Twitter: Darren Woodson makes his annual appearance as a Pro football HOF Semifinalist

[GMO415]

It happens now.

 

[DB_Cooper]

How Tim McDonald is in the HOF and Woody is not baffles me. Woody was known as the better player when they played.

 

[Praxit]

...he's becoming a poster sticker. Just stop showing up.

Then they'll probably let him in.

 

[Pass2Run]

The guy should already be in.

 

[Chuck 54]

Woodson was a great safety on a team of superstars. Playing on a team where your light is dimmed in the presence of 5-6 super novas makes it hard to be seen as an all time great.

 

[ChuckA1]

Yeah, Gates revolutionized the TE position. He should be a lock.

And Woodson revolutionized the hybrid strong safety position. He should be a lock also.

 

[plymkr]

Darren should have been in the HOF years ago.

I agree. I’m a huge Woodson fan and every year that goes by it bothers me. I think him playing on the team with the triplets takes away from his accomplishments. Emmitt, Irvin and Aikman got the attention while Woodson quietly built a HOF career. I hope he gets in someday. He deserves it.

 

[Teague31]

If he had played for the Stealers or Niners he would have been in a decade ago

 

[Jake]

It's ridiculous that the all time leading tackler for the Dallas Cowboys, with three SB rings, isn't in the Hall of Fame already.

 

[Momanpr100]

What made the HOF a joke was putting Jerry in there for basically doing nothing more than bringing more cash flow to the NFL and it's individual team owners. He hasn't done anything for the game outside of that.

Players deserve to be there more than greedy owners.

He brang your crybaby *** 3 Super Bowls.

 

[MyFairLady]

All about numbers nowadays.

Agreed. It is all about personal stat accumulation and money generation. Too much money to be made for anyone to care about championships. Why would you.

 

[Trendnet]

Sadly, because of Woodson not making the 1990s All-Decade Team (a washed up Ronnie Lott, who only played for half of the decade at a mediocre level, made it over him), he will likely never be enshrined. The people who vote for the All-Decade teams are the same people who make up the enshrinement committee. Woodson should be a slam dunk - his unique skills as a cover guy allowed the Cowboys to play a nickel defense without changing their base package.

It's a travesty of justice that players like Lynch and Leroy Butler are in it over Woodson

 

[Einstein]

HoF became a HUGE joke to me when TO wasn't a 1st ballot guy. Like him or not he should not have had to wait until year two of eligibility.

 

[OmerV]

He was a converted basketball player and exhibited athleticism unlike any other TE before him. And he was on a team that had Kellen Winslow in its history.

I wonder if you are forgetting about Tony Gonzales. Only difference is Gonzales played football as well as basketball in college, but he was the athletic basketball player that exhibited great athleticism before Gates came along, and I don't know that it's fair to indicate Gates fit that role dramatically better than Gonzales, if he even does at all.

But even before that, I think the one who really deserves credit for revolutionizing the position is Kellen Winslow. Gonzales & Gates had better careers, but only because Winslow's knees got torn up. Those guys didn't do it better than Winslow, they just did it longer. Winslow was the first TE that was used in a variety of ways (motion, split wide etc) and the first one that teams had to use DB's to cover.

 

[plasticman]

Way too many Eagles on that list.

 

[OmerV]

Before Antonio Gates - there was Kellen Winslow Sr.

Winslow is the tight end that is widely recognized as having "revolutionized" the position when he played for the San Diego Chargers 1979-87.

• Led the NFL in receptions in 1980 and 1981
Among the honors Winslow has been chosen for___
3× First Team NFL All-Pro, 1x Second Team
• NFL 1980s All-Decade Team
• Pro Football HOF Class of 1995
• NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
• NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team

Exactly. Plus, there was Tony Gonzales before Gates as well. But it was Winslow that changed the position. He's the guy that was first used in many different ways that previous TEs weren't. Before Winslow TE's were primarily positioned on the O-Line and as focused, or more, on in line blocking than receiving.

 

[OmerV]

people forget the NFL is first last and always about money
Jerry made the owners a lot of money
THAT is why he is in the HOF

Like it or not, it's an essential part of the NFL. If it doesn't make money it can't exist.

 

[Motorola]

Exactly. Plus, there was Tony Gonzales before Gates as well. But it was Winslow that changed the position. He's the guy that was first used in many different ways that previous TEs weren't. Before Winslow TE's were primarily positioned on the O-Line and as focused, or more, on in line blocking than receiving.

Remember that playoff game Chargers v. Dolphins...Winslow was magnificent.