Canton Makes Call

Ah, the Hall of Fame. Being on that exclusive list means that you were a step above the rest. Those who are lucky enough to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio has grown by eight with this years selection. The announcement came during NFL honors the night before the Super Bowl. Those getting induction into the Hall, which will take place in early August are: Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson, Calvin Johnson, Drew Pearson, Alan Faneca, Bill Nunn, John Lynch, and Tom Flores.

No argument here that the biggest name in this year's hall class is Peyton Manning, who spent 18 years in the NFL, fourteen with the Colts and the final four with the Broncos. He won two super bowl titles, was a five time league MVP and two time offensive player of the year. He was a seven time first team all pro (which tied Sammy Baugh for most ever by a QB), and a two time second team all pro as well. He played in 14 pro bowls and his number is retired by both the Colts and Broncos. 

Peyton's numbers were pretty impressive during his career. He sits third in career passing yards with 71,940, and is third in passing touchdowns with 539. He also holds the records for 4,000-yard passing seasons with 14, the single-season passing yards record (5,477 in 2013), and the single-season passing touchdowns record (55 in 2013). There was little to no doubt in anybody's mind that when Peyton finally retired, the Hall was going to call him. A guy of his talent was hard to keep down and he made it count when he was on the field. Was a shame he only won two titles.

Calvin Johnson was one of the most imposing and dominating wide outs the game ever saw. He played his entire nine year career in Detroit. before retiring. He lead the NFL in receiving yards twice, was a six time pro bowler. He was a three time first team all pro and was a second team all pro twice. Johnson had 83 career touchdowns, 731 catches and 11,619 yards receiving in his career. What sucks most about Megatron's career was that it ended way too early, because of injuries, and in some opinions, a bad Lions organization. Same reasons, some feel, that Barry Sanders retired early. Johnson could dominate games at will. The biggest thing with Johnson was his reliability. He was a stable, steadying force in the Lions air attack.

Charles Woodson is going down in the books as one of the greatest defensive backs to ever step foot on a field. He played 18 years in the NFL, including two stints with the Raiders (1998-2005 and again 2013-15) and one go around with the Packers (2006-12). He has a super bowl title with the Packers in 2011. Woodson was a nine time pro bowler, a four time first team all pro and a four time second team all pro, he won defensive player of the year in 2009 and defensive rookie of the year in 1998. When Woodson retired, he was one of three players in league history to have at least 25 picks with two different franchises. He had 65 career picks and 13 defensive TD's.

The other big name defender to go into this class is John Lynch, having played 13 years in the NFL, the first ten in Tampa Bay, with the final three coming in Denver. He won his lone super bowl as a player in Tampa in 2002. Lynch was a nine time pro bowler and was a four time all pro, twice first team and twice second team. He had eight 80-tackle seasons, including 84 tackles in 2006 at age 35, to go with three seasons with more than 100 tackles. Over his 11 seasons, he played on only two losing teams and was a catalyst behind Tampa's Super Bowl title in 2002. He had great instincts as a defender on the field and seemed to always be in the right place at the right time. And he stayed in the game after his playing career ended, going into the broadcast booth before becoming a general manager.

Last, at least in this article, there's lineman Alan Faneca. He played 13 years in the NFL, nine with the Steelers, two with the Jets and one year with the Cardinals. He is one one of only 12 guards in league history to me named an all pro twelve or more times in their careers. Thanks to his outstanding blocking in Pittsburgh, he allowed Jerome Betttis and Willie Parker to have six combined 1,000 yard rushing seasons. He had a unique ability to really be able to control a run game and give his quarterback time and space in the pocket to make plays.

So what say you fellow football fans. Did they get it right? Who got left out?