Polian In, Marvin Harrison and Dungy Out for ’15 Hall of Fame

The NFL Hall of Fame Selection Committee announced their 8 inductees for the Hall of Fame Class of 2015, and only 1 Indianapolis Colt was among them.

Only it wasn’t Marvin Harrison.

That’s right, while former executive Bill Polian received the nod, his former head coach in Tony Dungy and wide receiver in Marvin Harrison did not make the final cut.

While both Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison are assuredly set to become future Hall of Famers some day, it won’t be in the year 2015. It’s still a bit of a tough pill to swallow, especially in Harrison’s case. Seeing Marvin Harrison snubbed is completely ridiculous for the second year in a row.

He should’ve been a 1st-ballot Hall of Famer last year at wideout over Andre Reed, and the fact that the committee got it wrong again is simply hard to comprehend. Earlier, we listed 5 reasons why Marvin Harrison should make the Hall of Fame, and all 5 of those are still very much valid. His numbers speak for themselves in comparison to his modern day Hall of Fame wideout contemporaries:

Instead, the 2015 Hall of Fame class consists of Bill Polian as well as former Green Bay Packers GM Ron Wolf, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis (i.e. “The Bus”), San Francisco 49ers/Dallas Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown, San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau, and Kansas City Chiefs offensive guard Will Shields, and Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff. All are worthy selections and were great players/executives in their own right; however, how Brown made it over Harrison at wideout is beyond me this year:

• In 17 seasons, Tim Brown had 1,094 receptions for 14,934 receiving yards and 100 touchdowns.
• In 13 seasons, Marvin Harrison had 1,102 receptions for 14,580 receiving yards and 128 touchdowns.

To me, it’s not that close. Not back when they played, and certainly not looking back now. It’s not even an issue of Super Bowl rings either, because Brown never won one. In fact, Harrison has the edge in that category too, as a Super Bowl XLI Champion.

Not to beat a dead horse, or in this case the ommitted Colts finalists for 2015 Hall of Fame induction, but it’s simply hard for me to fathom that the selection committee could get it wrong AGAIN, for the second year in a row. One of the NFL’s all-time greatest wide receivers in Harrison has been snubbed once again.

However, it’s nice to see Bill Polian get the nod and deservedly so. He was the only 6-time recipient of the NFL Executive of the Year Award, an annual award given to the league’s best deemed GM. He built 4 AFC Champions while with the Buffalo Bills in the early 90’s and his teams produced 6 future Hall of Famers. Of course, he later built a Super Bowl Champion with the Indianapolis Colts in 2006, among his other notable accomplishments. Congratulations to Bill Polian on a great career accomplishment and achieving football immortality in Canton, Ohio!

Jan 31, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers former general manager Bill Polian reacts during a press conference to introduce the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees at Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports