If the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl on Sunday, is Ben Roethlisberger a hall of fame lock?
ESPN.com’s James Walker laid out a case on Big Ben’s behalf recently, noting that every quarterback who has started on three Super-Bowl-winning teams has made it.
While all major sport hall of fame selections are determined by committees whose members often place varying weight on subjective qualities, there exist bylaws that act as parameters, giving the appearance that a standard criterion is applied.
For example, because of a bylaw that states that only on-field activity can be considered, off-field transgressions were not held against Lawrence Taylor in his selection (which could turn out to be a big boon for Roethlisberger, perception, not reality, withstanding).
While the Pro Football Hall of Fame is much more of a monolith than the other major sports hall of fames in regard to the unanimity with which it often votes, history is bound to catch up to the NFL, much as it has to Major League Baseball.
In the next decade or so, selections will have to become more stringent. Just look at the most recent class, which is dominated by a bevy of borderline candidates that includes John Randall, Floyd Little and Rickey Jackson.
The banal truism is that the game is not the same as it used to be, and for many reasons players from 30 years or longer ago are not as great as they used to be, or perhaps, not great in the same way.
So while the Pro Football Hall of Fame grows, the “three Super Bowl ring” argument is not nearly as convincing as it used to be.
While that should seem to be obvious to most, it doesn’t appear that any shift in the commonly held credo is on the horizon.
Over the last 15 years, the National Baseball Hall of Fame Veteran’s Committee has used the new and far less impartial analytical tools of Sabermetrics to contextualize its nominee’s accomplishments, nominees who are taken from a far larger range of years than those from the other major sports.
New metrics are being used to measure a player’s worth in football. Most importantly, players’ statistical effectiveness is measured against the entire league in myriad circumstances to produce a more comprehensive and objective rating (formula), instead of judging players’ raw numbers against predecessors from previous “eras.”
With advanced statistical tools sharpening in baseball, football and basketball are catching up quickly. A crossroad is approaching for the Veterans Committee.
Many will have to decide to reject previously held dogmas, such as “clutch” and “three Super Bowl ring” quarterbacks are locks for the hall of fame.
I’m not so sure Roethlisberger won’t be deserving of canonization at some point, my only hope is that the way we view the best of the best in our beloved sports begins the trek toward a more objective reality, with the statistical community as its guide.
Reach Nick at nick.ruland@asu.edu
