Should Bob Hayes be in the HOF

[Cajuncowboy]

Compared to other WRs in the HOF, here is how he stacks up.. (Keep in mind that when Hayes was in his prime, it was still a primarily a running league with fewer games than today.)

Art Monk caught 3X more passes than Hayes, however, Hayes had a nearly 6 YPC avg higher than Monk. Also Monk had 68 TD catches Vs. Hayes' 71.

Hayes had a 20 YPC avg.

Hayes also played 5 fewer years than Monk


Lynn Swann

336 catches for a 16 YPC avg. Played 8 years 3 less than Hayes.and 20 fewer TDs



John Stallworth
16 YPC avg 8 fewer TDs Stallworth played 14 years

Don Maynard
Played 16 years had a 18.5 YPC avg. Had 88 TDs 17 more than Hayes while playing 5 more years

Raymond Berry
14.5 YPC 3 fewer TDs than Hayes and played 1 year longer than Hayes.

James Lofton
18 YPC avg played 4 year longer than Hayes and had 9 more TDs


So what am I saying? Not that these other players don't deserve to be in the HOF, but that it is an egregious error that Hayes isn't in this Hall. He deserves it as much if not more than these players but he has one thing these guys don't have and that is the fact that the game was forever change because of Bob Hayes. And I thought the Hall was a place for pioneers of the game.

Peter King is one of the guys who steadfastly refuses to elect Hayes saying he doesn't think Hayes had much of an impact on the game. King doesn't know what he is talking about.

OK, my rant is over for this year on Hayes but I expect to pick it back up again around Super Bowl time, once again.

 

[pugilist]

that would be an emphatic YES

 

[rathalarge]

Old film footage, along with former coaches, players, and sportswriters admit that Bob Hayes changed the way defensive backs played coverage. If I am not mistaken, I think it is said that because of him, "zone coverage" was introduced in the NFL! If I am incorrect, then forgive me fellow zoners!

 

[Longboysfan]

Old film footage, along with former coaches, players, and sportswriters admit that Bob Hayes changed the way defensive backs played coverage. If I am not mistaken, I think it is said that because of him, "zone coverage" was introduced in the NFL! If I am incorrect, then forgive me fellow zoners!

Quite correct. Peter King musy have a memory block on those years.

 

[FanSince61]

Peter King is one of the guys who steadfastly refuses to elect Hayes saying he doesn't think Hayes had much of an impact on the game.

King does not know what he is talking about. Teams came up with the zone defense because of Bob Hayes. Teams could not cover Bob in man coverage. I have a video with Sam Huff saying the defensive backs would tell coaches they could not blitz and leave them in one-on-one coverage. They said they could not cover Bob. Bob Hayes changed the way defensive is played.

His HOF election is long over due.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I am shocked that some people are saying yes. I expected a resounding NO on a cowboys message board where almost everyone complains every year when he does not get in.

Sorry...had to be done.

OF COURSE he should be in the HOF...he should HAVE already been in long ago.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Must be HOF weekend.

Same story different year.

I agree with everything you said CC. But I just don't see things changing any time soon.

 

[JackMagist]

Should Bob Hayes be in the HoF?

For one thing he is the only player in NFL History to have won both an Olympic Gold Medal (and he won several) and a Superbowl. That is a noteworthy accomplishment.

More importantly, however, is the fact that Bob Hayes single-handedly changed the way defensive football is played. He forced defensive coaches to invent new schemes just to handle his speed and abilities. Scheming for him specifically was the genesis of the Zone Defense. I don't care about his stats; any player who has that kind of impact on the game of football should be in the HoF.

 

[Hostile]

There are only two kinds of people who don't realize Bob Hayes should be in the Hall of Fame.

Fools and idiots.

I'm still tring to figure out if the HOF Voters are fools or idiots. I am leaning towards the latter.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

I stop following this thing for years....but did Lynn Swann really only catch 336 passes and 51 TDs?

 

[Hostile]

I stop following this thing for years....but did Lynn Swann really only catch 336 passes and 51 TDs?

Numbers are only part of the Hall of Fame worthiness. Impact on the game matters. Which is exactly why Bob Hayes should be in.

 

[Chief]

While the baseball hall of fame is more about numbers, the Pro Football hall is more about game-changers -- guys that had an impact on the game as a whole, or guys who regularly impacted individual games.

Hayes did both.

There are some idiots in this world who have too much power.

It's both sad and pathetic.

Oh, and by the way, it took Jerry way, way too long to realize that Hayes should be in the Ring of Honor. That certainly didn't help matters.

 

[Biggems]

I think he should be in...and I will use Gale Sayers for my argument.

Both players absolutely changed the game. Both players were gamebreakers and game changers. Sayers got into the Hall after a career shortened by injury, however in his brief time, he proved he was a HOFer.

Hayes had 5 dominant years and some more avg years. However, in those 5 dominant years, he made defenses create a new style of play, just to defend him. He is the reason the zone defense was created. He has stats that compare to several other HOF WRs of his era and a SB ring.

I am tired of the writers using his off field nonsense as a reason to not vote for him.....yet they voted Hornung, LT, Irvin, and others with shady character issues into the Hall.

BTW, another person that needs to be put in is Jim Marshall......how he isn't in the HOF, is like a Ripley's Believe it or Not factoid.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Numbers are only part of the Hall of Fame worthiness. Impact on the game matters. Which is exactly why Bob Hayes should be in.

The thing is that Hayes really had the numbers for the HOF. I wrote a post on my blog (http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/2008/08/aikman-overrated-or-notyou-be-judge.html) showing how the passing game has changed over the years. It's not only changed from 1966 compared to 2008, it's changed from 1966 to 1976 to 1986 to 1996 to today. Writers and so called analysts struggle to figure this out, so Hayes gets screwed in the end.

I think most would agree that when judging a player for the HOF you want to look at their best years and see how those years stacked up because nobody really cares about the years they struggled in, particularly since they are usually at the beginning and end of a player's career and really don't represent the player's career.

With the way the passing game has changed, it's best to see how a player stacked up against his peers that played at the same time he did. That's the reason why I'm against Art Monk in the HOF.

Monk only had 3 seasons where he was in the top 10 in receiving yards and only 1 season where he was in the top 10 in receiving TD's. I don't put a lot of importance on receptions, but even with that Monk only had 4 seasons where he finished in the top 10 in receptions. The Commanders actually ranked slightly above average in pass attempts per season during Monk's run with the team and his teammate Gary Clark finished in the top 10 five times in both receiving yards and TD's and the strongpoint of Monk's game....receptions...Clark finished in the top 10 four different times (the same as Monk).

Anyway, getting to Hayes...he finished in the top 10 in receiving yards and receiving TD's on six different occasions. In fact, Hayes was in the top 10 in TOTAL TD's on six different occasions. Not only did teams throw the ball far, far less back in that era, they also didn't throw the ball much in the red zone.

Hayes' most similar WR is HOF'er Paul Warfield. They averaged nearly the same amount of ypc. They only finished in the top 10 in receptions twice. Warfield finished in the top 10 in receiving TD's six different times like Hayes, but only finished in the top 10 in receiving yards 4 times.

So yeah, Hayes had the stats to be a HOF'er, not to mention the impact he had on defenses and future WR's.






YAKUZA

 

[The Quest for Six]

This shouldn't even be a question. I actually watched him play, no other player made a bigger impact on defenses than Bob hayes, defensive changes that are still used today. Defensive players were back peddling even before the snap of the ball because of his speed. For a five year period, no one was better in the league and had such an effect on defenses like bob hayes did and for that reason alone, he should of been in the hall years ago.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Must be HOF weekend.

Same story different year.

I agree with everything you said CC. But I just don't see things changing any time soon.

Oh I know. It's just something I need to get off my chest once a year because every time we have the HOF weekend, no matter if it's a Cowboy going in or not, it bothers me to no end that Hayes is not there. As Hos said, they are either fools or idiots and I am with Hos, I think they are idiots for not voting him in.

Very sad.

 

[Skip]

Numbers are only part of the Hall of Fame worthiness. Impact on the game matters. Which is exactly why Bob Hayes should be in.

Ditto!

Bob Hayes struck fear in the other team every time he stepped on the field like no WR before or since!

Skip

 

[Hostile]

Ditto!

Bob Hayes struck fear in the other team every time he stepped on the field like no WR before or since!

Skip

Nice to see you posting. How's your boy doing?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

In my opinion, yes, he should be. Not because of his numbers or lack of numbers. Because of the effect he had on the game. He changed the game forever. That contirbution alone should be a reason for induction.


That's my opinion but I am a Cowboy fan so.........

 

[zrinkill]

Before Bob Hayes there was a lot of guys who should have been playing Safety playing CB.

Before Bob Hayes there was a lot of guys who should have been playing LB playing Safety.

Before Bob Hayes, LB's were undersized DL's

Before Bob Hayes guys with the skill sets of those who play CB now were asked to play receiver.

Bob Hayes made this game into the fast group of genetic freaks that todays NFL players are.

He made the modern CB's some of the best athletes on the team.