Sunday, October 12, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

With apologies to baseball fans and fantasy football geeks everywhere, football is not a game of numbers. Forget comparing offensive linemen, whose only statistic falls in the red-faced column (sacks allowed), other positions in football do not bear statistics well either.

Take linebackers, for example. Do you judge them on sacks? Tackles? Interceptions? Reputation? Number of times they play well on "Monday Night Football"?

Even for receivers, it's difficult to compare one set of statistics against another. That brings us to the Pro Football Hall of Fame candidates, who were announced last week. There are 67 of them, plus two seniors nominees, and three to six will be selected Jan. 31 for induction.

So, do players make it based on their numbers? Do they get in by reputation or by how colorful they were? By how many Super Bowls they won or Pro Bowls they played? By recommendations of those who played with and against them or by how popular they were with the media who selects them?

In truth, all of that comes into play, although popularity with the media is way overrated, or else there would be fewer busts in Canton today.

There are two shoo-ins on the list this year, quarterback John Elway and running back Barry Sanders. That leaves spots for one to four more men to be selected, and the debate will take place over the next 3 1/2 months.

Take wide receiver Art Monk. He has been eligible for several years and has not made it. Yet he has numbers that blow away every Hall of Fame receiver. Monk caught 940 passes for 12,721 yards and 68 touchdowns during a 16-year career. He has three Super Bowl rings with the Washington Redskins. By comparison, Lynn Swann caught 336 passes for 5,462 yards and 51 touchdowns.

Does Swann deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and Art Monk not? Both made three Pro Bowls and Swann has one more title ring. Arguments against Monk are that he was a product of the system, that he caught short passes and that he rarely did anything spectacular the way Swann did. But how do you ignore his sheer body of work? He has more yards receiving than any of the 17 Hall of Fame receivers.

On the other hand, Monk's accomplishments came during a more receiver-friendly era, when new rules favored the passing game and protected the quarterbacks and receivers more than during Swann's career. Still, a rookie receiver today would have to catch 100 passes a season for the next 13 seasons to top Monk.

The presence of "Bullet" Bob Hayes as a seniors candidate might also work against Monk. Again, Hayes statistics aren't comparable to Monk's; he caught only 371 passes for 7,414 yards. But many argue Hayes helped revolutionize the game because he was the first speedster who "stretched" defenses, which began playing more zones as a result. Because of Hayes, coaches started emphasizing speed at wide receiver. Hayes averaged 20 yards a catch over his career, including a league-leading 24 yards per catch in 1971. As a comparison, Plaxico Burress was the among the league leaders last season at 17 yards per catch.

Hayes' numbers top those of Swann, and as a seniors candidate, this might be his last chance to be selected. Yet voters might be averse to selecting two wide receivers when there are so many other worthy candidates at other positions, and the number permitted to be elected was dropped by one this year.

Two of those are defensive end L.C. Greenwood and guard Russ Grimm, and they are not sentimental choices because of their local connections.

Greenwood should be in already, and he's made it to the finals a number of times. He was one of the most dominant pass-rushers on one of the most famous defensive fronts in history. He made six Pro Bowls in 13 seasons. He was even born in Canton (Mississippi). Two things are working against him. He was overshadowed by the great Joe Greene, and some selectors believe enough Steelers players from the 1970s (nine) have been chosen.

Grimm's case is strangely different. He was the best of the celebrated Hogs offensive line in Washington, none of whom have been chosen to the Hall of Fame. Tackle Joe Jacoby is also a candidate. Grimm, a Scottdale native who played at Pitt, has three Super Bowl rings with the Redskins. He was chosen first-team guard on the NFL's all-1980s team. They are impressive credentials, yet he has never made it to the final 15.

This year, Grimm is bucking 12 other offensive linemen for the Hall of Fame nod. None was better than he, but that doesn't always mean something when the final tally comes in.

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