http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/2015 ... -in-canton
Excerpt:
The article is rather pessimistic that this HOF situation will improve, even as it goes on to note that special teams are becoming an increasingly crucial part of the American game, citing several recent instances where the outcome of a game turned, for better or worse, on the contributions (or lack thereof) of special teams play, and of the players who play on them exclusively. I suppose what with all the parity the NFL trumpets nowadays, teams are looking for an edge any way they can get it.Akers' booming feat raises question: Why only one specialist in Canton?
By Clark Judge | Senior NFL Columnist
Sep. 11, 2012 4:12 PM ET
Shortly after San Francisco's David Akers tied an NFL record by launching a 63-yard missile Sunday, coach Jim Harbaugh called him "the greatest kicker in the history of the game." I don't know about that, but I do know this: No matter how great David Akers is, he probably doesn't get a sniff at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That's not based on presumption; it's based on fact.
There's exactly one specialist in Canton, and he was there Sunday to witness Akers' record-tying field goal and to meet the 49ers' kicker after halftime. I'm talking about Jan Stenerud, the former Green Bay and Kansas City kicker who was inducted into the Hall 21 years ago.
That was a start, but it was also an end. Because after Stenerud, there's been nothing, and that includes the game's greatest punter, Ray Guy.
Call it an oversight, but I call it a mistake. And so does David Akers.
"I think there definitely needs to be punters and kickers in the Hall," he said. "I mean, you're telling me Ray Guy isn't in the Hall of Fame? Look, you can say what you want about the position, but we didn't create it. The position is part of football. So, if you're saying they're the best guys who ever played that position, then they definitely should be in the Hall of Fame."
There's no doubt in my mind that the people who get paid to field CFL teams, particularly the ones who have been most successful at it, have already long had a deep appreciation for the crucial role of special teams, and the rule differences in the kicking aspects of our game would seem to have hastened this. I recall in particularly an interview with Ron Lancaster while he was coaching the Eskimos, where he identified ST as one of the three phases of the game on equal footing with offence and defence, and that to win a game you have to win at least two of those three phases.
And of course, this board is no stranger to discussions of how the quality of our own team's ST performance affects our place in the standings.