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Kurt Warner well-positioned to land in Hall of Fame next year
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-positioned-to-land-in-hall-of-fame-next-year
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Saturday night was a good night for former St. Louis Rams hoping to land in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Former Rams pass-rusher Kevin Greene and left tackle Orlando Pace make up 40 percent of the 2016 Hall of Fame class. They also represent 40 percent of the former Rams that had previously been awaiting their time to come.
Now that Pace and Greene are going in, there are still three prominent Rams -- quarterback Kurt Warner and receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt -- standing in line.
Here's a way too early look at how that trio figures to stack up in 2017:
Warner -- Next year will be Warner's third year on the ballot after coming up just short in each of the first two years. While the official voting results won't be revealed, some voters believed that Warner would have been the next player on the ballot to make it had there been room for a sixth modern-era player. In fact, Warner probably would have been close to a sure thing this year were it not for the presence of Brett Favre making his debut on the ballot. Favre got in and though multiple quarterbacks have gone in on the first try in the past, it's not a common occurrence. The good news for Warner is that Favre went in this year and there are no quarterbacks that should jump him in line poised to join the fray next year. Only a few players get the distinction of being a "lock" to go into the Hall of Fame in a given year but it's safe to say Warner's time should come in 2017.
Bruce and Holt -- Bruce and Holt's names came up in the run-up to this year's selection process when former coach Mike Martz expressed his disappointment that Terrell Owens jumped past them in the line to get in. Owens did not make it to the Hall this year and didn't even make the cut from 15 to 10 while wideout Marvin Harrison is a part of the 2016 class. The good news is that receivers have been going in consistently with one in each of the past four classes (including this year). That means the decks are being cleared for Bruce and Holt to eventually earn their way in. The bad news is that with Owens still on the ballot, it stands to reason that he remains ahead of the Rams' duo in line. Next year's class will add Hines Ward, who shouldn't jump ahead of Bruce and Holt but will help create a further bottleneck at the position. And Randy Moss will be on the ballot soon, as well, and he's likely to go to the head of the class. It seems unlikely Bruce or Holt will get in next year but it's important for at least one of them to start gaining some traction and at least make the cut from 25 to 15 finalists. The guess here is Bruce is more likely of the pair to take that leap, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could both get to the next round next year. If they don't, it's fair to start wondering just how long they'll have to wait.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-positioned-to-land-in-hall-of-fame-next-year
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Saturday night was a good night for former St. Louis Rams hoping to land in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Former Rams pass-rusher Kevin Greene and left tackle Orlando Pace make up 40 percent of the 2016 Hall of Fame class. They also represent 40 percent of the former Rams that had previously been awaiting their time to come.
Now that Pace and Greene are going in, there are still three prominent Rams -- quarterback Kurt Warner and receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt -- standing in line.
Here's a way too early look at how that trio figures to stack up in 2017:
Warner -- Next year will be Warner's third year on the ballot after coming up just short in each of the first two years. While the official voting results won't be revealed, some voters believed that Warner would have been the next player on the ballot to make it had there been room for a sixth modern-era player. In fact, Warner probably would have been close to a sure thing this year were it not for the presence of Brett Favre making his debut on the ballot. Favre got in and though multiple quarterbacks have gone in on the first try in the past, it's not a common occurrence. The good news for Warner is that Favre went in this year and there are no quarterbacks that should jump him in line poised to join the fray next year. Only a few players get the distinction of being a "lock" to go into the Hall of Fame in a given year but it's safe to say Warner's time should come in 2017.
Bruce and Holt -- Bruce and Holt's names came up in the run-up to this year's selection process when former coach Mike Martz expressed his disappointment that Terrell Owens jumped past them in the line to get in. Owens did not make it to the Hall this year and didn't even make the cut from 15 to 10 while wideout Marvin Harrison is a part of the 2016 class. The good news is that receivers have been going in consistently with one in each of the past four classes (including this year). That means the decks are being cleared for Bruce and Holt to eventually earn their way in. The bad news is that with Owens still on the ballot, it stands to reason that he remains ahead of the Rams' duo in line. Next year's class will add Hines Ward, who shouldn't jump ahead of Bruce and Holt but will help create a further bottleneck at the position. And Randy Moss will be on the ballot soon, as well, and he's likely to go to the head of the class. It seems unlikely Bruce or Holt will get in next year but it's important for at least one of them to start gaining some traction and at least make the cut from 25 to 15 finalists. The guess here is Bruce is more likely of the pair to take that leap, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could both get to the next round next year. If they don't, it's fair to start wondering just how long they'll have to wait.
