11. Jerome Bettis. This is his first year of eligibility. Nothing about Jerome Bettis screams "First Ballot Hall of Famer" to me. The good news is, he will get in eventually. If for no other reason than he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and went out of the game Elway-style, as the last game of his career was a Super Bowl 40 victory. Also, he's number five on the All-time rushing list. On the other hand, Floyd Little retired as the seventh All-time leading rusher and it took 35 years to get him in the Hall of Fame.
8. (tie) Richard Dent, Chris Doleman, and Charles Haley. I debated for some time about which of these pass rushers was most Hall-worthy. Doleman played 15 seasons, compiled 150.5 quarterback sacks, made 8 Pro Bowls, and was twice named 1st Team All-Pro. Haley played 14 seasons, has 100.5 sacks to his credit, was selected to 5 Pro Bowls, and was also twice named 1st Team All-Pro. And when you add his two Super Bowl rings, he pretty much had an equal career to Doleman. And then there's Richard Dent. 15 seasons, 137.5 sacks, two Super Bowl rings, 4 Pro Bowls, 1 All-Pro.
So that's three pretty comparable guys, and I can't really put one ahead of the other. I imagine Hall voters have the same problem. I think it's clear that Richard Dent will be the first one of these three to get in - this is his 7th time as a finalist. The fact that he was MVP of Super Bowl 20 probably puts him slightly ahead of the others.
What finally convinced me that none of them should go in right now is that they failed the Neil Smith Test. Neil Smith was a contemporary of the aforementioned defenders who played 13 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. He had 104.5 career sacks, made 7 Pro Bowls and one 1st-Team All-Pro. Plus he won two Super Bowl rings with the Denver Broncos. You can't tell me that Doleman, Dent, or Haley are clearly better candidates than Smith. Yet you never hear of Neil Smith getting a sniff at the Hall of Fame. It doesn't make sense to me.
As a result, I had to say no to all three. If your career was basically the same as a guy who doesn't get mentioned, then I think that seriously weakens your case.
So if I was forced to rank the three, I think it would go like this:
10. Charles Haley
9. Chris Doleman
8. Richard Dent
But I'm not forced to do anything, because it's my blog. So they remain tied.
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