Smith, Woodson among four first-time Hall of Fame finalists Associated Press CANTON, Ohio -- Career sacks leader Bruce Smith, Rod Woodson, Shannon Sharpe and John Randle are among the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the only first-year eligible players to make the final round this year. Joining them will be two contributors: former commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson, as well as two senior nominees selected last August by the Senior Committee: former Atlanta defensive end Claude Humphrey and former Dallas wide receiver Bob Hayes. Between four and seven candidates will be elected in the balloting that will take place in Tampa on Jan. 31, the day before the Super Bowl. The field was narrowed by the Hall's 44-member board of selectors from 133 to 25 before reducing it to the final 15. Of the other finalists, only former Pittsburgh center Dermontti Dawson and former Seattle defensive lineman Cortez Kennedy have not been finalists before. The rest: wide receivers Cris Carter and Andre Reed; defensive end Richard Dent; guards Russ Grimm, Bob Kuechenberg and Randall McDaniel; and linebacker Derrick Thomas. Smith played from 1985-1999 with Buffalo, then spent four years in Washington. He finished with 200 sacks, the most since they began an official statistic in 1982. Woodson, who played cornerback and safety from 1987-2003 with Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Oakland -- and also played some offense -- had 71 interceptions. Sharpe, who played for Denver and Baltimore from 1990-2003, holds the records for receptions by a tight end with 815. And Randle had 137.5 sacks at defensive tackle for Minnesota and Seattle from 1990-2003. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
"CANTON, Ohio -- Career sacks leader Bruce Smith, Rod Woodson, Shannon Sharpe and John Randle are among the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the only first-year eligible players to make the final round this year." Bruce Smith is the best defensive lineman I have ever seen, I am willing to listen to arguements otherwise simply out of curiosity. Reggie White and Smith played at the same time, I honestly don't know why people think White was better. Shannon Sharpe does not belong in the HOF. He was a WR who lined up as TE, but he was not a TE. He was not large enough to play the TE position. Did they use the zone blocking system at Denver back then? If they did then that would explain how they could get away with a WR at TE. SS's stats only look good if you go along with the lie that he really was a TE. Rod Woodson, I dunno. His stats are HOF stats. I have doubts that he really affected the game to the extent that his stats suggest, but I see no reason to complain if he make it. I never watched Randle enough to have an opinion. He certainly has good stats.
Shannon Sharpe absolutely deserves to be in the HOF. And if you really think Rod Woodson didn't affect the game you really shouldn't be commenting on who should be in the HOF and who shouldn't. Woodson was a memeber of the 75th anniversary team while he was still playing just to give you an idea of his impact on the game.
but I can still say, that both are douchbags, right? Great players without a doubt, but awful TV-Experts.
Rod Woodson was one of the greatest players in NFL history..period. That's not Steeler bias shining there. As stated above he was an ACTIVE player named as one of the greatest players in the games history. Also Dermontti Dawson should be in the hall as well. He was THE dominant center of his time hands down. He may have to wait a few more years though considering this years potentials.
He blocked fine...he wasn't amazing at it or anything, but he wasn't a liability either, he's a much better blocker than a lot of TE's in the league now. Just because a TE has good recieving stats a lot of people are quick to say they can't block, but in this case it wasn't true.
I agree with that. It also should be noted that he has three Super Bowl rings. Some people tend to forget he played for the 2000 Ravens. The two big plays in the '00 AFC title game were Sharpe's 96-yard touchdown catch and Tony Siragusa falling on top of Rich Gannon.
