Bloodied But Unbowed: Erk Russell's Long March to the College Football Hall of Fame

by T Kyle King on Jun 10, 2009 8:19 PM EDT in Football

The first phase of my ~~nefarious~~ righteous plot to have Erk Russell enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame has reached its successful conclusion.

In yesterday’s mail delivery, I received from the National Football Foundation a welcoming letter containing my membership card and offering a friendly reminder that "[y]our membership will also allow you to vote for the very same Hall of Famers that will be enshrined every August."

As you know, nominations to the College Football Hall of Fame may be made by any dues-paying member of the National Football Foundation. Since I now fall into that category, the next step is for me to delve into the nomination and election process in greater depth than that which is offered on the Foundation’s website.

Then comes phase three . . . the campaign to convince the proper authorities that Coach Russell ought to be eligible and ought to be admitted. It is open to debate whether I am the proper person to undertake such acts of persuasion, given the ways in which I am failing to win friends and the fact that my ability to influence people so far has ten per cent of the readers of this site agreeing with me, but a man of Coach Russell’s caliber deserves nothing less than our best effort.

Stay tuned.

G.A.T.A.!

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Comments

A worthwhile pursuit

Had he never graced the classic city, his accomplishments in Statesboro should merit enshrinement.

by MikeInValdosta on Jun 10, 2009 11:05 PM EDT reply actions

Isn't he ineligible?

I thought I read here that his career doesn’t meet the minimum requirement for years as a head coach?

If so, sorry, but he shouldn’t be in. Should the criteria be changed? I don’t know, honestly.

And do I consider him a Hall of Fame-caliber coach? Obviously.

But I have a big problem with the way the Hall of Fame is portrayed, and this is really spilling out into MLB and NFL, so I apologize. But I once heard someone say, if they ask the question “Is this person a Hall of Fame player?” and if you have to even debate it, then that person is not a Hall of Famer. And I agree with that 100%.

But back to Coach Russell, in a weak attempt to tie all this together, if someone asks “Is Coach Russell a Hall of Famer?”, unfortunately the answer right now is “Yeah, but”. Sadly, I think that says it all. Great at what he did? A million times yes. But apparently he doesn’t meet the specified criteria. Wouldn’t a better goal be to change the criteria than promote an exception to that criteria?

by UgaBulldog14 on Jun 11, 2009 10:53 AM EDT reply actions

I see your point, but it is somewhat counter-productive.

First, you should go back and read this to fully understand the rules for being admitted to the Hall of Fame and to see why Erk qualifies and why he doesn’t. I would explain it, but Kyle does a much better job and is more convincing.

Second, I disagree with your ideology about moving to change the system before moving to make an exception. Wouldn’t an argument for changing the system carry much more influence if there were a prime example (Erk) for why the rule should be changed? Simply advocating the change of a rule with no specific reason for its change rarely accomplishes anything.

Finally, the beauty of the Hall of Fame is that players and coaches have more than one chance to join. To advocate that one must be a first-ballot Hall of Famer in order to be admitted to the Hall of Fame (which is more or less what you’re saying with the no-debate thing), leaves out the value of argument. Should Chipper Jones, for instance, be a Hall of Famer based on his career numbers? One could certainly argue that he should not. However, when one takes into account the fact that he is a switch hitter, the argument suddenly becomes much more convincing. He is a good defensive player and he has exceptional skills at the plate. His numbers as a hitter make him one of the better hitters in the history of the game. His numbers as a switch hitter make him one of the best ever. I think that deserves a Hall of Fame nod, but I can see how one could argue otherwise. The difference of opinion absolutely should not disqualify him from consideration, though.

by hailtogeorgia on Jun 11, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Fair points

but it’s not fair for me to give my opinion on Chipper. I would say yes, he should be, but I’m biased.

My thing is, I think the Hall of Fame should be incredibly exclusive. It’s The Hall of Fame, not The Hall of Very Good, not The Hall of Great. In my opinion, it should be for a select few, and they should all be unanimous across the board.

That said, if this was the case, Darrell Green and Art Monk wouldn’t have made the NFL Hall, which would’ve been a travesty.

I think I just have a different idea of what the HoF is.

by UgaBulldog14 on Jun 11, 2009 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions

And actually

based on just career numbers Chipper unquestionably belongs in the Hall of Fame. He compares favorably to the HoF third-basemen, of whom there are only thirteen in the Hall of Fame.

by The ArchDawg on Jun 11, 2009 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions

That may be true, Archdawg, but

he also compares a little less favorably to some third basemen who aren’t in the Hall of Fame. Given the fact that there are fewer third basemen int he hall of fame than any other position, I could see people debate the merits of him being admitted.

That said, I certainly think he deserves to be in it. The fact that he’s a switch hitter, however, definitely helps.

by hailtogeorgia on Jun 12, 2009 6:56 AM EDT up reply actions

The best justification for Erk

I think the best argument for Erk Russell’s inclusion in the CFHOF is the realization that he could have lost every game for two years after his actual retirement, thus “qualifying” for the Hall, and his selection would have been a no-brainer.

Even if you ignore his contributions as DC at Georgia (which you shouldn’t), the man built, virtually overnight, a perennial national championship contender at a school with no team, from an amalgam of dust and the septic waters of Beautiful Eagle Creek.

In baseball, HOF consideration is usually based on “peak” or “career” value. Erk Russell deserves election to the CFHOF on both measurements.

by donkeydawg on Jun 12, 2009 12:30 AM EDT reply actions