Another NFL Hall of Fame class announced and another year of the deciders getting it bad wrong!

Over the years I have made my distain at Hall of Fames known. Baseball? Pete Rose. I don’t know what Pete did or did not do with betting slips. Fortunately, I saw Pete Rose play many games at Riverfront Stadium in Cincy. I do know what Pete Rose could do with the lumber in his hand. I do know what Pete Rose could do on the base paths. He gave everything. I do know what Pete Rose could do with a glove on in the infield. While George Foster is my all-time favorite Cincinnati Red, when Pete Rose came up to bat something was different. There was a “feeling” in Riverfront that only Pete Rose could deliver.

The last time I saw Pete play was in 1985. He was a player-manager. In an extra-inning game against the Atlanta Braves, Pete inserted himself as a pinch-hitter. He connected, the runner from 2nd, Eddie Milner maybe, scored. This game was on NBC’s Saturday Game of the Week. According to a friend of mine, Russell Harrell, my jumping up and down attracted a nearby camera man. “Damn, there’s Cheeze!” is what came out of Hurricane Harrell’s wide-open mouth.

I have driven past the exit to the Baseball Hall of Fame more than sixteen times in upstate New York. I have never been compelled to take the exit.

It wasn’t until 2018 did I make a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. FINALLY… after 25 years of being eligible, The Moody Blues were enshrined in this hall in April of that year. FINALLY! This was special. At this point, I had seen the last of my Moodies shows from 1986 to 2017 more than 50 shows. The last concert they played was a benefit in a hotel ballroom with a low ceiling in California. Class to the end.

So here we are again. The question about Ken Anderson and the Hall of Fame. I have driven past the Pro Football Hall of Fame exit in Canton the same number of times I have driven by the Baseball Hall of Fame. I pass both on the way to the Berkshires in Massachusetts.

Look, I know Ken Anderson did not win the Super Bowl he played in. Down 20-0 at halftime is hard to overcome. 26-21 was the final score in Super Bowl XVI. The Bengals turned the ball over 4 times. Cris Collinsworth, after catching an Anderson pass, fumbled at the 5-yard line. Still, Ken Anderson was one of the best. He led the league in passing in 1974, 1975,1981, and 1982. The only man to do that in two decades. For YEARS he owned the record for completion percentage in a game and a season. In 1982 his 70.6 bested the record held by Sammy Baugh from 1945 at 70.3. Anderson’s record stood until 2009 when Drew Brees bested it.

Ken Anderson was one of the best football players to step foot on the field.

This year Ken Anderson was a finalist in the “senior” category for induction to Pro Football Hall of Fame. The voters got it wrong again. I will continue to drive by Canton.