HOF finalist?

[Mothman]

I don't know much about this but Carter is a HOF finalist this year. Has he been there before?

Yes, quite a few times. He should be in the Hall already. Hopefully, this will be his year.

[losperros]

Yes, quite a few times. He should be in the Hall already. Hopefully, this will be his year.

Somehow I get the feeling that Carter will get jobbed again. I really hope he gets in. He was a master of his craft.

[Mothman]

Somehow I get the feeling that Carter will get jobbed again. I really hope he gets in. The was a master of his craft.

He should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer but at this point, I get the feeling he'll get jobbed again too. I hope we're wrong.

[PurpleMustReign]

I'm not holding my breath. These HOF people are stupid in baseball and football. How can a year go by, and not one person gets voted in (like in baseball)?

Idk how Jack Morris didn't get in this time. The writers are just pathetic.

[Viva la Vikings]

Fingers crossed.

[Eliot]

We have our trip to Ohio planned. Have had it since Carter's first year of being a finalist. Lets hope he gets it this time!

[soflavike]

He gets in this year... I have a feeling.

Greatest hands in the history of the game. His career's excellence is indisputable.

[PurpleKoolaid]

I guess im a pessimist so ive given up much hope. I think he should have been in very shortly, if not the same time, as Rice.

[Reignman]

They always make WR's suffer. How long did it take Art Monk to get in? Never winning a championship doesn't help your cause either. Whether that's fair or not, idk. I can't remember who said it first, but "It's not the Hall of Very Good". Carter stands out because we watched him play. Does a Tim Brown or Andre Reed stand out to most people like a Jerry Rice? Sure they had great careers and put up huge numbers, but I'm afraid Jerry Rice set the bar quite high for all future WR's. With today's pass happy league, many WR's are going to catch Carter, Brown, and Reed, but nobody will probably catch Rice.

[CalVike]

They don't say much about what goes on in the room. But I always had the impression that Jerry Burns and others from Vikings past were pushing hard on certain candidates who got in. I wonder if Cris Carter has a pied piper. Denny Green? I also wonder how well the scribe who makes the pitch is doing. Last year the Star Tribune sent Dan Wiederer as a fill in for Sid Hartman who joined the beat in September 2011 when Judd Zulgad went off to 1500espn and quit the Strib. I believe that Sid Hartman is out altogether and Mark Craig who's been around longer is the new official voter for the Vikings area if the HOF website is correct. I've heard Craig say he didn't feel he was particularly effective on Carter's case when delivering the pitch for him in the past. Outside of that, I think Carter is losing steam to Andre Reed's four straight Super Bowl appearances so I don't expect a win until that changes. It's all nonsense, Carter was THE best NFL receiver of the 1990s outside of Jerry Rice, hands down. That he's not in yet is such a travesty that it puts the whole HOF process in question.

[Just Me]

Outside of that, I think Carter is losing steam to Andre Reed's four straight Super Bowl appearances so I don't expect a win until that changes. It's all nonsense, Carter was THE best NFL receiver of the 1990s outside of Jerry Rice, hands down. That he's not in yet is such a travesty that it puts the whole HOF process in question.

I agree wholeheartedly. What I fail to see is how Reed being on a team that loses 4 traight Super Bowls somehow inherently makes Carter less deserving than Reed. I know that's not what you believe, but I'm trying to get that logic. Interestingly enough, despite the slight variance in their careers, (Reed played a little longer) they both played in the same number of games (234), although Reed had a slight advantage in Games Started (217 vs 209). Basically, its about as apples-apples comparison as you can get for the stats really telling the story. As you might suspect, Carter wins in almost every menaingful category:

Receptions
Total Yards
TDs
Receptions per game
Yards per game

Reed does beat Carter in two stats:
Yards per Reception (13.9 vs. 12.6) and; wait for it:
Fumbles! 25 vs 17

So in essence, if the Hall votes Reed over Carter, they make the statment that 1.3 yards per catch, 4 Super Bowl Appearances (all losses) and 8 fumbles trump the other 5 categories where Carter leads.

I would ask the Hall voters to review this video - staring at about the 37 second mark. Pay attention to everything after 1:33 (where they explain he is the best because he only needed one-hand to catch footballs).

He. Needs. To. Be. In. - It's beyond ridiculous, he's not already...

[Angels Wings]

I'm not holding my breath. These HOF people are stupid in baseball and football. How can a year go by, and not one person gets voted in (like in baseball)?

Don't even get me started on baseball. I hate the "holier than thou" attitude that these writers always seem to have...

[Mothman]

Here's some insight into why Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame and why we shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get in this year either:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFP ... -5238.html

Warning: reading writer Dan Pompeii's column about this subject may aggravate you. It certainly irritated me...

[CalVike]

Here's some insight into why Cris Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame and why we shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get in this year either:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/NFP ... -5238.html

Warning: reading writer Dan Pompeii's column about this subject may aggravate you. It certainly irritated me...

I would have much preferred a slam dunk case for Cris Carter. But I agree with his last line,

However we do it, the time has come for the logjam to be broken.

I'd just add "in Carter's favor."

Thanks for the link.

[Just Me]

You're right, Jim. It did irritate me

But there are some revealing comparisons we can make between the trio of finalists and the 21 modern era hall of fame receivers.

Number of times ranking in the top five in the league in receptions and receiving yards illustrates how dominant a receiver was among his peers.

Carter excelled in receptions but didn’t rate so well in receiving yards. He ranked in the top five for catches six times in his career. Only one hall of famer—Jerry Rice—did better with nine. But Carter never finished in the top five of receiving yards. He did finish seventh three times.

OK - So the fact he is a possession receiver counts for nothing then? How about comparing the number of 3rd down receptions for a 1st down each made? On one hand he talks about wanting to compare the receivers to "their era" and then turns around and artificially (IMHO) creates a criteria which favors the receivers running the deep routes. TDs count for nothing then?