As we come down from the high of the 2015 Pro football Hall of Fame class inductions we can look forward and ponder who will be the next eight men inducted. The upcoming class has been anticipated for some time because of its depth and the logjam of worthy candidates that have yet to go in.
Here’s a list of 10 potentials:
• Brett Favre
• Terrell Owens
• Kurt Warner
• Terrell Davis
• Torry Holt
• Orlando Pace
• Alan Faneca
• Marvin Harrison
• Kevin Greene
• John Lynch
• Morten Anderson
Brett Favre is at the top of that list for a reason as he’s widely considered to be a lock to get in on his first try. There is more uncertainty surrounding Terrell Owens, however, as writers might make him wait or keep him out entirely, which would be unjust. If Favre is first-ballot, Owens should be, too, as he’s just as if not more deserving.
Favre was great, but as great as he was nobody would argue he is the best QB ever—he’s probably not even top five. Most reasonable minds would place him somewhere in the top 10 behind the likes of Montana, Elway, Marino, Manning and Brady. By comparison, he’s not higher on the QB totem pole than Owens is on the all-time receiver depth chart.
Owens is a five-time first-team All Pro and six-time Pro Bowler who sits third all-time in TD catches, second in receiving yards and sixth in receptions. He put together a better body of work than any receiver not named Jerry Rice, and had a far better by-the-numbers career than any of Michael Irvin, Andre Reed or Chris Carter, who are all already in the Hall.
The stats are more impressive when you consider throughout the prime of his career Owens saw constant double teams. Because unlike a guy like Marvin Harrison, also in this potential HOF class, he never had a Reggie Wayne playing on the opposite sideline to roll coverage away from him.
Who is the best sidekick TO had in his prime? The list isn’t a distinguished one: Maybe JJ Stokes, Fred Mitchell or Miles Austin. Safe to say none of them will be joining Owens in Canton. Jerry Rice was still suiting up for the 49ers at the start of Owens’s career, but he was well past his prime by that point and uneasy passing the torch to Owens. Fittingly it was Owens who caught a record 20 balls in Rice’s last game as a 49er.
Also unlike Harrison, he didn’t play with Peyton Manning for the bulk of his career. Other than an aging Steve Young at the beginning of his career Owens did it all without playing alongside a Hall of Fame QB.
But what may hold Owens back from the Hall isn’t what he did on the field—or at least not what he did while the clock was running.
Owens has a large contingent of detractors in the media, including Skip Bayless, who claimed TO stood for “team obliterator.” He’s been branded the bad boy of his era for things like unapologetically talking trash and coordinating touchdown dances in advance.
But if bringing on “distractions” weakens your argument as a Hall of Fame candidate those situations should be equally scrutinized. Owens, often criticized as a locker-room killer, was known to give lavish gifts to teammates. Yet somehow we brush over the fact Favre ostracized heir-apparent Aaron Rodgers because he saw his backup QB as future competition, and called out teammate Javon Walker about his contract situation. He also got caught up in a sexting scandal while with the Jets, but that incident hasn’t been used to assassinate his character the way critics have gone after Owens.
Throughout his career Owens never took a play off and in 2004 even came back from a high ankle sprain to catch nine balls for 122 yards in the Super Bowl. Furthermore, there is no rule that says that being politically correct is a prerequisite to being a Hall of Famer. If there is, we’d better take Lawrence Taylor out of Canton ASAP.
As we look at him through the lens of missteps taking place now, Owens’s indiscretions are trivial. The incidents and offences for which Roger Goodell has levied suspensions recently are much worse than calling out your QB or celebrating a TD at midfield. Owens never once met the commissioner for disciplinary reasons—something Tom Brady can’t even say.
And if induction is ultimately related to how you affected the game long-term, then Owens should be a shoe-in. The elaborate CFL endzone celebrations we see now are an homage to T.O.
Routinely today young receivers are heard saying, “Get your popcorn ready” and “Who can make a play like I can?” to themselves. These kids weren’t even old enough to have seen Owens in his prime, and yet they gravitate to the number 81—and it’s not for Tim Brown. The weekly anticipation around his celebrations changed the game because the aftermath of a TD became more exciting than the play itself.
Owens was must-watch TV in his prime; he was a must double team who piled up stats; and he must be a first ballot Hall of Famer. If he isn’t, the Hall loses credibility, and the 2016 class becomes tainted. Love him or hate him you better get your popcorn ready, Canton.