Foreman’s case has been neglected for decades; Marshall getting yet another look
Earlier this month, former Minnesota Vikings Chuck Foreman and Jim Marshall were chosen among a group of 182 senior nominees for selection into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Both made the initial cut from 182 to 60 senior candidates earlier this month. And yesterday, both of them advanced to a group of 31 candidates in a vote by the Hall of Fame’s Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee.
They will now undergo further consideration and in three weeks the nine member Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will reduce the number to nine candidates. Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee voters will then meet in early December to discuss the playing careers of the nine Semifinalists. Only their on-the-field accomplishments are considered. From the nine, three will advance to the full Selection Committee as Finalists for possible election to the Class of 2025. The three finalists will then be presented to the full committee, along with one coach and one contributor (i.e. GM, owner, etc.) for possible enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. At least one, but no more than three, of the five finalists including the coach and contributor finalists, will be enshrined. A candidate needs 80% of the full committee to vote in favor for enshrinement.
Jim Marshall is among only two defensive ends to make the list of 31, the other being former Cowboy Harvey Martin. Chuck Foreman is one of five running back candidates under consideration, along with Ottis Anderson, Roger Craig, Cecil Isbell, and Paul “Tank” Younger.
Chuck Foreman Makes His Case to the Hall of Fame
Foreman’s case for the Hall of Fame seems to have been overlooked for many years- decades really- but in more recent years Foreman himself has made his case to the Hall of Fame.
Foreman has an impressive list of credentials, but his case for enshrinement is complicated because he wasn’t a traditional running back of the 1970s and had a shorter career than some other Hall of Fame running backs. But the main argument for Foreman’s enshrinement is his dominance over his first six years in the league between 1973-78. During the time, Chuck Foreman had a long list of accomplishments:
- Selected Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1973 and to the Pro Bowl
- Selected 2nd team All-Pro in 1974, finished 3rd in MVP voting, and made the Pro Bowl
- Selected 1st team All-Pro in 1975, finished 4th in MVP and OPOY voting, made the Pro Bowl
- Selected 2nd team All-Pro in 1976, UPI NFC MVP, and to the Pro Bowl
- Selected to the Pro Bowl in 1977.
- Led all players in combined offense (rushing + receiving yards) from 1973-78.
- Second-most receptions of any player (running back or receiver) from 1973-78.
- 13th All-Time in rushing yards when he retired in 1980
- 15th All-Time in combined rushing + receiving yards (including RBs, TEs, WRs) when he retired in 1980.
- 2nd in career receptions and receiving yards among nine RBs from his era already in the Hall of Fame
- 7th All-Time in career rushing + receiving yards per game (108.4) among the 20 RBs already in the Hall of Fame as of 2014.
- 2nd among those 20 HoF RBs in points per start (5.43), behind only Jim Brown.
- There is a whole packet of information making the case for Foreman in the Hall of Fame
It’s important to remember that Foreman accomplished all this playing as a fullback, not a halfback, most of the time. That meant he had to block on a number of plays as well.
Chuck Foreman’s Contribution to the Vikings Success in the 1970s
One thing that doesn’t necessarily come out in all these stats was how important Foreman was to the success of the Vikings in the 1970s. People remember the Vikings defense and the Purple People Eaters, and Fran Tarkenton in those Super Bowl years, and most would attribute the Vikings success primarily to those guys, three of which are Hall of Famers. And no doubt they deserve a great deal of credit.
But after appearing in the 1969 Super Bowl with Joe Kapp at quarterback, then losing Kapp after that season, the Vikings didn’t win a playoff game until they drafted Chuck Foreman 12th overall in the 1973 draft. They had the Purple People Eaters (Carl Eller, Allen Page, Gary Larsen, Jim Marshall) all those years and traded to get Fran Tarkenton back in 1972.
After drafting Foreman, they went to the Super Bowl three times over the next four years. The only year they didn’t make the Super Bowl was in 1975, the year of the infamous Drew Pearson push-off / original hail mary play. The Vikings also made it to the NFC conference championship in 1977.
Foreman averaged 108 combined (rushing + receiving) yards per game as a starter, which was roughly a third of the Vikings average total yards per game back then. He also averaged just over 100 yards per playoff game as well.
Trail-blazing Dual-Threat Fullback
Chuck Foreman was also the first real dual-threat running back- fullback at that- who was more than an ancillary pass catcher. He didn’t just run the occasional wheel route out of the backfield. He also ran deeper routes and was a legitimate receiving threat who led the league in receptions in 1975, wide receivers and tight ends included, and was second in 1976.
He was also such an exciting player to watch. I remember as a kid watching Vikings games back then. The Purple People Eaters were fun to watch when they got sacks, and Fran Tarkenton when he scrambled, but Chuck Foreman was absolutely electric at times with the ball in his hands. I remember hoping he’d get the ball because he was so exciting to watch. His spin moves and elusiveness combined with occasional power was amazing.
Below are a couple videos of Chuck Foreman. The first is meant to make his case to the Hall of Fame and is well worth watching, as is the second- highlights of Foreman on the field.
Foreman also talks about the Hall of Fame selection process, his case, and how the process may be somewhat flawed in an interview this past summer.
The Case for Jim Marshall
Photo by Sylvia Allen/Getty Images
Jim Marshall has been nominated many times and has made it through some of the initial cuts several times and was a finalist in 2004 but not elected. Last year he was among those cut in the round from 31 candidates to 12. His case for the Hall of Fame is more straight-forward:
- NFL ‘ironman’ – 289 consecutive games started over his 20-year career (the last 19 with the Vikings) is second only to Brett Favre’s 321. Marshall also played in 301 consecutive games, which is third behind punter Jeff Feagles (363) and Favre (323).
- 130.5 career sacks, which ranks 15th all-time among defensive ends.
With all due respect to Jeff Feagles, and Brett Favre, a defensive end takes a lot more wear-and-tear every game than a punter or a quarterback, so for Marshall to be second and third on the list of consecutive starts and games played, having never missed a game in 20 years, is probably a record that will never be broken by a non-quarterback or kicker/punter.
Marshall was also a team captain- Bud Grant called him ‘the’ team captain- and Grant lobbied for years before he died for Marshall to be included in the Hall of Fame for his leadership and value to the team, in addition to his individual stats.
What has hurt Marshall’s case for the Hall of Fame has been his lack of season accolades. In twenty seasons, he had just two Pro Bowl nods and one second-team All-Pro award. Part of the issue there with Marshall was that Vikings defensive end and Hall of Famer Carl Eller was named first-team All-Pro in five of those seasons, as was Alan Page. I’m sure for All-Pro voters, that made it difficult to include a third Vikings’ defensive lineman for All-Pro as well.
There is a good video here making the case for Marshall to be included in the Hall of Fame, and also a couple reasons why he hasn’t already been enshrined.
We’ll see if either player makes it to the next round in a few weeks.
Stay tuned.
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