2011 NFL Thread, Now that the strike is over

2012 Hall of Fame finalists (will be announced Saturday night; I think)

Jerome Bettis, RB -- 1993-95 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 1996-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers

Tim Brown, WR/KR -- 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

*Jack Butler, CB -- (1951-59 Pittsburgh Steelers)

Cris Carter, WR -- 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles, 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins

Dermontti Dawson, C -- 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers

Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Owner -- 1979-2000 San Francisco 49ers

Chris Doleman, DE/LB -- 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers

Kevin Greene, LB/DE -- 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers

Charles Haley, DE/LB -- 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys

Cortez Kennedy, DT -- 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks

Curtis Martin, RB -- 1995-97 New England Patriots, 1998-2005 New York Jets

Bill Parcells, Coach -- 1983-1990 New York Giants, 1993-96 New England Patriots, 1997-99 New York Jets, 2003-06 Dallas Cowboys

Andre Reed, WR -- 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins

Willie Roaf, T -- 1993-2001 New Orleans Saints, 2002-05 Kansas City Chiefs

Will Shields, G -- 1993-2006 Kansas City Chiefs

*Dick Stanfel, G -- (1952-55 Detroit Lions, 1956-58 Washington Redskins)

Aeneas Williams, CB/S -- 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams

I'd go for Tim Brown, Curtis Martin, Aeneas Williams, Bill Parcells, Jerome Bettis and Kevin Greene

-Brown, at first, wasn't anything too special. But he really picked it up around 1992 or so. He's the reason Jeff frickin' Hostetler had such sick stats in the mid-90's.

-Martin seemed to consistently be over 1,000 every year. For my money, never a dominant back, but still among the best in the game for about 10 years.

-Williams was the best player on the Cardinals in the 90's and probably the best CB in the NFC in the 90's. He impressed me in a game against the Broncos in 1991; that I attended. I seem to remember him muscling an INT from John Elway and he almost led the hapless Cards to an upset of the eventual 12-4 Donkeys. I'd peek in on his career over the years and was always impressed.

-Parcells basically sold me on his HOF credentials when he took over a trainwreck Jets franchise in 1997 and had them in the AFC Championship the next season.

-Bettis... while I didn't like his somewhat choreographed retirement at the end of Super Bowl XL, he was a big force for the Steelers after he arrived in 1996. It's also overlooked that he was a Rookie of the Year with the Rams in 1993.

-Yes, THAT Kevin Greene. Not only has the career sack record for an LB, but is the only candidate who teamed up with Roddy Piper and Ric Flair to fight the NWO.

Bettis and Martin deserve it for sure. As do Parcells and DeBartolo for the non-players.

I can see why most of the others are finalists, but not sure who else s a sure thing.

I wouldn't complain about DeBartolo. He has the credentials. I excluded him for a personal bias, as I consider the Montana Niners some of the most overrated teams in NFL history and the constant hype about their "greatness"in the late 80's drove me crazy. I was so thrilled when the Giants beat them in the 1990 NFC Championship (played in 1991).

It's a little weird how Roger Craig dropped from HOF mention so quickly. From 1988 to 1990, everybody said he was a future Hall of Famer. But he had some injuries in the '90 season, went to the Raiders, then a backup role with the Vikings and that was it.

Both Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow might be threatening some kind of record for "Guy Most Talked About at the Super Bowl Who Has ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING ON THE GAME ITSELF".

Is the Tebow thing anywhere else, or is that just locally for me?

Nothing here about Tebow, but I am tired of that Papa Johns commercial with Peyton Manning that airs on every station and every website imaginable.

The votes are in.

Martin, Doleman, Dawson, Kennedy, Roaf and Jack Butler made it.

I am surprised Bettis and Parcells did not.

Probably didn't want to over-saturate the induction class, perhaps... I don't know how the Football HoF runs, though.

Yay Giants! My original final score pick was 20-17, then for some reason, I bumped it to 23-20... either way, Go Giants!. :)

Didn't turn it on until midway through the 2nd, but when I did my "Super Bowl Bingo" was mentioned almost instantly. They showed the Patriots owner, there was a commercial with an animal, they talked about situational stats, aerial coverage was shown (even though it was indoors) and there was hype for Madonna's performance. That was BINGO, right there.

Of course, local news came on at night...and the sports teaser was: "what does TIM TEBOW think of the Super Bowl? We'll tell you, coming up in SPORTS!" The "story" was that Tebow had posted a picture of the Lombardi Trophy and the word "Motivation" on Twitter.

Sweet fucking flaming dogshit! A post on fucking TWITTER was the top story on the day the Super Bowl was played. They showed quick highlights, then tried to make a "joke" about the Puppy Bowl (with footage). The sports anchor (Drew Soicher) concluded his segment by saying he had a contest to guess the final score of the Super Bowl...someone got it right and won... a John Elway Bobblehead (which were basically handed out to you if you lived in; or passed through; Denver from 1998 to 2004).

I. Hate. Sports. Reporters.