Why Jason Witten might not make the Hall of Fame

[AbeBeta]

1a) Hall of Fame voters traditionally have hated the Cowboys.

1b) Hall of Fame voters have traditionally only voted in Cowboys when they are on championship teams. I don't think there's a single Cowboy in the HOF who played in the 1980s or only in the 1960s. Or any since then. HOF voters would have to break that pattern and put two in for Witten to get in. Given Rule 1a, they will be loathe to do it. So any borderline candidate faces a certain inertia. .

2) There aren't many tight ends in the Hall of Fame. There were only 8 tight ends inducted prior to Tony Gonzalez going into the HoF a few years back. So the new generation would have to see a bump of 50 percent for Witten to be fairly certain of a spot. Gronk and Gonzalez are ahead of him. Antonio Gates should be. Travis Kelce probably has the jump. You might be able to make the case for some older tight ends. Not many. But Keith Jackson comes to mind.

3) Witten was very good but only occasionally great. He was a Pro Bowler 11 times. But he was only first team All Pro twice, at least according to PFR. Gates was 3 times, Gronk has been 4 times, Gonzalez 51 times, and Kelce has already been 3 times. So Witten's sort of the Andre Reed of tight ends. Very good, and hung around a long time. Of course, Reed somehow got into the Hall of Fame. So maybe that's not such a bad thing to be.

4a) He was a traditional safety valve in an era when tight ends were downfield threats. His competitors, in their best years, averaged 13-16 yards per catch. Witten averaged 9-11 for most of his seasons.

4b) Too many catches were of the "Romo hits Witten for 5 yards on 3rd and 7" variety. My pet peeve. But I'll throw it in. When the others caught passes, it was a sign the offense was succeeding. When Witten caught them, it was a sign the offense was failing.

I think Witten will get in because he's well liked. But I don't think he's a sure thing. And I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a lot longer than people think.

Lame.

There is no HOF bias against Cowboys ... just guys who posters over value because they have no perspective on the league

 

[Rockport]

You say that because so many of you on here can't get past that with your precious Mr Cowboys Qwitten. This guy spewed all this stuff about grit, determination, what it takes to be a champion, blah, blah, blah then he QUITS on his team out of nowhere a day into the NFL draft to go SUCK in the booth only to have them fire him and his hairpiece only for him to come CRAWLING back to the circus ran by carrot top. Listen I know its not a popular view around here with so many brainwashed fans but it's the truth and I only speak facts. Sorry they hurt your little feelings.

PS, now they didn't bring back LP due to him, probably the greatest long snapper ever, a guy who has never made a bad snap in his life all because he was going to surpass the QWITTER in games played. Can't wait till we lose a game this year on a long snap and we miss the playoffs for it and it all has ties to jason Qwitten

There should be a “Bottom Dwellers” forum for people like you.

 

[AbeBeta]

4a) He was a traditional safety valve in an era when tight ends were downfield threats. His competitors, in their best years, averaged 13-16 yards per catch. Witten averaged 9-11 for most of his seasons.

Incredibly poorly researched. Tony Gonzalez never once hit 13 yards per catch.

Come on. If you are going to make a long and supposedly informative post, you need to actually do the research to make sure you aren't just talking crap.

 

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

He is in, will bet my house, that is how confident I am on this issue.

 

[eromeopolk]

1a) Hall of Fame voters traditionally have hated the Cowboys.

1b) Hall of Fame voters have traditionally only voted in Cowboys when they are on championship teams. I don't think there's a single Cowboy in the HOF who played in the 1980s or only in the 1960s. Or any since then. HOF voters would have to break that pattern and put two in for Witten to get in. Given Rule 1a, they will be loathe to do it. So any borderline candidate faces a certain inertia. .

2) There aren't many tight ends in the Hall of Fame. There were only 8 tight ends inducted prior to Tony Gonzalez going into the HoF a few years back. So the new generation would have to see a bump of 50 percent for Witten to be fairly certain of a spot. Gronk and Gonzalez are ahead of him. Antonio Gates should be. Travis Kelce probably has the jump. You might be able to make the case for some older tight ends. Not many. But Keith Jackson comes to mind.

3) Witten was very good but only occasionally great. He was a Pro Bowler 11 times. But he was only first team All Pro twice, at least according to PFR. Gates was 3 times, Gronk has been 4 times, Gonzalez 51 times, and Kelce has already been 3 times. So Witten's sort of the Andre Reed of tight ends. Very good, and hung around a long time. Of course, Reed somehow got into the Hall of Fame. So maybe that's not such a bad thing to be.

4a) He was a traditional safety valve in an era when tight ends were downfield threats. His competitors, in their best years, averaged 13-16 yards per catch. Witten averaged 9-11 for most of his seasons.

4b) Too many catches were of the "Romo hits Witten for 5 yards on 3rd and 7" variety. My pet peeve. But I'll throw it in. When the others caught passes, it was a sign the offense was succeeding. When Witten caught them, it was a sign the offense was failing.

I think Witten will get in because he's well liked. But I don't think he's a sure thing. And I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a lot longer than people think.

There is a reason Parcells gave Witten the nickname "Everybody's All-American".

Witten will get in the Ring of Honor and the Hall of Fame. Jerry Jones went into the Hall of Fame before Drew Pearson and Jimmy Johnson. So you will continue to see more "who you know" Cowboys selections in the HOF than before. As the luster is coming off the brand of America's team not being in a Super Bowl in 25 years.

 

[Ozone22]

He is lock

 

[Runwildboys]

Fair point. You also spend a ton of time in the sub-forums which are leaps and bounds more civilized than the main Cowboys board.

Exactly!

 

[nightrain]

LOL..his bust is already cast and jacket ordered for tailoring.

 

[Kingofholland]

1a) Hall of Fame voters traditionally have hated the Cowboys.

1b) Hall of Fame voters have traditionally only voted in Cowboys when they are on championship teams. I don't think there's a single Cowboy in the HOF who played in the 1980s or only in the 1960s. Or any since then. HOF voters would have to break that pattern and put two in for Witten to get in. Given Rule 1a, they will be loathe to do it. So any borderline candidate faces a certain inertia. .

2) There aren't many tight ends in the Hall of Fame. There were only 8 tight ends inducted prior to Tony Gonzalez going into the HoF a few years back. So the new generation would have to see a bump of 50 percent for Witten to be fairly certain of a spot. Gronk and Gonzalez are ahead of him. Antonio Gates should be. Travis Kelce probably has the jump. You might be able to make the case for some older tight ends. Not many. But Keith Jackson comes to mind.

3) Witten was very good but only occasionally great. He was a Pro Bowler 11 times. But he was only first team All Pro twice, at least according to PFR. Gates was 3 times, Gronk has been 4 times, Gonzalez 51 times, and Kelce has already been 3 times. So Witten's sort of the Andre Reed of tight ends. Very good, and hung around a long time. Of course, Reed somehow got into the Hall of Fame. So maybe that's not such a bad thing to be.

4a) He was a traditional safety valve in an era when tight ends were downfield threats. His competitors, in their best years, averaged 13-16 yards per catch. Witten averaged 9-11 for most of his seasons.

4b) Too many catches were of the "Romo hits Witten for 5 yards on 3rd and 7" variety. My pet peeve. But I'll throw it in. When the others caught passes, it was a sign the offense was succeeding. When Witten caught them, it was a sign the offense was failing.

I think Witten will get in because he's well liked. But I don't think he's a sure thing. And I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a lot longer than people think.

There's zero chance he doesn't make the hall of fame. First off its hard to say the commitee is biased when the Cowboys have the 9th most wins in franchise history. All of the team's in front of them have had franchises around longer too in some cases by 2+ decades. Sure there are a few snubs, but almost every franchise has them. Check out this hall monitor for TEs that paints a clear picture of his candidacy vs others.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/hof/hofm_TE.htm

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Not only is he a future HOF,, he will be first ballot too you can book it. The guy is well liked in the media besides stat worthy.

I will GUARANTEE you that he will NOT be first ballot

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

1st ballot lock because of his play not that he was a nice guy.

He will NOT be first ballot

 

[buybuydandavis]

1a) Hall of Fame voters traditionally have hated the Cowboys.

1b) Hall of Fame voters have traditionally only voted in Cowboys when they are on championship teams. I don't think there's a single Cowboy in the HOF who played in the 1980s or only in the 1960s. Or any since then. HOF voters would have to break that pattern and put two in for Witten to get in. Given Rule 1a, they will be loathe to do it. So any borderline candidate faces a certain inertia. .

2) There aren't many tight ends in the Hall of Fame. There were only 8 tight ends inducted prior to Tony Gonzalez going into the HoF a few years back. So the new generation would have to see a bump of 50 percent for Witten to be fairly certain of a spot. Gronk and Gonzalez are ahead of him. Antonio Gates should be. Travis Kelce probably has the jump. You might be able to make the case for some older tight ends. Not many. But Keith Jackson comes to mind.

3) Witten was very good but only occasionally great. He was a Pro Bowler 11 times. But he was only first team All Pro twice, at least according to PFR. Gates was 3 times, Gronk has been 4 times, Gonzalez 51 times, and Kelce has already been 3 times. So Witten's sort of the Andre Reed of tight ends. Very good, and hung around a long time. Of course, Reed somehow got into the Hall of Fame. So maybe that's not such a bad thing to be.

4a) He was a traditional safety valve in an era when tight ends were downfield threats. His competitors, in their best years, averaged 13-16 yards per catch. Witten averaged 9-11 for most of his seasons.

4b) Too many catches were of the "Romo hits Witten for 5 yards on 3rd and 7" variety. My pet peeve. But I'll throw it in. When the others caught passes, it was a sign the offense was succeeding. When Witten caught them, it was a sign the offense was failing.

I think Witten will get in because he's well liked. But I don't think he's a sure thing. And I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a lot longer than people think.

PFR has created a regression model with a metric to predict HOF acceptance. Witten is 5th for TEs, below Gates, but above the Average HOF score for TEs, which itself is distorted by Gonzalez being out so far ahead of everyone else.

Arguably, Witten, Gates, and Gonzalez were mutually robbed of All Pro years, having to compete with *each other* in their primes, between them taking 1st Team All Pro in 8 of the 10 years from 2003-2012.

Witten was a very strong player even before Tony. Still 8.0+ YPT in 2004 and 2005.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/hof/hofm_TE.htm

Player                HOFm
Tony Gonzalez       196.33
Antonio Gates       113.63
Shannon Sharpe      113.23
Dave Casper         111.62
Jason Witten        105.62
Average HOF TE          98
Kellen Winslow       95.96
Rob Gronkowski       89.51
Ozzie Newsome        81.05
Jackie Smith         77.69
John Mackey          76.52
Travis Kelce         73.16
Pete Retzlaff        71.89
Charlie Sanders      64.50
Mike Ditka           62.49

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Witten was too consistent for too long to not get in the HOF. And if he doesn't go his first year of eligibility his wait still won't be a long one.

 

[MarcusRock]

1a) Hall of Fame voters traditionally have hated the Cowboys.

Don't know why folks didn't stop reading right there. Anything that starts off with CONSPIRACY! victim talk is sure to have convoluted gibberish follow.

 

[jterrell]

I am not the worlds biggest Witten fan but he is a hall of fame lock.
He combined high level of play with insane durability.

In some ways it may have hurt us a team because we didn't modernize or get faster sooner but he produced great career totals in all areas and he was a plus blocker until retirement.

 

[zrinkill]

How many times are you gonna start a Witten is not good enough for hall of fame thread?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

He's in. There is no question on that one IMO.

 

[Plankton]

Is this really a thread?

 

[CT Dal Fan]

I agree there is no conspiracy against the Cowboys when it comes to the Hall Of Fame. The great Dallas teams of the 1970's are probably a bit neglected; and we all know Drew Pearson endured a ridiculously long wait.

But overall the Cowboys have a very strong representation in the Hall; and Witten is going to be the next addition to the list.

 

[Bowdown27]

He's a lock for the HOF.

Exactly.