Former Steelers James Harrison and Hines Ward already felt like dark horses to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After watching a class announcement that included just four members, among them three modern candidates, the road just got harder. That’s because the Hall of Fame recently changed the voting process, and they may be regretting it.
Under the new voting procedure, there is an extra step in cutting down the votes. Instead of voting directly on the 15 finalists, the list is further trimmed to 10 and then down to seven. The voters then must cast ballots of five of the seven they believe should be enshrined, with 80 percent approval required. James Harrison and Hines Ward don’t stand a chance if Luke Kuechly didn’t get in on the first ballot.
Wide receivers Reggie Wayne and Torry Holt fell short, with Holt being one of the seven final candidates. If Wayne isn’t even making that cut, what chance is there for Hines Ward? Terrell Suggs and his 139 career sacks failed to get in on the first ballot. While James Harrison had a dominant period, he did not have the longevity of high-level play required.
Most Steelers fans have known for some time that Ward and Harrison would have a tough path. Even if fans believe they are deserving of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we can see who makes the cut and who doesn’t. but if we’re not even filling up the class slots, then it’s not about a logjam.
It’s about worthiness, or rather perception of worthiness, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters don’t view Hines Ward and James Harrison as worthy. They didn’t before, and they definitely won’t now under these voting procedures. I’ll let the Hall of Fame point out the differences, but basically, voting on groups instead of individuals makes it harder to fill a class.
Previously, the Hall of Fame voters would whittle the list of 15 modern finalists down to 10, then to five. Then each of the five remaining candidates would be voted on, yes or no, individually. Now, instead of whittling the pool to five and voting on individuals, they vote for five out of a group of seven.
As we saw this year, it’s hard to get 80 percent of the votes for five players out of seven. If it’s a strong group of seven, the votes are going to be spread around. And there are already indications that the Hall of Fame is having doubts about this procedure after the first results.
The thing is, you could have figured out the math beforehand. And if this was done with an aim toward reducing class sizes, I don’t see how that makes sense, anyway. There is always a backlog of worthy candidates for the Hall of Fame. An occasional charity case may slip through, but that is at the expense of an obvious Hall of Famer. There is no sane world in which Luke Kuechly is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer. And if he isn’t, then Hines Ward and James Harrison will never make it. That’s “the reality of the math”.
