By Joe PlataniaCSNBaltimore.com/PressBoxOnline.com
If the NFL labor talks are indeed steaming toward a conclusion, then the next major leaguewide event to take place is the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony in early August.
Former Ravens cornerback Deion Sanders and three-time Super Bowl-winning tight end Shannon Sharpe will join defensive back Rod Woodson in the Hall, with tackle Jonathan Ogden sure to join them in 2013.
Debating the merits of those four individuals is an exercise that would last all of 1- seconds, for all are richly deserving of the honor. However, what gets many football fans’ juices flowing are disputes about the Hall qualifications of those players who seem like at-best borderline cases. A favorite line many use during such discussions is, “It’s not the Hall of Very Good, it’s the Hall of Fame.”
But how many fans really know that the Hall of Very Good actually exists?
The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA), founded in 1979, is an organization that, while not affiliated with the actual Hall, is dedicated to preserving the memory of the game.
In 2003, it started the Hall of Very Good (which isn’t housed in an actual building) to honor those players, coaches and administrators that don’t seem likely to make it to Canton, even though there have been a number of individuals -- Carl Eller, Bob Hayes and Floyd Little, to name a few -- that actually were elected to the Pro Football Hall after making the HVG.
The Class of 2011 finalists have been announced, with the inductees to be determined later this year.
The 20-man group includes several individuals with local ties, including ex-University of Maryland head coach Lou Saban and three former Baltimore Colts: running backs Buddy Young and Lydell Mitchell, and tackle George Kunz.
Kunz played for the Atlanta Falcons for six years before coming to Charm City in a 1975 trade that saw the Colts vacate the top spot in that year’s draft. It was a year that featured a local groundswell for the local team to take Maryland defensive terror Randy White.
However, the Kunz trade dropped the Colts one spot below Dallas in the draft order. Atlanta took California quarterback Steve Bartkowski first, followed by the Cowboys’ selection of White. The Colts took North Carolina guard Ken Huff at No. 3.
Despite White’s Hall of Fame career in Dallas, Kunz and Huff anchored an offensive line that paved the way for three straight AFC East Division championships, thanks in part to their run-blocking for the rugged Mitchell, who gained over 1000 rushing yards and made the Pro Bowl after each of those division-winning seasons.
Young was not only one of the first African-American players to make a name for himself in Baltimore, but one of the smallest players of any race.
The 5-foot-4 Young was a national-championship sprinter at the University of Illinois and played for the Dallas Texans in 1952. But when that team folded and resurfaced in Baltimore as the Colts the following year, Young came along with it and dazzled local fans with three stellar seasons, earning a Pro Bowl berth in 1954.
His impact was such that News-American columnist John Steadman suggested that the new football stadium being built just south of Oriole Park in the late 90s be named after Young.Saban coached the Terrapins in 1966, fresh off two consecutive AFL championships with the Buffalo Bills. But, in a move that would characterize his career, Saban was quickly gone, moving to the AFL’s Denver Broncos and coaching there from 1967-71.
Saban worked for a series of pro teams and small colleges into the 2000s before passing away two years ago. He is known for many vibrant NFL Films clips, including his memorable Denver sideline rant in 1968: “They’re killing me, Whitey! They’re killing me!”
Other notable members of this year’s HVG finalist class are Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, Oakland Raiders wideout Cliff Branch, Cowboys safety Cliff Harris and defensive end Harvey Martin, and Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Andy Russell, who helped knock the Colts out of the 1975 playoffs with a long fumble return for a touchdown at Three Rivers Stadium.
Previous HVG inductees with local ties include:
Frederick native and Minnesota Vikings running back Chuck Foreman, ex-Colts and Ravens assistant coach Maxie Baughan (a 15-year linebacker in his playing days), former Colts defensive tackle Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb and former Colts head coach Cecil Isbell (inducted as a Green Bay running back).
Also in the HVG is former Cleveland Browns head coach Blanton Collier, a former Hall of Fame finalist first hired by owner Art Modell amidst great controversy after his (Modell’s) firing of longtime head coach Paul Brown.
Two years later, Collier vindicated Modell’s move by winning the 1964 NFL title; his Browns blanked Baltimore, 27-0, for Cleveland’s most recent major sports championship.
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