DMN: Gosselin: Stats say T.O. is a Hall of Famer; why I say not so fast

[NewsBot]

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[ringmaster]

SAN FRANCISCO -- If you go strictly by the numbers, Terrell Owens is a Hall of Famer.
He ranks sixth all time in receptions and second in both receiving yards and touchdowns.

Owens is in his first year of eligibility for Canton and is a finalist for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2016. But he faces two obstacles in his bid for that bust and gold jacket. First, the position he played. Second, the sport that he played.

Let's start with the position -- wide receiver.

There have only been five first-ballot Hall of Famers at the position and none since Jerry Rice in 2010. Bob Hayes waited 29 years for enshrinement. Lynn Swann waited 14 years, Andre Reed nine, Art Monk eight, Tim Brown and Cris Carter six apiece, Fred Biletnikoff five and Michael Irvin three. Brown and Carter both rank ahead of Owens on the all-time receptions list.

Marvin Harrison retired after the 2008 season second on the all-time list with 1,102 catches. He was an all-decade selection for the 2000s, went to eight Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl. He's also ahead of Owens on the all-time receptions list. But he hasn't been able to crack the Canton code yet. He joins Owens as a finalist for the Class of 2016, having been passed over twice already.

The Hall of Fame selection committee seems to be having difficulty getting a handle on the inflated statistics NFL receivers are now producing. Is it the ability of the player or the style of the game that is generating those numbers?

A Lance Alworth in the 1960s and a Paul Warfield in the 1970s had to fight for every inch of space in running their routes against bigger, physical corners who could pummel them up and down the field. They crossed the middle on routes at their own risk. Safeties had license to deliver knockout blows in that era to any receiver who strayed into the middle of the field.

But defensive backs in today's NFL are allowed to touch the receivers only once and the rules now protect "defenseless" receivers from would-be tacklers. No more knockouts, no more fear of the middle.

So football has evolved into a game of pitch-and-catch with 100-catch seasons and 1,000-catch careers commonplace. There were no 100-catch seasons in the 1970s, only one in the 1980s and 23 in the 1990s. There have already been 25 100-catch seasons through the first five years of this decade. Just how real are these glowing numbers?

Secondly, football is a team sport -- the ultimate team sport because it has so many moving parts. There are 11 players on a team on the field at one time. They need to work in cohesion to be successful, both on and off the field. Owens was never a player who bought into the team concept.

Owens played for five teams -- the 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills and Bengals -- and all couldn't wait to get rid of him. It's six teams if you want to count the indoor football Allen Wranglers. He signed a six-figure contract and bought into the ownership group of the Wranglers. But after playing only eight games, the Wranglers released him for lackadaisical play.

The 49ers got tired of his bickering with teammates and traded their four-time Pro Bowl receiver to Philadelphia in 2004. The Eagles promptly gave Owens a seven-year contract.

After a locker-room fight with teammate Hugh Douglas midway through the 2005 season and an interview during which he called the organization "classless," the Eagles suspended Owens for four games. When his suspension was up, coach Andy Reid told him to stay home the rest of the year. At the end of the season, the Eagles cut him with five years left on his contract.

Owens then signed with the NFC East rival Cowboys, but coach Bill Parcells was a no-show at his introductory news conference and thereafter refused to call Owens by name, always referring to him as "the player." After three seasons, the Cowboys let him go as well -- a release that Owens said "blindsided" him.

Owens moved on to Buffalo, signing a one-year contract with the Bills for the 2009 season. After a 55-catch season, the Bills also elected to move on without Owens. So he signed with Cincinnati, where he caught 72 passes in 2010. But the Bengals opted to move on without him.

"The Hall of Fame ought to be for people who made their teams better," said Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian of Owens, "not [those] who disrupted their teams and made them worse."

Rings are important in Canton. Sixty-eight percent of the 295 men enshrined won a championship. Owens never won a Super Bowl. In fact, in the final 12 years of his 15-year career, Owens played in only one winning postseason game.

I'm on the selection committee. I've sat through hour-long debates of the candidacies of Al Davis, Art Modell and Paul Tagliabue. I expect the Owens debate to be the longest and most contentious of the 18 finalists in this year's class. Does he jump over Harrison in the queue of wide receivers? Does a wide receiver even fit in the Class of 2016?

There is more to the Pro Football Hall of Fame than just the numbers.

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis.

Twitter: @RickGosselinDMN

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Terrell Owens is imo a HOF he's in the top 10 in most if not all of the receiving categories but with writers such as Gosselin in charge of deciding who gets in it will be a long time for TO or even Moss ever get in.

He mentioned Harrison as he's one of the 8 finalists for the 2016 HOF but IIRC he was involved in a shooting some years back and I know little about whether or not he was charged in the incident but his name was mentioned quite a bit regarding it not a peep from the writers the point I'm trying to make is Owens was never charged with a crime the only thing he's known for was being a rotten teammate everywhere he's been imo people like Gosselin are hypocrites and it's a complete joke that the NFL allows writers to determine who gets in the HOF one the first ballot BTW not taking a shot at Harrison he is HOF worthy no question.

 

[gmoney112]

Is Goose a sponsor here? It seems like every moment of senility is greenlit.

 

[T-RO]

Owens played for five teams -- the 49ers, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills and Bengals -- and all couldn't wait to get rid of him.

Straight up facts. And teams were even willing to lose money just to unload that pile of toxicity.

When the verdict--again and again--is we don't want this player on our team...how can anyone seriously consider him for the hall of fame? The guy was a bad joke.

 

[ConstantReboot]

You may hate Owens. But he's a gamer and deserving of the HOF in my opinion.

Irvin wasn't so clean either. So was Moss. What does that have to do with being in Canton?

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

You may hate Owens. But he's a gamer and deserving of the HOF in my opinion.

Irvin wasn't so clean either. So was Moss. What does that have to do with being in Canton?

Owens will get in. He just has to wait as the other wr's mentioned above had to or are still waiting.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

Either you're hall of fame material or not. He's not going to do anything else in the next year or two to make him more worthy. These voters are just as egotistical as the players themselves, having coined the term "first ballot" hall of famers. And they decide who is a "first ballot" hall of famer and who isn't.

 

[SultanOfSix]

Playing for five teams has nothing to do with whether he was a game changer for them and produced numbers that validate his position in the HOF.

TO may not be a great human being, and maybe even a bad teammate sometimes - there are far worse people - but his career makes him HOF worthy. All of these post facto rationalizations that are used to justify obvious biases of the selection committee mean absolutely nothing. Why are media members who never played the sport at the same level even part of the selection committee anyways? What justifies their capability to choose whether a player is HOF worthy or not if their biases are going to interfere with the process?

 

[LocimusPrime]

Just a bunch of old grumpy men (and some women) who wanna abuse their power. Its obvious numbers wise hes a HOFer. Smh the world is full a people who try to make everything difficult becaysd they arent happy in their own personal lives.

 

[Nova]

If he doesn't get in, it will be because of the voters' egos.

He deserves to be in. He's being compared to great receivers here, sure. But Owens was greater IMO.

 

[Ultra Warrior]

No one debates if Owens is worthy of being a HOFer. He will go in. He's just not a 1st ballot one. Now get over it.

 

[JoeKing]

Owen's own actions off the field prevent him from HoF honors. It's got nothing to do with others hate of him, just them holding him accountable.

 

[Craig]

Owens has all time numbers and was great at running all the routes. He played through injury and excelled at his blocking assignments. He is undoubtedly a hall of famer. The one and only reason he wasnt a first ballot hall of famer is because some people didnt like him.

Its the same mind of silliness that prevented greg maddux and griffey jr from being unanimous votes in the mlb. People are voting that dont deserve to be allowed to vote.

 

[Sydla]

I don't like him but Owens is a Hall of Famer............ and Gosselin is an idiot.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I agree with Goose.

TO is worthy of the HOF.

Just not this year.

This is the "steroid-era" for WR's. Can't go strictly by statistics.

 

[big dog cowboy]

 

[DallasEast]

The whole Owens-Not-Making-The-Hall his first try is not surprising in the least.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

No one debates if Owens is worthy of being a HOFer. He will go in. He's just not a 1st ballot one. Now get over it.

Seriously.

It's not a.... "In my opinion" thing... He is. Period. Nit debatable. Period. Period.

 

[Ultra Warrior]

Seriously.

It's not a.... "In my opinion" thing... He is. Period. Nit debatable. Period. Period.

He's not in. Thus, he's not. Period.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

He's not in. Thus, he's not. Period.

Lol I was agreeing with you!