Zach Thomas faces tough HOF competition in 2019

Former Miami Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas is waiting for his name to be called for the Pro-Football Hall of Fame and 2019 may leave him waiting longer.

The voters of pro-football’s highest honor has done Zach Thomas a disservice by not voting him into the Hall of Fame. In 2019 they will get the chance to right this wrong but chances are, they will not.

Aramando Salguero who presents Miami Dolphins players to the voters answered a Twitter question yesterday about Zach Thomas. I couldn’t locate the exchange, Twitter moves fast, but the question to Salguero was why is Thomas not being presented by Salguero, his response was to the effect that Thoma’s name isn’t drawing much discussion. I would think that Salguero should be pounding his fists to be heard.

The voting process as we know needs to change. It should be taken out of the media’s hand to vote. A selections committee consisting of HoF players, executives, and NFL personnel with media members presenting their case for players from their city. The media, who are known to hold grudges should not be making that decision.

Thomas retired from the NFL in 2010. Players are eligible for the HoF five years after they retire. That would put Thoma’s first year of eligibility in 2015. Three classes have been voted in since his first year of eligibility.

2015 – Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley, Junior Seau, Will Shields, Bill Polian, MIck Tingelhoff, Ron Wolf

2016 – Eddie Debartalo, Jr., Tony Dungy, Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, Ken Stabler, and Dick Stanfel.

2017 – Jason Taylor, Morten Anderson, Kenny Easley, Terrell Davis, Jerry Jones, LaDainian Tomlinson, Kurt Warner.

It’s hard to argue with these players getting in over Thomas in year one of his eligibility. Some of those are coaches and executives while other’s are senior nominees. In 2017 there was no way that the HoF would have voted two Dolphins into the shrine so we can discount that unless you want to argue over whether or not Thomas deserved to go in before Taylor. If you think that, you can argue with yourself.

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Looking at the two previous years however there was room for Thomas especially over someone like Debartalo, Jr. and you could make an argument for a couple of others two.

Now let’s fast forward to 2019 which will be the next year of eligibility for Thomas. The first time eligible players that seem to be early locks are former TE Anthony Gonzalez, corner Champ Bailey, and former safety Ed Reed. I would argue that Bailey is not a first time ballot HoF player.

There are also returning finalists from last year that did not get in. Those names are according to ProFootballhof.com:

• Tony Boselli, Tackle – 1995-2001 Jacksonville Jaguars
• Isaac Bruce, Wide Receiver – 1994-2007 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 2008-09 San Francisco 49er’s
• Alan Faneca, Guard – 1998-2007 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2008-09 New York Jets, 2010 Arizona Cardinals
• Steve Hutchinson, Guard – 2001-05 Seattle Seahawks, 2006-2011 Minnesota Vikings, 2012 Tennessee Titans
• Joe Jacoby, Tackle – 1981-1993 Washington Redskins
• Edgerrin James, Running Back – 1999-2005 Indianapolis Colts, 2006-08 Arizona Cardinals, 2009 Seattle Seahawks
• Ty Law, Cornerback – 1995-2004 New England Patriots, 2005, 2008 New York Jets, 2006-07 Kansas City Chiefs, 2009 Denver Broncos
• John Lynch, Free Safety – 1993-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004-07 Denver Broncos
• Kevin Mawae, Center – 1994-97 Seattle Seahawks, 1998-2005 New York Jets, 2006-09 Tennessee Titans
• Everson Walls, Cornerback – 1981-89 Dallas Cowboys, 1990-92 New York Giants, 1992-93 Cleveland Browns

The final five from last year that were not voted in were Boselli, Faneca, Hutchinson, Law, and Mawae. While Thomas was on the initial 108 player eligible list but did not make the cut to the 27 semi-finalists group. That is something that does not bode well for him unless it was simply because there were two linebackers that the committee felt were first time HOF members, Ray Lewis and Urlacher.

With no likely first time ballot linebackers in the 2019 class, Thomas will face competition from the following linebackers waiting to get elected. Carl Banks, Cornelius Bennett, Tedy Bruschi, Seth Joyner, Greg Lloyd, Wilber Marshall, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest, Karl Mecklenberg, Sam Mills, Joey Porter, and Darryl Talley.

The point of all this? While Zach Thomas deserves to be in the HoF but it is unlikely that he gets in next year. There is no rule that linebackers need to be represented each year and next year it will be interesting to see if Thomas can get the necessary votes to even make the top 25. Which in my opinion is a disgrace that he hasn’t.