Pro Football HOF Semi Finalists

The NFL released its list of semi-finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Prepare to be underwhelmed. Unlike baseball's Hall of Fame, where players have to actually earn enshrinement, the NFL must put in a minimum of four (maximum around seven) players each year. That means if the NFL stops existing, at one point in time, Trent Dilfer will eventually be added. The Redskins have four players in the semi-finals (Darrell Green, Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby, and Art Monk). Do the Redskins get sympathy votes because of the whole Sean Taylor thing? Logic would say no. But would any of you feel surprised if Peter King were to write, "I wasn't going to put Art Monk into the Hall of Fame, but after consulting over a mocha latte, I decided that the Redskins family has been hurting enough, so I relented on Monk. I also put in Green, Grimm and Jacoby."

Seriously, that could happen.

Anyway, here is the list of candidates on who deserves to go, minimums be damned!

Disclaimer. We are going to go ahead and eliminate all offensive lineman from this list. NFL writers only like to include offensive linemen to make themselves look smarter. Kind of like that hipster doofus that knows all of the indy rock bands, just so he can look down on you when you've never heard of The Hold Steady. Too many offensive linemen float by on reputation for too long. Like the Cowboys Erik Williams who was always voted to the Pro Bowl long after he was effective.

• Cris Carter:Quick, name something memorable about Carter, other than him showboating after a first down? And speaking of which, what is JC's policy on showboating, because I would tend to think that he would be against it. He put up good numbers, but he doesn't stand out as one of the best in his era. Playing alongside Randy Moss during the final years of his career showed just how average he is. Hall of Average.

• Terrell Davis: Conversely, this guy was easily one of the best of his peers. This is what the Hall of Fame needs, more guys who dominated their peers, as opposed to guys who just put up average numbers for a really long time. The recent string of success from the Broncos running backs, however, do show that he might have been more of a system running back. But he was the missing link for the Broncos, who won two Super Bowls behind him. He's in.

• Fred Dean: A good player and one of the keys to the 49ers defense in the early years of their dynasty. But all defensive ends of this era will by judged by if they starred in their own TV show opposite Stepfanie Kramer. And sadly, Dean did not.

• Richard Dent: The one thing that will hold him back is that he had one of the worst raps of the Super Bowl Shuffle. Dent had a really good career, and was one of the key components of one of the best defenses in NFL history. Forced to pick point blank, the answer is no.

• Randy Gradishar: He was the best defensive player on the Orange Crush. But if you let him in, Chris Berman is going to cry until Tom Jackson gets in, so the answer is no.

• Darrell Green: He played a long time, and he was fast. Which is cool if you are running track. But he was one of the best cornerbacks of his era. He's in.

• Kevin Greene: No discussion here, he's in. Just kidding. Had some great years with the Rams, but come on. How would you justify this?

• Ray Guy: People know he was a punter, right? Moving on.

• Charles Haley: Has anybody won more Super Bowl titles than this guy? The 49ers had offers from the Cowboys and Vikings for Haley in 1992, and George Seifert didn't want to trade him to Minnesota because he was afraid he would be the final piece for the Vikings. Turns out he was the final piece of the puzzle for the Cowboys who went on to win four Super Bowls in three years. In.

• Lester Hayes: The Barry Bonds of his era, in that his cheating wasn't banned until later in his career. A good, maybe great corner, but do you want to have Michael Haynes and Hayes in the Hall? No.

• Rickey Jackson: Was one of the best players in Saints history. That's enough, no.

• Cortez Kennedy: Man, you could never miss a Seahawks game because you just had to see what Kennedy was going to do. Man, could you imagine if somebody actually ever said that? No.

• Art Monk: Come on. He should be Tim Brown's presenter in the Hall of Average.

• Andre Reed: You have to view the Bills offensive numbers the same way that you would view a hitter in Colorado. Inflated numbers that makes them seem better than they are. Do you really want to put all of those Bills in the Hall? No.

• Ken Stabler: He might not be in it, but his liver should be. As a former Saints quarterback, he didn't father any annoying kids. Still, a good quarterback, but not Hall of Fame.

• Paul Tagliabue: Ha, ha, ha, ha.

• Steve Tasker: Seriously, if this guy gets in, this proves that the best way to get into the Hall of Fame is to go into broadcasting. This is a joke.

• Derrick Thomas: If the already generous NFL writers haven't put him in yet, what's different now?

• Andre Tippett: You, too. There's nothing wrong with being a local legend.

• George Young: Yeah, right. Would he even be up for consideration if he wasn't a member of the Giants organization? No.

So there you have it, Terrell Davis, Darrell Green and Charles Haley. That's a pretty solid class.