Who makes it to the NFL Hall of Fame? Have the standards lowered?
The purpose of the NFL Hall of Fame, at the time it was created, was to remember and celebrate the true legends of the game and the greatest players who ever stepped on the football field.
It was meant to honor the players who defined an era and who need to be included when telling the history of the NFL. The intention was to reserve spots for only the elite few that absolutely needed to be there.
Somewhere along the way in NFL history, the Hall of Fame has been a bit watered down. It was never supposed to be a place for all of the good players or even the great players, but only for the ones in the elite class of their own.
In a way, there was never supposed to be much debate about who should get in and who shouldn't, but rather the players that are there are almost unanimously accepted.
Though it's always going to be subjective, it can be said that Hall of Fame players are absolutely clear when their careers finish. Any player that carries the borderline label or is heavily debated as to whether or not they deserve to be there probably shouldn't be there at all.
If they didn't do enough to silence the debate, it's fair to say they probably didn't do enough during their playing career.
There’s a difference between “will get into the HOF” and “should get into the HOF”
As @Dameshek mentioned, Stafford will probably get in.
And for a while now I’ve thought the HOF standards have gotten much too low.
To better understand how the NFL Hall of Fame standards have been lowered to good or great rather than legendary, look no further than the criteria and process to be elected.
The flaws within the system have greatly contributed to making the Hall of Fame less prestigious over the years.
How a player gets elected to the NFL Hall of Fame
All modern-era players who have been retired for at least five years are eligible for NFL Hall of Fame voting. Candidates are voted on by a committee, requiring at least 80 percent of the vote to be inducted.
There is one catch, requiring a minimum of four and a maximum of eight candidates elected into the Hall of Fame each year.
The Hall of Fame bar is way too low.
Eli Manning, shouldn’t be HOF
Phillip Rivers, shouldn’t be HOF
Matt Ryan, shouldn’t be HOF.
You should have zero debate about it and know it when you see it.
Tom Brady should be HOF
Peyton Manning should be HOF
Aaron Rodgers should be HOF
Requiring a minimum number to be inducted each year has contributed to a watered down Hall of Fame. It's basically saying that even if four aren't worthy of selection, four still need to be picked anyway.
The Senior Committee is another factor that has somewhat lowered the standards of Hall of Fame eligibility. They have the ability to vote on players who have been retired for at least 25 years.
There should likely be a cut-off for how many years one remains eligible. If it takes 25 or more years to get enough votes, the player probably didn't have a good enough career to be in the NFL Hall of Fame anyway.