I just watched Jonathan Ogden's press goodbye press conference. It will receive less fanfare than other big names to quit this offseason, but Ogden's dominance is second to none. His best line of the presser: "I want to thank them for bringing in me over Lawrence Phillips. I still think that was a good decision."

There has been a lot of talk of all the surefire Hall of Famers in this retiring class, but they can't all go in together. Three is the all-time high of first-ballot Hall of Famers going in at the same time. Here's how I'd rank this retiring group, in order of how they'll enter the Hall.

Sure-fire First Ballot of Famers

1. Brett Favre: 3 MVPs, enough said.
2. Jonathan Ogden: Argument could be made as the greatest ever to play his position. He changed the position.

Continue reading "Ranking the class of 2013" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The Hall of Fame voting announcement is my favorite part of Super Bowl week other than the game. I don't pretend to know enough to have strong feelings about who should be in or out yet because I don't know the older generation of players well enough.

But it's fascinating to hear the arguments each year about the candidates, and Dr. Z's post vote breakdown is always a good first place to look. Zimmerman also checks in with a fine positional breakdown of the Super Bowl. Zimmerman changed football writing with his "Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football" books and he still seems like the best scouting writer out there.

Continue reading "Dr. Z on HOF vote" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (747)