It’s been nearly a full year since I wrote my piece about the greatest defensive line group of all time, the Purple People Eaters. Nothing in that paper has aged poorly, and all four living members when that was written are still kicking. The one thing I DESPERATELY wanted to change, though, didn’t. Another Hall of Fame voting and induction season has gone by, notably lacking ironman Jim Marshall. Who did the Pro Football Hall of Fame select for a gold jacket over our favorite 70s right end?
Kept Kenny Waiting
Ken Riley, much like Marshall (omitting his forgettable first year in Cleveland), spent his entire career at cornerback with the Cincinnati Bengals. Often, NFL fans correctly label the modern Pro Bowl as a popularity contest, but it may have been in a similar state even in Riley’s time. At the time he retired, Riley had the fourth-highest interception count all time, 65 interceptions total. While he did snag a First Team All-Pro and a pair of Second Team nods, he was never selected to either the AFL All-Star Game or the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. Ken Riley is absolutely worthy of a Hall of Fame selection, 65 picks should be a guaranteed lock on a spot in Canton, and it’s great that after 40 years, he’s finally been inducted, albeit posthumously. I’m just lost on how he got in before Marshall, with a shorter career and less accolades. This isn’t a great comparison, and I know that. “You can’t compare a cornerback and a lineman, those are two completely different positions.” I hear you, and I have it covered.
Broadway Joe. No, The Other One.
Joe Klecko was a New York Jet for every year of his career except for his last and led the New York Sack Exchange with Mark Gastineau throughout most of the 1980s. He was DPOY, First Team All-Pro, a Pro Bowler, and the leader in sacks in 1981, by far his best season in terms of awards. He was a two-time First Team All Pro and a one-time Second Teamer, with four total Pro Bowls. He, also like Marshall, has his jersey retired and is in the team’s Ring of Honor. Let’s cut to the chase with Klecko. Does he deserve a spot in the Hall? I think so. Is he better all-time than his teammate/partner-in-crime Gastineau, who isn’t in the Hall? I’m not sure. He was a great player who probably got a lot of benefits from being drafted to a big-market franchise in a time when blockbuster trades were rare and free agency didn’t really exist.
Thoughts on Jim
Jim Marshall is affected by a combination of small market disregard (similar to Ken Riley) and a sort of “little brother” syndrome by being on the same line as Alan Page and Carl Eller. Plus, Marshall joined a brand new expansion franchise and spent the first third of his career playing for the typical terrible expansion team. It doesn’t matter how much you tear it up, being on a bad team significantly hurts your Hall of Fame odds (unless you’re Joe Thomas. He deserves it, he survived hell AKA The Cleveland Browns). When most fans think about the Purple People Eaters, if they do, they think about Page, Eller, and maybe they remember “the wrong way run guy.” A man who suffered through 20 years of a bloodsport with less-than-stellar (putting it lightly) awareness of health and injury risk is known as the guy who went the wrong way.
I’m gonna use this piece to shout out something that absolutely doesn’t need my co-sign, but I just want as many people to know about it as possible. The amazing Dorktown duo of Jon Bois and Alex Rubenstein have released episode one of their seven-part documentary: The History of the Minnesota Vikings. The second episode comes out as a live premiere August 8th on their youtube channel, Secret Base. Be there or be square (I love Secret Base, and I love Dorktown).
