Ed Bouchette: Marino a Lock for Hall, Greenwood, Grimm Hopeful

[L. C. Greenwood did not get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year...a result that is absolutely ridiculous...and while I'm at it, Andy Russell, Jack Butler, and Donnie Shell should also be voted in. The only thing more maddening than the Baseball Hall of Fame selection process is that of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. - jtf]

Marino a lock for Hall of Fame; Greenwood, Grimm hopeful
Saturday, February 05, 2005
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nominees for Pro Football Hall of Fame 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Dan Marino, the Oakland kid the Steelers let get away, will finally celebrate victory at a Super Bowl. It will come a day early and a career late, but Marino will find glory on the big game's big weekend when he's elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame today.

It's not guaranteed because the 39 board of selectors must vote him in this morning, but that's such a foregone conclusion that it quickly brings about the next issue: Just how big a Pittsburgh flavor will today's new Hall of Fame class have?

Also among the 15 finalists for election are defensive end L.C. Greenwood and guard Russ Grimm. Greenwood played 13 seasons on the Steelers' defense that helped forge four Super Bowl victories. Grimm, a Scottdale, Pa., native, played at Southmoreland High School and at Pitt. He earned three Super Bowl rings as a dominant guard with the Washington Redskins from 1981 through 1991. Grimm is the Steelers' line coach and assistant head coach.

Marino, in his first year of eligibility, is the only candidate considered to be a sure thing today. Although he played in just one Super Bowl and never won, he rewrote the NFL record book for passing by the time he retired after the 1999 season, his 17th, all with the Miami Dolphins.

Among Marino's 17 NFL records are his 61,343 yards and his 420 touchdowns, and he was a bargain for the Dolphins at that. They drafted him with the 27th pick in 1983, after the Steelers infamously bypassed him and were cursed with instability at the quarterback position for a generation.

"It's humbling to even think about the opportunity to get into the Hall of Fame," Marino said. "... It's funny; I haven't thought about it a whole lot. It's this thing that's there and people talk about it, but before it actually happens it's hard to accept that fact if it does."

It's possible Marino, who played at Central Catholic High School, will have some Pittsburgh company today. Grimm, his former Panthers teammate, is among the 15 finalists for the first time and one of only two offensive linemen on the list. No member of the Redskins' famed Hogs offensive line is in the Hall of Fame.

Greenwood makes a return to the list of finalists after falling off the past few years. He has one more year of eligibility under the modern era list of candidates before he would be relegated under different and more difficult circumstances governing senior candidates.

Those who played with and against Greenwood believe it has been an oversight that he has not joined them in Canton.

"I'm saying a prayer for him," said tackle Bob Brown, inducted last year. He was "as good as I've seen -- one of the best."

"L.C. was a guy you didn't want to play against," said Dan Dierdorf, another tackle who had to fend off Greenwood.

Coach Bum Phillips' Houston Oilers played against the Steelers twice annually in the Central Division and also lost to them in consecutive AFC championship games in 1978 and '79.
"As good as we faced," Phillips said of Greenwood. "In the same class as Joe Greene. He was one of the best players on the best football team ever put on the field."

Greenwood stood 6 feet 6 1/2 and weighed 250 pounds. He played on the left side of the Steel Curtain defense, outside Greene at tackle and in front of linebacker Jack Ham, both in the Hall of Fame. Some believe that has hurt Greenwood's candidacy -- who wouldn't benefit playing next to those two?

But Greene and Ham long have said they were the ones who benefited by playing with Greenwood, who was as quick as a point guard and as big as a power forward.
"He made me and Joe Greene much better," Ham said.

His exceptional speed and quickness, combined with his height proved to be an overpowering combination. Running backs found it difficult to turn the corner on him and quarterbacks often had their passes slapped back in their faces. During Super Bowl IX, the Steelers' first, Greenwood knocked down three Fran Tarkenton passes.

"As athletic a defensive end as there was in the league," former Cleveland Browns coach Sam Rutigliano said. "He dominated everybody."

The competition for Grimm and Greenwood today will be stiff. A minimum of three and a maximum of six candidates will be chosen from the 15. Two other defensive ends are on the list, Richard Dent and Claude Humphrey, along with linebackers Derrick Thomas and Harry Carson. Guard Bob Kuechenberg previously reached the final six candidates before coming up short of enough votes to make it.

Joining Marino and Thomas as other first-time candidates are Steve Young and Michael Irvin.

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878.)