National Football League (NFL) Hall of Fame (HOF) Member Analysis - Players vs Non Players

I recently published an NFL Hall of Fame member series introductory article, viewable here. It's tells how data was gathered and of the difficulties of analyzing the NFL Hall of Fame data. Of the 261 members of the Hall of Fame, 222 are in Canton as players. That's 85% players. 21 Hall of Fame inductees are listed as coaches. That's 8% coaches. The 18 remaining members of the NFL Hall of Fame are described as "contributors" - some were coaches, many were owners. Three current NFL owners - Al Davis, Dan Rooney and Ralph Wilson Jr. - are already inducted in the Hall of Fame as contributors. Contributors, by the way, comprise 7% of inductees.

If I were to divide all 261 Hall of Famers into 5 teams (of about 52), each team would be comprised of the following: 6.2 quarterbacks, 8.2 running backs, 6.8 wide receivers and/or tight ends, 15.4 offensive and defensive linemen combined - so about 7.2 per line (if you want to take a rough average), 3.6 linebackers, 4.0 defensive backs, one fifth of a placekicker, 4.2 coaches and 3.6 contributors. Notably, some of those quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and ends (te's) of the pre-modern era played defensive positions as well, if not also placekicker. Also, linebackers and defensive backs are (within the confines of the data) only relevant to the modern era. To further delve into position differences of the modern era and pre-modern era, check out the break down at the Pro Football Hall of Fame website.

In terms of years played, coached or contributed, the 222 players in the Hall of Fame account for a combined 2,761 years of career football experience; the 21 coaches accounted for 398 years of career football experience and the 18 contributors racked up 701 years of career football experience. While NFL HOF player's average careers are in the low teens, the average career for a Hall of Fame Coach is 18.95 years. George Halas stretched that limit with 42 years of football coaching; meanwhile, Guy Chamberlin is a Hall of Fame coach of the pre-modern era with a football coaching career spanning only six years. Contributors have a decidedly larger impact time-wise than either HOF players or coaches. The 18 HOF Contributors average 38.94 years per football career. Also, three of them - Dan Rooney, Ralph Wilson Jr. and Al Davis - are still contributing, although some in more creative ways than others.

The total Hall of Fame representation numbers over time look like a bell curve. 10 years represented in the 1910's, 211 years in the 20's, 282 in the 30's, 338 in the 40's, 527 in the 50's, 792 in the 60's, 773 in the 70's, 564 in the 80's, 297 in the 90's and 66 in the 2000's so far. There were far fewer teams and players in the early decades and the enshrinement process - retirement plus five years for eligibility (except for contributors) - requires time to pass before more recent decades are accounted for. I thought the bell curve representation made sense and seemed logical, given the conditions. But, the 60's and 70's just kept popping out at me. When I first saw the numbers I wondered if the television broadcast of games inflated the numbers as players could become more easily widely known. But, if that were the case, I couldn't fathom what affect the internet would have.

For the NFL's Class of 2010 Hall of Fame voting, fans can click here to cast their vote. There are zero coaches or contributors up for possible induction into the Hall of Fame in 2010, but does this mean we have hit a level of saturation for coaches and contributors (Ralph Wilson Jr. was inducted in 2009) or are we just waiting for a little time to pass (say five years)? Bill Cowher will be eligible in 2011. Contributors don't require a five year wait like players and coaches and don't even need to be retired. Someone could just nominate Dick Lebeau as a contributor to the NFL and we wouldn't have to wait for that Bill Cowher bus to get our Pittsburgh Steelers fix.

Wellington Mara contributed 69 years to the game of professional football - the most of any Hall of Famer, regardless of title. George "Papa Bear" Halas was the second longest tenured Hall of Famer and only other one to eclipse six decades of professional football experience. Interestingly, Hugh "Shorty" Ray is tied with the shortest length contribution of a Hall of Fame contributor, at fifteen years, whereas for a player that would be a long career - the average Hall of Fame player career is 12.43 years long. The average career of a Hall of Fame contributor is 3.13 times as long, at 38.94 years. Dick Lebeau played the game and coached the game (still does). Jerry Kramer played the game at a Hall of Fame level and wrote one of the greatest books about the game, according to Steve Sabol. They could both be nominated and enshrined as contributors to the game of football. On the other hand, there are other perfectly suitable ways of inducting Dick Lebeau and Jerry Kramer into the Hall of Fame, although one of those may take a little patience (plus five years).

The eighteen Contributors currently in the NFL Hall of Fame include 1 President of the National Football League (Joe Carr), 1 Co-Founder of the American Football League (Lamar Hunt) and two Commissioners (Bert Bell and Pete Rozelle) spanning 44 years of football commissioning. Six of the early and tradition-steeped NFL franchises - New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears and Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals - account for eight NFL HOF Contributors - Earl "Curly" Lambeau, Art Rooney, Charles W. Bidwell Sr., George Halas, Tim Mara, Wellington Mara, Dan Rooney, George Preston Marshall. That accounts for 12 of the 18 contributors to the gridiron game. Commissioner Bert Bell also previously was involved with two early, tradition-steeped teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. Hugh "Shorty" Ray dealt with officiating, rules, officials and such technical aspects of the game. Of the five remaining contributors in the Hall of Fame, Al Davis and Ralph Wilson Jr. have each spent over 55 with their respective teams, the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills. Dan Reeves owned the Rams for 31 years. That leaves two professional football Hall of Fame contributors - Jim Finks, who saw the changing of three consecutive decades with three different teams, and Tex Schramm who was involved with the Rams, Cowboys and an entirely new league called the World League of American Football. Historically, it seems tenure and tradition are winning the battle when it comes to representation of contributors in the Hall of Fame. But, short of that, if you want to get in the Hall of Fame, you can start a new league, as long as it only lasts two years, like the World League of American Football.

I wonder if this gives wrestling tycoon Vince McMahon a shot at a professional football Hall of Fame induction as a contributor. Vince McMahon founded the XFL, which lasted one year. Although the alternative football league only lasted one season in 2001, alternative names that were popularized like "He Hate Me" linger in the public consciousness. Does Vince McMahon linger in the public consciousness? Or, was his stint in football much too short to warrant even a passing second of consideration? I think the latter may be true in this case. But, what if he did it again? What if Vince McMahon brought back the XFL, or some variation of it? Would two alternative football league attempts begin to warrant consideration into Canton?

This NFL Hall of Fame Member Series Article examines Hall of Fame member data through 2009.