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Earlier this year the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame class was announced, and once again there were no Broncos inducted. There was anger and outrage, it was called a travesty, then it was called a travesty again. It was out of those posts a committee was born. No more weeping and gnashing of teeth, we're taking action. With Guru advising and some help from Zappa, a committee consisting of Jezru, studbucket, and firstfan was formed with the purpose gathering data and opinions to create an organized campaign to get more Broncos in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To see the first post in this series, go here.
The recent Hall of Fame game, induction ceremony, and a certain article from Zappa have gotten all of us into the Hall of Fame mood again and thinking about the various injustices and grievances we have against the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the primary reasons for angst amongst Bronco fans is the exclusion of The Franchise, Floyd Little, from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As you may remember from our first post, Floyd is one of the two candidates we are persuading the voters to get into the Hall of Fame.
So how have we been doing? Will Bronco Nation be appeased? Details and plans around Floyd's candidacy can be found below.
The Seniors Committee
Since Floyd's 15 years of eligibility expired in 1995, he can now only make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame through the Seniors Committee. The Seniors Committee is a subgroup of the 44-member selection committee consisting of eight full-time members and one rotating member. Each year the Seniors Committee whittles down the huge list of candidates to 15 final candidates through a mail-in ballot process. Five of the nine committee members meet in late August to narrow down that list of 15 to a final two candidates. This year those five committee members will be meeting on August 25 in Canton. This date is important for reasons that will be laid out at the end of this message and in the next post (a call to action!).
Below are the nine current members of the Seniors Committee.
- Dan Pompei
- Rick Gosselin
- John McClain
- Edwin Pope
- Ron Borges
- John Czarnecki
- Dave Goldberg
- Len Shapiro
- Ira Miller
The Inquiries
Each of us sent out an email to several of the Seniors Committee members, looking for feedback on the process, committee, and imploring them to get Floyd into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All of us have different personalities and interests, resulting in three distinctly different types of letters, including a great one from firstfan that can be read in this fanpost, and studbucket's can be found in the comments of that post. These emails and other templates that we provide, will be published by the committee as examples and resources for those looking to email the voters.
The Responses
While all eight journalists were mailed, we only got responses from three of them. However the responses were useful and informative and left us feeling somewhat better about Floyd's chances than when we started out. You can see snippets from those emails below.
Thanks for your note + interest in the process. I'm aware of Little
and have spoken on his behalf in past senior meetings -- and will so
again in the future.
We meet once a year in late August. We're in the process of reducing the field of about 90 candidates to a final 15 that we'll discuss at the meeting. Floyd was on the preliminary list and I'm well aware of his case. Thanks for your interest in the process.
The senior committee meets on Aug. 25 in Canton. We're now in the process of winnowing more than 100 candidaytes down to 15 finalists, a process that will be completed in early august. Five senior committee members will then meet and discuss each candidate's resume, augmented by two hall of famers who will join in the discussion, but have no vote. Two candidates are selected, and they must be voted on at the regular hall of fame selection meeting held the day before the Super Bowl. Hope that helps, and it goes without sayting that Floyd remains an outstanding contender. The bad news is that there are dozens of them, and it's an excruiciatingly tough process. Best.
The meeting to cut the list from 15 semi-finalists to two is next month. I
have long supported Floyd Little and did so again this year. Hopefully he will
make the final 15 and get a full airing in Canton next month. You
are right in saying there are more worthy senior candidates than we have slots
so it is always very difficult.
All the best and thanks for your interest in the Hall.
As you can see, Floyd is definitely being considered by the voters, but we think they might need a little nudging, don't you?
The Future
So what's going to happen next? Floyd's getting in the Hall, that's what's happening! To do that, it's going to take more than three enthusiastic committee members, that's going to take all of MHR and Bronco Country. In the very near future we are going to give out some suggestions, guidelines, resources, and email templates so that you guys can hit the Seniors Committee with all of our collective might, so they might know how important Floyd is to us.
So get excited, get knowledgeable, and get ready to get Floyd into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where he belongs!
