Question Mark: AFL isn't under-represented
Published: October 22, 2009, 11:49 pm
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The News' Mark Gaughan answers your questions.
Q: You said Tom Sestak didn't play long enough to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. That's interesting as there are others that played less, yet made it. What you should have said was Tom didn't play any games after the merger to "legitimize" his career against NFL talent. ... I visited the HOF on Kelly's induction and was appalled by the lack of equal representation from the AFL. — Mike Powenski.
A: My short answer is: The AFL is slightly under-represented in the Hall. But only slightly. Let's compare the numbers. For the first six years of the "60s there were 14 NFL teams and eight AFL teams. By 1967 it was 16 vs. 9, then it went to 16 vs. 10. So the NFL had a little less than double the number of players. You'd expect it would have a little less than double the number of Hall of Famers. Also the AFL was a start-up league so it took several years, let's say until 1963 or '64, for the caliber of play to be equal to the NFL.
Complicating the comparison is the obvious fact the NFL existed before 1960 and the AFL didn't. With that in mind, here we go: There are 14 AFL players who served four or more years in the Hall. If you count guys who played three or two seasons (including guys like Willie Lanier and Gene Upshaw), the AFL has 23 Hall members. Using that same criteria of players who started in 1960 or later, the NFL has 25 players with four-plus years and 30 players if you count those who started in 1967 or 1968. That's 14 vs. 25; or 23 vs. 30. There are four more NFL players in the Hall whose careers started in 1958. There are another six whose careers started in 1957 (including Jim Brown and Paul Hornung).
I'd put Chiefs safety Johnny Robinson at the top of the list of AFL guys who should be in. Next would be ex-Raiders personnel man Ron Wolf. No. 3 would be Chiefs OT Jim Tyrer and then Chiefs WR Otis Taylor. Broncos RB Floyd Little is a candidate this year. He's borderline. Patroits DT Houston Antwine and Denver WR Lionel Taylor are close. But former News columnist Larry Felser puts them in the Hall of Very Good, not the Hall of Fame. I've given my two cents on Sestak. I respect your right to disagree.
Q: Does the NFL have the same rules leaguewide for what is allowed to be brought into stadiums? For instance the Bills allow no bags larger than 12 inches square, but in Oakland you can bring in shoulder pads with huge spikes affixed to them. Does each franchise make its rules? — Greg Kozak.
A: I'm told the NFL gives each franchise "best practices" guidelines that it strongly recommends, and those are widely followed throughout the league. So it's about the same in every city. Oakland has a habit of doing things its own way, but I'm not sure about its guidelines.
Q: With the new rule regarding no force-outs on receptions, why don't defensive backs practice catching receivers when they are up in the air near the sidelines and carrying them out of bounds? — Cal Tuohey, Medina.
A: That's a no-no. NFL officials have the leeway to rule a receiver in bounds if the defender uses a "catch and carry" tactic. If a player catches the ball and is actually picked up and carried out of bounds by a defender, it can still be called a catch. Shoving, pushing and nudging once the receiver catches the ball all are fair game for defenders.
Bills beat reporter Mark Gaughan answers your football questions every Friday, online and in the paper. Send your e-mails to mgaughan@buffnews.com, or join his live chat at 11 a.m. on the BillBoard blog.
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