Here we go again.
Another year Terrell Davis and the Denver Broncos are given the finger by the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. A collection of 46 people who cover the NFL and should know its history given the weight of what they do: select those to be inducted in the Hall of Fame.
But year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year they show how much they respect the Broncos and the players who made them one of the best franchises in professional sports by not putting them in Canton, Ohio.
At this point, those 46 people might as well give the finger to Davis, Steve Atwater (who was a finalist as well), Karl Mecklenburg, Randy Gradishar, Louis Wright, Tom Nalen, Rod Smith and Pat Bowlen when it comes to ever being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Former Tampa Bay and Denver safety John Lynch was a finalist as well but was not part of the 2016 class.
Wrong. I know @Jeff_Legwold presented great argument but I don't get it. Really thought it was @Terrell_Davis year. https://t.co/lif7d527SJ
— Ed McCaffrey (@87ed) February 7, 2016
It's clear they have no knowledge for what those people accomplished in the sport they are supposed to know. They don't care the impact all of those men had on pro football.
No doubt over the next 24 hours you'll hear the lazy, sorry explanation: "Who would you take out?"
When you hear that, don't accept it. It's a cop out from people who don't have to answer for the decisions they make. They don't want to be held accountable for the choices they made.
In that sense, Hall of Fame voters are petulant children. They want all of the fame that comes with what they do but none of the responsibility.
One way to clear that up is to make the presentations recorded and televised.
Let the people know how you vote and why you voted that way.
Show the fans who have just as much knowledge, if not more, on why you made the decisions you did.
This is not the time to throw out Davis' numbers and explain why he should be in.
Or Atwater.
Or Meck.
Or Gradishar.
Or Wright.
Or Nalen.
Or Smith.
Or Mr. B.
This is not the time to throw out that four Broncos are in the Hall of Fame while 13 Minnesota Vikings are, with almost half coming in the last 20 years.
This is not the time to throw out that Denver has been to more Super Bowls since 1983 than it has had losing seasons.
Enough is enough.
What will it take for the Broncos to get their rightful place in Canton?
It's clear postseason success doesn't mean a thing.
It's clear longevity matters none.
It's clear continued success over a sustained period of time is a punchline in a bad joke.
It's obvious impact on the game can't change minds.
That means the only choice is to move the Broncos out of Denver. It doesn't have to be one of the Coasts (see the Vikings above and that paradigm of success in Kansas City).
It would appear Denver is the hold up.
I know, I'm trying to add logic to a situation that has none, but that is the only thing left.
These people must think Denver still has dirt roads, uses outhouses and gets around on horseback. Note to those who do come to the Mile High City: You can get a DUI on a horse.
At some point, Denver will get that needed infrastructure, so bear with us.
Of course, the other explanation is the 46 people who make up the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee don't know the sport they cover. Or perhaps they have their biases. Someone in Denver looked at them wrong and they decided right then and there never (or rarely) to vote a Broncos player into the Hall of Fame.
If you know anything about sports media people, the petulant child reference is gold.
The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior, and given the treatment the committee has given the Broncos the last 35 years, that won't change.
Davis is the greatest postseason running back of all time who spent his entire career with a franchise teeming with Super Bowl berths and playoff victories. He got the Broncos over the Super Bowl hump. If that's not enough for the Hall of Fame committee, then it's time the committee was changed.