There’s no question the process for induction to the Pro Football Hall of fame is flawed and, at times, seems arbitrary. Players don’t get in without a percentage of votes from the Hall of Fame committee, and all too often if there are two similar candidates, they split the votes and neither gets in.
Such appeared to be the case with Jimmy Johnson and Tom Flores. Both coaches were two-time Super Bowl winners and both were kept out of the Hall of Fame for many years.
Had it not been for the idea the Pro Football Hall of Fame had to put together a centennial class in 2020 that would put in 20 new inductees, and thus clearing a logjam that had built up over the years of players and coaches getting pushed further down the line in favor of first-ballot and more recent NFL greats.
When the nominees for the Centennial class was announced, both Raiders greats Tom Flores and Cliff Branch were among them. Then neither were on among the inductees.
There was a potential silver lining, however, because with Jimmy Johnson getting in, there would never be the debate over whether he or Flores was more deserving. Both are deserving and a few months later, Flores would be the lone head coaching finalist for the Senior Committee.
Also among the senior committee nominees was Cowboys great WR Drew Pearson. Both were named to the Hall of Fame Saturday night.
Since we saw Flores’s door opened when Johnson got in, could it be that Pearson’s enshrinement means Cliff Branch’s time is coming?
Many believe pretty strongly that Branch is more deserving than Pearson. Branch has similar career averages to Pearson and better career numbers almost across the board. Branch also retired as the all-time leader in postseason receiving yards and has three Super Bowl rings to Pearson’s one.
Pearson retired two years before Branch and thus has been eligible longer. Though for both they’ve been eligible more than 30 years. For Branch’s part, they waited so long that he didn’t live to see it. He died unexpectedly in August of 2019 at the age of 71.
Cliff Branch had the 5th most receiving yards in the NFL from 1972-85 (8685) and he sat 10th most all-time in 1985 in both catches (501) and receiving yards. Eight of the top nine are Hall of Famers. Just ahead of Branch at 8th and 9th are Fred Biletnikoff (8,974) and James Lofton (8,816).
He has long deserved to be in. Maybe come August when next year’s senior finalists are announced, Branch will finally get the nod.
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