Three Potential First-Ballot Hall of Fame Inductees For 2015

You could argue that the real 'fun' of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is predicting who will make the following year's class. On that note, we can safely put the 2014 class behind us, and begin analysing and forecasting future enshrinees to pro football's promised land.

There is always a backlog of hugely talented players waiting to be enshrined, and each year the lengthy queue gets longer and longer with the eligibility of players who have been retired for the required five year period.

In the 94-year history of the NFL, only 287 players have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Considering that, on average, the NFL sees around 2,000 players take to the field each season, you have to be something special to receive a golden jacket. To be a member of this exclusive group is to be someone held up as an integral figure when recounting the history of football, and the voting committee - despite their flaws - tend to place importance on areas such as Super Bowl wins, individual accolades, iconic moments and records.

The phrase 'First-Ballot Hall of Famer' is thrown around all-too often, but in 2015 there are three legitimate candidates who could enter the hall on their first attempt.

Kurt Warner

Teams: St Louis Rams (1998-2003), New York Giants (2004), Arizona Cardinals (2005-2009)

Why should he be in the Hall of Fame?

Very few NFL players can be described as having a 'unique' career, and Kurt Warner is one of the very few to whom the word applies. Everyone knows the story of how a Green Bay Packers reject turned to working a supermarket job to make ends meet, who enjoyed success in the Arena Football League and NFL Europe before unexpectedly emerging as the linchpin of the most potent offense in the history of football. He took a 4-12 St. Louis Rams team to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl title in 1999, of which Warner was the MVP. In his first three seasons, Warner was named league MVP twice, led the NFL in completion percentage, passing yards, touchdowns (twice), yards per attempt (three times) and passer rating (twice).
This period of dominance was followed by a dry spell of mediocrity, and a one-year stint in New York supporting Eli Manning, but it is his time with the Arizona Cardinals that makes him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Between 2005 and 2009, Warner was back to his early-career best.
It is rare for a quarterback to have a three-year stretch as good as Warner had in St. Louis. It is even rarer for someone to do it twice. He took another lifeless franchise to the Super Bowl, and it is a testament to Warner that neither franchise has scaled the same heights they did when he was under centre.
He retired a four-time pro bowler and two-time all-pro, the holder of the top three Super Bowl passing records, and the only NFL quarterback to throw for over 400 yards in a Super Bowl. He ticks all of the success-based and statistical boxes that Hall of Fame voters look for, and - seeing as he will be the first eligible quarterback in a decade - it is highly likely we'll see him get his gold jacket a year from now.

Junior Seau

Teams: San Diego Chargers (1990 - 2002), Miami Dolphins (2003 - 2005), New England Patriots (2006 - 2009)

Why should he be in the Hall of Fame?

It's a tragedy that we will never get to see Junior Seau stand atop the podium at Canton, surrounded by his peers and looking out over swathes of grateful fans of all teams. Because, of course, Seau possessed a talent that could be appreciated by more than the San Diego Chargers faithful. Seau spent thirteen of his twenty NFL seasons in San Diego - being named to the Pro Bowl in twelve - and in many ways was the franchise. He later enjoyed stints with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, and remained the cerebral, passionate, relentless and hard-hitting linebacker he had been in San Diego.
A Super Bowl ring may have escaped him, but statistically there can be no doubting his place among the greats of the game; in 268 regular season games, Seau amassed 1,396 tackles, 45.5 sacks and 14 interceptions. He led the Chargers in tackles in eight seasons, was named on the All-Pro team eight times, the Pro Football Hall of Fame named him to the All-Decade 1990's team, and was commended multiple times for his generosity away from the football field. Seau tragically took his own life in 2012, placing the spotlight firmly on the debate surrounding concussions in football. But while that dark and murky chapter of NFL history continues, you can be assured that 2015 Hall of Fame ceremony will be a celebration of one of the league's brightest figures.

Orlando Pace

Teams: St. Louis Rams (1997-2008), Chicago Bears (2009)

Why should he be in the Hall of Fame?

If the Hall of Fame recognises Walter Jones and Jonathan Ogden as first-ballot Hall of Famers, then they must too recognise Orlando Pace. All three men enjoyed careers of similar length, and all three simultaneously dominated the competition as three of the greatest offensive linemen of both their generation and of all time.
Between 1968 and 1989, eight of twenty-two first overall draft picks ended up in the Hall of Fame. Between 1990 and 2000, only two top picks could be considered first-ballot Hall of Famers - one is Peyton Manning (1998), and the other is Orlando Pace.
Drafted in 1997, Pace quickly emerged as one of the key members of the Rams teams that dominated the late 1990's and early 2000's - his uncanny speed and frightening strength paved the way for Marshall Faulk's dominant stretch between 1999 and 2002, and allowed Kurt Warner time to make the big throws that enabled the Rams to bring home Super Bowl XXXIV. Not everyone from that team can make it on the first attempt, but if both Faulk and Warner (and potentially Tory Holt and Isaac Bruce) are to be enshrined, then arguably the biggest catalyst for their success should join them also.

Throwback Player Profile #5 - Kevin Greene

The past few 'throwback player' features have included current or soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Fame-ers. This week I'll be taking a look at someone who probably should be, but has fallen short over the last few years: Kevin Greene.

Accumulating 160 sacks (third all time) in a fourteen-year career, Greene is often dismissed on the grounds that he was a 'one trick pony'. Greene was never the most complete player, but if a coach had to pick one 'trick' for an 3-4 outside linebacker to excel at, pressuring the quarterback would likely be top of his list.

Kevin Greene excelled at sacking the quarterback the same way Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Terrell Owens and Marvin Harrison excelled at catching passes.

This tenacious ability to inflict pain on opposing quarterbacks manifested itself while he was at the University of Auburn. After some time in the National Guard, Greene attempted to forge himself a career in football as a walk-on player (he was not offered a scholarship to play college football). He introduced himself to his future coaches with a supremely confident declaration: "Hey, Coach, I'm Kevin Greene and I'm your starting outside linebacker". Greene quickly emerged as a force on defence - winning the Zeke Smith award in 1984 after only two seasons - and leading the SEC in sacks in his senior year with eleven.

Greene is known for being somewhat of a 'journeyman' player, and his first port of call was the Los Angeles Rams - who had drafted him in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL draft. He was immediately given a chance to play as the Rams ran a five-linebacker defence, and in his first two seasons as a regular he amassed 13.5 sacks. Despite the Rams' changing their defensive scheme from a 3-4 to a 4-3, Greene still managed to amass 72.5 sacks, including two consecutive seasons (1988 and 1989) with 16.5 sacks. 

With the advent of free agency, Greene went looking for teams that employed a more familiar 3-4 scheme, and found a new home in the form of Dom Capers' Pittsburgh Steelers defence. He flourished, and recorded 12.5 sacks in his first year with the team, 14 in his second season and in 1994 he was named a consensus All Pro. Alongside Greg Lloyd, Chad Brown and Levon Kirkland, Kevin Greene was an integral member of one of the greatest linebacking corps of all time, and the group are still favourably compared to the great Steelers' linebackers of the 1970's.

Greene hopped around from team to team for the last few years of his career, and this arguably counts against him when being considered for the Hall of Fame. A short stint (three seasons) in Pittsburgh preceded one season with the newly-formed Carolina Panthers and another with the San Francisco 49ers before returning to Carolina for the final two years of his career. A super bowl ring remained elusive, but over his last four seasons Greene amassed an incredible 52 sacks, was named the National Football League Players Association linebacker of the year and reached his fifth and final Pro Bowl in 1998.

It's strange that this should hinder his case for entry. Sure, most Hall of Fame players spent the majority of their careers within one organisation but, despite his nomadic existence, Greene was a model of remarkable consistency. He never experienced a decline in his production - he is still the oldest player to lead an NFL season in sacks with 14.5 in 1996 at the age of 34 - and is one of only three players in NFL history to record ten or more sacks in at least as many seasons.
Greene finished with 160 of them - third all time behind Hall of Famers Bruce Smith and Reggie White, and ahead of Chris Doleman, Michael Strahan, John Randle, Richard Dent and Lawrence Taylor. All of whom are, unsurprisingly, in the Hall of Fame. He also holds the record for most sacks by a linebacker (27.5 sacks ahead of Taylor).

Another argument for his omission is that he was a pure sack artist and not a complete defensive player. While he undoubtedly specialised in this area, it is not coincidence that defences featuring Greene as a prominent starter were also dominant run-stopping units. Between 1988 and 1990 (Greene's first three as a starter) teams averaged only 3.9 yards per rush against the Rams. In his time with the Steelers and 49ers, teams averaged 3.48 and 3.5 yards per rush, respectively, and Greene ended his career with a respectable 52 tackles for loss.

Kevin Greene's admission to the hall of fame is a matter of 'when' not 'if'. He has a super bowl ring as a coach (with the Packers) to boost his claim, but the past few classes have been stacked with elite defensive candidates - almost all of the players above and below Greene on the all-time sacks list were enshrined after Greene became eligible in 2005 - and future classes are set to feature Ray Lewis, Jason Taylor, Charles Haley and John Lynch.

Greene himself said: "The Hall of Fame voters, if they would look at my entire body of work, how I played, maybe they'll see fit to put me in... commitment, passion, study habits, workout habits... everything I did I think I did it the right way."

He might have to wait a while, but in a highlight reel-obsessed league voters simply cannot - and will not - ignore Greene due to his production.