Well, it happened again. Former Washington offensive tackle Joe Jacoby was once again denied entry into the hallowed halls of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It has become painful even for the fans of the big offensive lineman. For Jacoby, it has to feel like a morsel of food getting stuck between the same two teeth after every meal.
Named A Semi-Finalist
Eligible in the Seniors category, Jacoby was named as one of the 25 semi-finalists earlier this month. On Wednesday, the nominees were trimmed down to 12 players, and Big Jake didn’t even make the list. Seriously?
With every snub like that, the Hall of Fame loses a little more credibility with the Washington faithful. Perhaps it’s physical location in Canton will consequently receive a few less visits. What Washington fan in their right mind would pay good money to enter the grounds of a site that so willfully slights one of it’s most sacred sons?
And Jacoby is a sacred son – make no bones about it. Few players in the history of the franchise are as revered as Joe Jacoby is.
Storybook Tale
That’s because his rags-to-riches story of going from undrafted to an NFL great, is a storybook tale. One that deserves to have a better ending than it has seen so far.
It’s also because he was a mainstay of three different Super Bowl teams.
It’s one of those things that hurts the mind. It doesn’t seem to make any sense when you look at other lesser players that have made it to the Hall. Sometimes, you just can’t find any reason in a totally illogical circumstance.
Is it because the three-time letterman wasn’t drafted out of Louisville?
Is it because he might not have got a crack at making the roster had Joe Gibbs not errantly thought JJ was a defensive tackle due to his enormous size?
Is it because he was just physically different than most of the offensive tackles of the day?
In the eyes of the right beholder, these are all things that should improve his chances, not lessen them.
All of the offensive tackles of the MODERN game fit that “Jacoby mould”. He changed the way coaches looked at tackles.
Notorious O-Line
Heck, The Hogs in general changed the way coaches looked at the game. They were all just so damn big. The NFL had never seen an offensive line that approached a 300 pound average. Not back then. Now it’s obviously the norm.
That’s what made them the most recognized NFL offensive line in league history. And yet even though there were two different versions of that line that spanned more than a decade, only one guy is in Canton – Russ Grimm. Jacoby played on both versions of that revered line. And from both sides of it.
Taylor Says So
Lawrence Taylor might be the greatest player in NFL history and even he can’t figure out why Joe isn’t in the Hall. He has often exclaimed that Joe was the ONLY player that could handle him in a one-on-one battle.
So don’t try and look for reason and rationalization on why Jacoby isn’t in the Hall. There is none. Even the greatest edge rusher ever says so. Who would know the merits of a blind side tackle more than him?
The truth of the matter is that the committee either isn’t doing a very good job, or has some kind of bone of contention.
Is it with Joe? Who knows? There are other Redskins greats that aren’t in the Hall either – Gary Clark, Larry Brown, and Brian Mitchell to name just a select few.
But Joe seems to be the most egregious omission.
The Hall needs to do better.
If you’re going to be the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, then you have to enshrine your greatest players.
They need to right this wrong.
