Jerome Bettis Announces that He Has Been Selected for the Hall of Fame, Likely Meaning Terrell Davis Will Wait Again

Jerome Bettis scooped the NBC production on the Hall of Fame announcements that will be coming later tonight. The compiler versus high peak debate went the way of Bettis. So keep that in mind the next time someone makes fun of the Baseball Hall of Fame over milestones.

That probably sounds too dismissive of Bettis. He’s a reasonable candidate. I do think “being from Detroit” in a Super Bowl year, playing in Pittsburgh, and longevity all played a role. Those seven additional seasons after his 27th birthday, when he averaged 968 yards from scrimmage and 8 touchdowns, tipped the scale. A young “Bus” was a pretty good player, and he was a contributor for a long time. Terrell Davis, meanwhile, had his career basically ended at age 27. Despite all the additional years that Bettis played, they both have the same number of seasons in the top 10 in yards from scrimmage (3 each), but two of Davis’ topped 2,000 yards.

So while we wait for additional announcements, this likely means that Davis will wait. Orlando Pace, Junior Seau, and Kurt Warner should take up three of the remaining four additional non-veteran/contributor slots, leaving just one mystery. By the numbers, it would be Marvin Harrison, but I suspect he’s not getting in just yet. My guess is the committee will go John Lynch over one of the three coaching candidates (and former Chief Will Shields).