursky said. "The way the running back cut, I feel the defender turned his back to me a little bit and I was already engaged in the block. It's just one of those things that happen in football; I didn't do it maliciously in any way."

If the surprise in the early going of this season is that Harrison has not even had close to a questionable hit, he says he hasn't given it one thought. After his $75,000 fine last season (later reduced to $50,000), he threatened to retire.

"I'm not waiting for anything to happen. I feel like it may have been an off year, I guess. They were just starting to get accustomed to exactly what was illegal hits, legal hits. Yeah, I have a better understanding now, but I don't need to adjust. Even the ones I got fined for I didn't think were illegal for the most part.

"Some of them, you just can't change the whole outcome of the plays. There's nothing else you could do to adjust to it other than to dive to the ground and get out of the way. That's not helping my team."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11275/11 ... z1ZbPp7bDN (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11275/1179157-66-0.stm#ixzz1ZbPp7bDN)