"If we say something often enough, and loudly enough, you will accept it to be true."
The theory fumbled by the right-wing media somewhere between 2006 and 2008 has been recovered and advanced by the Dallas Cowboys in '09.
On his super-special double-secret bonus second chance for enshrinement, Bob Hayes was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Cris Carter (and his 130 receiving TDs, second all time at the time of his retirement) was not.
Cowboys fans always say Hayes "changed the game," but his numbers don't put him anywhere near consideration for the Hall. And what really "changed the game" is the way the Cowboys organization was run -- they were outside-the-box thinkers who were the first to scout small schools and traditionally African-American schools. And that's part of why Tex Schramm and Tom Landry are in the Hall of Fame.
In other words, Hayes was an effect, not a cause. If he hadn't "changed the game," the Cowboys would have found someone else who would have.
For years, Cowboys fans have bitched about the Steelers of the '70s being overrepresented in the Hall of Fame. No Steelers have been enshrined in the past 7 consecutive years; meanwhile, the voters are stuffing the place with Cowboys. Rayfield Wright got in, but the guy who ate Wright's lunch in Super Bowl X and sacked Roger Staubach three times -- L.C. Greenwood -- isn't. Dermontti Dawson was almost universally considered the best center in the league for a decade and he can't get close to the final vote.
So the Cow homers now have something to celebrate: the media circus around their Hall of Fame cause has been heeded. Bullet Bob is in the Hall. Better call the factory and put in an order for some Hayes throwbacks, Jerry.
And if it hasn't happened already, it won't be long before the NFL-watching public needs these yearly reminders from Canton of the Cowboys' greatness, 'cause the franchise's legacy of success is very likely to remain stagnant as long as Jerrel Wayne Jones is running the show.
Jerry can no longer demonstrate his efficacy by putting together a winning team, but he can still grease enough palms to get a bunch of old Cowboys in the Hall of Fame.
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3 comments:
And the fact that the Landry/Shramm/Brandt brass never even put Hayes in to the Cowboys Ring of Honor should tell you what his own team thought of him. They had 18 years to do it before Jerry took over, and Jerry then had another decde to do it and didn't. He waited until he had to sell tickets to pull the Hayes case out of mothballs.
I think Hayes didn't go in the Ring of Honor cuz of the field incidents. (course that didn't stop Michael Irvin). Unlike, the Three Toooasters-(not to be confused with the Three Tennnors or the Three Muuuskateers but certainly akin to the Three Stoooges), I can remember watching Bullet Bob Hayes play the game. Our Neanderthal model TV set would be on, Dad was out back cooking Mastodon steaks, it was a good time. And Hayes really DID change the game. Opposing Defenses FEARED his speed. Yeah, another speedy, fast WR could have filled his shoes, but Hayes had Olympic Speed. The guy ran in the freaking Olympics! His speed was incredible. I don't think there is a current player today who you can compare him to. When he got behind the secondary and Meredith laid it out there, it was a forgone conclusion.....TD!! it really was a joy to watch, there wasn't another player in the TV screen, he had that much separation. (I was a Cowboy fan in those days. Clean and sober now for almost 20 years). I think it's a good thing he's in the Hall of Fame. He didn't have the numbers, cuz he flamed out pretty quickly, but to watch him in his prime....man that was something. I think Carter should have been elected also. And LC Greenwood too, c'mon.
I'm coming up on an important anniversary. On February 25, 2009 it will be 20 years since I removed my Cowboy Homer Hat. For me, this date is my personal Pearl Harbor. A day that will live in infamy. The day that Arkansas Hillbilly rode into town, hired Helmet Head and fired the Greatest Coach the Cowboys EVER had and one of the top 3 all time-(Lombardi and Shula make the trifecta). I shall celebrate the day with a quiet gathering of friends and family, I'll wear my Redkins gear also.
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