Bills v. Broncos - A HOF Travesty in Numbers

by Jezru on Feb 2, 2009 11:57 AM MST

Newsflash: Shannon Sharpe got jobbed by the HOF

Won 3 Superbowls 8 time probowler

Was stat leader in all categories for a TE when retired - Nobody in the history of the NFL was more productive than he when he hung them up.

How does he not get into the HOF? Ralph Wilson gets in and not Sharpe? How is it that a guy who founds a team in an area that is quickly becoming incapable of supporting a team (the move to Toronto is all but fixed) gets in ahead of the greatest TE to play the game in his time? A guy who never once took a snap? Amazing... I'll tell you why... Because Sharpe was a Bronco...

Here's some interesting math:

The Buffalo Bills have 9 HOFers (including Wilson)

In the common NFL era the Bills have: 7 division championships. 13 playoff appearances 4 Conference Championships 0 Superbowl Wins

The Broncos have 2 HOFers. In the common NFL era the Broncos have: 10 division championships 17 playoff appearances 6 Conference Championships 2 Superbowl Wins

So, why the disparity in HOFers? It doesn't make any damn sense! 9-2? Seriously? Clearly the numbers above show that the Broncos are BETTER team and that would reasonably mean that the Broncos had BETTER PLAYERS. This isn't just some anomaly. This isn't an aberration! It's a travesty of a process and I am just furious over the whole mess! Get real people and give the fans and players of the Broncos their due and do the RIGHT thing.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR

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Comments

No argument from me, but the Bills did win several AFL Titles.

Like I said a few days ago….the hall of fame is dead to me.

This is my GAP, there are many like it but this one is mine. Without my GAP I am useless, without me, they will run through my GAP. I will protect my GAP and have my brothers back on his. I will not be moved from my GAP, I am a crazed dog that patrols this area and will defeat all who enter it. I own this GAP, it is mine. I bought it with blood and sweat. I will not be pushed. I will not be moved. This Sunday I will make a stand and a statement.

by Tim Lynch on Feb 2, 2009 12:50 PM MST reply actions

I feel the same way

and I privately fantasize about the day, when John announces that he feels the same way too, and asks for his bust to be removed.

by Jeeeeens on Feb 2, 2009 2:01 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs

lol +1

by Tim Lynch on Feb 2, 2009 3:06 PM MST up reply actions

...any yet...

Just 1 of their players (not including Wilson) is from that era.

by Jezru on Feb 2, 2009 12:57 PM MST reply actions

Allow me to Elaborate...

I sent this to a friend of mine who is a Packer fan… He responded:

“Five players get to go every year. There are 32 teams and hundreds of players who you could make an argument for every year. You guys are the only ones that complain this much.”

This got me thinking… I pulled up the NFL All Time Records (through 2008) and replied the following.

[My Friend]
If we were the Bengals or Seahawks you’d have a case….

Let me break it down this way….

The Packers have 26 players in the HOF spanning 80 years (since 1919). That works out to 1 hall of famer for every 3 years in existence.

Now compare that to the Broncos with 2 players in the HOF spanning 49 years (since 1960). That works out to roughly 1 player every 25 years.

Well, you say, J[ezru] that’s because the Packers have a much more storied history than the Broncos! True… But if you look at all time win percentage of the Broncos .529 and the all time win percentage of the Packers .559 the two teams are not that far off performance wise. Logic would dictate that with such similar winning percentages one should expect that over any 40 year span, these teams should both have around 13 players, give or take 3.

However, when you dive into the numbers further you can see that it’s not actually half. The Broncos (not counting this season) have played 756 games in their history and won 395. The Pack have played 1,216 and won 662. So the win total is more like 2/3 so over an 80 year span and again considering the winning percentages being largely similar the broncos should be afforded 3/5ths of your HOF total – 15 players (+-3). However, I know 15 is an awful lot and I know that you’ve got guys in there that helped form the NFL as we know it today. Expecting to have 13 in the HOF, especially considering Buffalo’s 9, is not entirely out of the realm of possibility. My friend, it is for this reason that “we [Broncos fans] are the only ones who complain this much”. You see, this is precisely why having a measly 2 in HOF is not just awful, but insulting as well.

Even if we immediately admitted the 9 listed below, we’d have 11 [there was an email where I made the case for 9 Broncos – You all know who they are]… Which, considering the .3 differential in our win percentages, would be just about right.

J

Then I felt guilty about picking the Packers… Not exactly your normative team. So I then put this same formula to the Cowboys…

[My Friend]
Doing this exercise with Green Bay isn’t exactly a fair representation of what I am getting at. Allow me to do this with the Cowboys – a team who’s been in existence for exactly the same amount of time as the Broncos. I know that Green Bay is a team with extenuating circumstances considering it’s long tenure in the NFL and I know it’s close to your heart.

The Cowboys too have been in existence for 49 years (1960). They have 11 HOFers. That’s 1 every 4.5 years. They’ve won 446 games and have a win percentage of .577.

This is almost .05% higher than the Broncos. But only 51 games (you can look at it as a little over 1 game better per season in existence). The Broncos have won 88% of the games that the Cowboys have won. The Cowboys have won a conference title 10 times (two pre modern era) while the broncos have won 6. Superbowl Championships? 5 for Dallas 2 for Denver.

So what does this mean? Should the Broncos have 88% of the HOFers that Dallas has? That would give us 9. Or considering conference titles, should we have 3/5 of their total? That would give us 7. Or Championships? 4.

Despite all our numbers and deserving players, you can not deny that there are a disproportionate amount of Broncos in the Hall of Fame. Again, you can see why we’re so bitter.

J

Am I wrong here?

by Jezru on Feb 2, 2009 5:25 PM MST reply actions 1 recs

I think you should point out that Zimmerman is .5 a Bronco. He is listed as both a Bronco and a Viking equally.

Whatever argument we make, the rest of the nation think we are babies and whine too much. I am through with the Hall of Shame and their crappy way of selecting. Sports Writers’ are egotistical losers who really only care about being known or being different than the norm. It’s come to the point now where the process is more important than the actual outcome…much like presidential politics. We have .5 more hall of famers than the Tampa Bay Bucs and when Sapp and Lynch get in then we will have 1.5 less than they have.

I am not sure how or why the bias exists, but it is painfully clear that there is one. I will lobby each year not because I feel its important, but because the players deserve that much from us fans. To the players it still matters, and since I feel Lionel Taylor, Floyd Little, Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson, Louis Wright, Terrell Davis, and Shannon Sharpe all deserve to be recognized for their status as NFL greats, I will always try to lobby for their votes. However, PERSONALLY, the Hall of Shame is dead to me and I will put all my efforts to bring the Ring of Fame to the forefront of the fans psyche. It is the Ring of Fame that should matter most to us…so long as the Hall of Shame continues to be a corrupt entity that denies equal representation I will not invest myself to promote anything about them.

When I say equal representation, I do not mean all teams should have the same amount of hall of famers…what I mean is that a team with as many wins and accomplishments as another should not be outnumbered 15-1 or 20-1 in enshrined members. That shows there truly is a bias. How can there be that many more NFL Greats…how the F did Denver ever a win a damned game?!?!? We did it with a bunch of scrubs? THAT is what I am referring to. I am complaining again….hall of fame is dead to me.

by Tim Lynch on Feb 2, 2009 6:22 PM MST up reply actions

Love the lower case letters for the hall!

If this be Hell, let us make the most of it!

by Trinidad Jack on Feb 4, 2009 3:44 PM MST up reply actions

I've decided I will lower case hall of fame, but

capitalize Hall of Shame. :)

Is there such a thing as a Playstation 3 Anonymous? I can't seem to stop thinking about or playing COD 4 and COD 5. I hear this is quite normal for a teenager, but I haven't been a teenager since Bill Clinton was frolicking with interns.

by Tim Lynch on Feb 4, 2009 6:25 PM MST up reply actions

Sounds good to me.

If this be Hell, let us make the most of it!

by Trinidad Jack on Feb 5, 2009 9:32 AM MST up reply actions

Look at all the orginal AFL teams, we have the fewest (2)

In all honesty we really have one, yes Zimmerman ended his career with us, but he started in Minnesota and played the bulk of his career there. Look at the Chargers: 6 HOF, one super bowl appearance, show me any team that has been more dominant than the Broncos in the past 32 years, yet one legit guy, a bunch of BS, I plan on constant harrassment of the Voters until they start getting the point. I really think if there was a vocal protest at the inductions, that maybe the NFL would start putting some pressure on these a-holes, especially if they have a bunch of guys ruining the show every year.

"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman

by Broncoman on Feb 2, 2009 10:30 PM MST reply actions

My problem

with “ruining the show” is that it detracts from the great careers of the guys who DO get in. Normally, I don’t have much of an issue with the people they let in, but it’s the constant stream of guys who are left out that leave me stunned. Cris Carter and Shannon Sharpe? Are you kidding me??? Ralph Wilson was very “meh” for me, but I didn’t have a problem with it. Really, while the Broncos have been slighted, the only guys who aren’t in that I believe should be are Little, Gradishar, Sharpe, and TD. Sharpe is going to get in. I can’t imagine a scenario in which he doesn’t get in. I think Floyd and Gradishar are screwed, and that’s that. Denver isn’t going to get any respect and it won’t be long before people are going to start completely dismissing us as being whining homers. Peter King apparently already sees that with his blunt, prickish dismissals time and time again.

I am Jack's unbridled optimism.

by A.J. Haefele on Feb 3, 2009 3:44 AM MST up reply actions