Bob Sansevere’s Three-and-Out
Joe Johnson
|
1- After Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl, social media had an eruption from people who either have an odd sense of humor or no sense at all.
These folks accused Brady of being racist for winning the Super Bowl during Black History Month.
Somebody named Jizzy wrote on Twitter, “Tom Brady winning during black history month is so racist.”
Zaib tweeted, “Tom Brady beating a black QB during black history month just feels racist.”
And someone with the Twitter moniker, Wasginton Capitels wrote, “Aint no way Tom Brady winning 7 Super Bowls during black history month aint racist.”
There were others with similar comments.
They had to be kidding, right? They had to be.
If they weren’t, I’m with Joe Biden in saying, “C’mon, man.”
I’m also with Dorothy from the “Wizard of Oz” when she asked Scarecrow, “What would you do with a brain if you had one.”
2- And speaking of brains, you don’t need much of one to know Chuck Foreman belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Yet the people who cast the “yea” or “nay” votes have been naying him for decades.
This came up again after Drew Pearson’s election to the HOF was announced this past weekend. Pearson was a wide receiver and Foreman a fullback. Pearson’s numbers should have dwarfed Chuck’s, but Chuck had an NFL-high 73 receptions in 1975 and had four seasons with 50 or more receptions. Pearson’s season high was 62 and he had three seasons with 50 or more catches. And Chuck was a damn good runner, too.
In 1990, when long-time HOF voter Sid Hartman couldn’t make it, I represented Minnesota as a HOF voter. The voting process was a problem then, and likely still is now. The pool of voters is too small. It’s 48 media members now, much less then.
There were petty battles back in ‘90, including among old-time AFL media guys vs old-time NFL media guys. Stunning to me was when the Baltimore media representative made a speech that derailed any chance of John Mackey, one of the NFL’s all-time great TEs, getting in.
The cranky old newspaperman said Mackey didn’t have good enough hands to be in the HOF and that was just a part of it. Clearly, Mackey and this newspaper guy didn’t get along. I voted for Mackey, who didn’t get in until 1992.
As the Minnesota media representative, I made a speech endorsing Alan Page. I said all the right things about how great a player Page was and how he belonged. He got in but not that year. Voters punished Vikings players because they lost Super Bowls. From that era, and in this order, Chuck Foreman, Ed White and Marshall are HOF-deserving. Anyone who doesn’t recognize and acknowledge Foreman’s worthiness is a dope or ignorant.
One problem is the Vikings don’t get behind pushing Chuck for the HOF because, as Chuck and others have noted, former coach Bud Grant wants Marshall in next among Vikings from their Super Bowl era. The voters shouldn’t need a team or former coach telling them who to vote in. They should be able to figure it out themselves.
3- For anyone who rooted for Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl and feels bad he lost, Mahomes is the only current NFL quarterback with even a chance to win as many Super Bowls as Brady.
His time will come again. And again. And again.
Bob Sansevere is host of “The BS Show” podcast, which also is broadcast on radio stations in Duluth, Hibbing and St. Cloud.