In the end for a lot of these guys, the thing that sets them apart is their pain threshold/recovery time. And Bettis carried his team's offense for a really long time and everyone knew they had to stop him and usually couldn't.

The only thing I wonder objectively looking at his career from the outside is, did Bettis ever enhance his performance with any substances? That might help explain his ridiculous ability to recover unlike others.

Hopefully he was just a freak. At the end of the day, the voters will put him in because of his smile, personality, and nickname. There's no science to who gets into the HOF. I think the voters get easily swayed just like the fans. It's why Hines Ward's Mirror Ball trophy will likely get him in on the first ballot.