Warning to Current NFL Stars

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
IF YOU ARE A CURRENT "STAR" IN THE NFL, YOU MUST READ THIS!!!

Hey, is your name LaDanian Tomlinson? How about Marvin Harrison? Maybe Brian Urlacher? Are you a current player in the NFL who puts up great numbers year in and year out? Do you hold any awesome records? And most importantly, do NFL beat-writers and critics go on the record claiming that you are a shoe in for the NFL Hall of Fame? If so, DO NOT BUY IT!

For the 7th straight year, the NFL critics have denied Art Monk admission to the Hall of Fame. This former holder of multiple NFL records was, on many occasions, referred to as a guarantee to make it to the Hall. When he retired he held the record for most catches in a career (940), most consecutive games with a catch (168), and for a long period held the record for most receptions in a season (106). In fact, he was the FIRST player EVER to top 100 catches in a season.

Unfortunately, Monk was not flashy, he didn't hog the media spotlight, and represented the ultimate example of what a true team player is. According to the Hall of Fame voters, you need to be a self-proclaimed superstar (which bodes quite well for T.O.), hog the media, and really just be interested in being a razzle dazzle player on the field. At least that's the message with sending Michael "Cigga-CRACK" Irvin to the Hall of Fame before Monk.

Now, I'm not saying Irvin shouldn't be in the Hall. He was a great player who was consistently surrounded by quality players at all other positions on the offense. He always had HOF'er Troy Aikman throwing to him and HOF'er Emmitt Smith to run the ball, thus allowing the running game to open up the passing game. Irvin was also all about the spotlight. He loved (and still loves) making the moronic statements which put the media attention on him.

Art Monk, on the other hand, had a plethora of quarterbacks tossing the ball to him. Joe Theisman, Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien, Stan Humphries, and others, hardly anyone of Aikman's caliber though. The RB's he had also varied from year in to year out, ranging from John Riggins to Jamie Morris (cough*bust*cough) to Ernest Byner. Some were great, some were crap, but again no stability there. Finally, Monk was always lined up with one or two other stellar receivers. Irvin was always his team's #1 option. That Monk got all those catches with such consistency while sharing the looks with other solid WRs says a lot.

So tell me Dr. Z, Peter King, the other HOF voters, what the hell have you been smoking for 7 seasons and can I have some (since it seems to be so damn good)? If the Hall of Fame is all about on-field accomplishments, then there's no excuse for Monk not to have made it on his first ballot. Unfortunately, contrary to what the media-heads say, it is ALL about OFF-field accomplishments. Specifically about these players taking the tv cameras and spotlights and focusing it on their own faces. Humility seems to be an off-field characteristic which is reviled by the media.

So, LT, you may want to make sure nobody ever beats your touchdown record, at least not before you're eligible for the Hall of Fame. Either that, or start making a media ruckus (your whining after losing to the Pats this year was a good start). Otherwise, you won't be in the Hall.

UPDATE: All of the Hall of Fame selector's are listed at: http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/selectionprocess.jsp
Feel free to harass the hell out of the morons :-)

I Hate Referees

Last year it was the Super Bowl. The referees in charge of officiating that game made a handful of horrid calls, essentially handing the game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sure, the Seahawks didn't exactly play to win that game, but neither did Pittsburgh.

Now, the crap officiating has evidently returned...but this time in the AFC Championship. That's right, you read me right. The New England Patriots should be in Super Bowl XLI, not Peyton Manning. Dean Blandino of the NFL has admitted that the face guarding call made against New England CB Ellis Hobbs was wrong. In fact, "face guarding" was discarded several seasons ago. On the play in question, Hobbs was covering Indianapolis WR Reggie Wayne. Hobbs did not make any contact with Wayne, however he also was not "playing the ball," focusing his eyes only on Wayne. The pass to Wayne hit Hobbs in the left shoulder/back area and fell incomplete to the ground. NFL Referee Bill Carollo threw a penalty marker and gave Indianapolis a 1st Down from the 1-yard line.

ProFootballTalk.com brought this error, and subsequent confession, to my attention. This furthers my theory that all referees are asshats.

UPDATE: Well, the NFL, through it's mouthpiece Greg Aiello, is now retracting the statement of another NFL official. Supposedly, Aiello claims, there was pass interference on the call as Hobbs made contact with Wayne. I watched the replay of this a half-dozen times and there was no contact. But hey, if the NFL wants to claim it's done no wrong yet again I guess nobody can stop them. Unless, of course, somebody wants to take up the idea of www.NFLRefsSuck.com and use it to blast the league officiating office and Greg Aiello. I'd help...