Mike Florio's "Upper Room"

[JohnTurney]

for full article here is link ----
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootba ... ll-of-fame

this is just his picks---not sure if just him or the whole PFT staff.
Quarterback: Sammy Baugh, John Elway, Brett Favre, Otto Graham, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas.
Running back: Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Marion Motley, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith.
Receiver: Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Harrison, Don Hutson, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Jerry Rice.
Tight end: Mike Ditka, Tony Gonzalez, John Mackey, Kellen Winslow.
Tackle: Walter Jones, Anthony Muñoz, Jonathan Ogden, Art Shell, Joe Thomas.
Guard: Larry Allen, Randall McDaniel, Gene Upshaw.
Center: Jim Otto, Mike Webster.

Defensive end: Deacon Jones, Gino Marchetti, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Jack Youngblood.
Defensive tackle: Joe Greene, Bob Lilly, Alan Page, John Randle, Randy White.
Outside linebacker: Chuck Bednarick, Bobby Bell, Derrick Brooks, Jack Ham, Lawrence Taylor, Derrick Thomas.
Middle linebacker: Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Willie Lanier, Ray Lewis, Junior Seau.
Cornerback: Mel Blount, Willie Brown, Darrell Green, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Darrelle Revis, Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson.
Safety: Ken Houston, Ronnie Lott, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed.
Kicker: Jan Stenerud.
Punter: Ray Guy.

Coach: Paul Brown, Tom Landry, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Don Shula, Bill Walsh.
Owner: Al Davis, George Halas, Lamar Hunt, Art Rooney Sr.

..but he explains it's based on Deion Sanders' idea of "upper room" ... which begs the obvious question "who decides?"

and not just to go after him...but anyone...

For one of the best-ever Deion sure seems like he does not like to share space he thinks, I guess, are inferior to him
when confronted about who he'd take out Deion says "You know who I am talking about".

[JuggernautJ]

I'm sure we'll all have our disagreements with that list but four notable omissions that leap out at me are Steve Van Buren, Cal Hubbard, Forrest Gregg and Merlin Olsen.
No Ray Berry, Paul Warfield or Lance Alworth but... Larry Fitzgerald?
Jim Parker could've made the list at Guard or Tackle...
Danny Fortmann at Guard only.

Oh well... to each their own, I suppose...

The concept of a "Hall within the Hall" seems a little silly.
Maybe they should just set smaller class sizes... one good place to start would be "contributors" who are (only) owners.

I also find it "interesting" that, other than Vince himself, there are no Lombardi Packers on that list.
No Adderly, Starr, Gregg, Wood, Davis, Nitschke, Kramer... Jim Taylor... the list could on... but not in the upper room. it seems.

[JohnTurney]

The concept of a "Hall within the Hall" seems a little silly.

Stems from Deion making comments last year or year before. Guess he thinks
it's an insult to share the Hall with people he sees as not as good as he was.

[JeffreyMiller]

I'm no Dolphin fan, but no Dwight Stephenson?

He also has no John Hannah, no OJ Simpson, no Larry Wilson, and no Jim Parker. Has Florio watched any film beyond the advent of ESPN?

[ChrisBabcock]

See. All of the above discussion underscores that this whole concept is ridiculous. One person's hall within a hall may look slightly different than someone else's. No, it's not as easy as "you know who they are" Deion. Then, over time, we'll have to have an "inner circle" of the hall within the hall. Where does it end?

[Jay Z]

The problem is that these are always reactions akin to "The Hall's too big, we need to kick people out."

Well, there are still plenty of players active or recently retired that are as good or better than the ones listed. Brady, Rodgers, and Brees at QB for example. I think they are all better than Marino.

Meaning that someone 20 years down the line is going to want to kick Marino out. That should be fun.

[TanksAndSpartans]

I think the 75th Anniversary Team was pretty well done. This team looks like it was generated by AI.

[Brian wolf]

Great opinions, Jay Z, though I dont believe Brees is better than Marino, due to different eras but youre proving a valid point ... any evaluation of The Best Of The Best is subjective, especially relative to the era ... any all-time team without Warfield, Parker, Ringo, Alworth or Hannah is wrong IMO ...

[Bryan]

In general, Mike Florio is the least insightful, least "inside information" NFL reporter that I've ever seen. He really just makes stuff up, with no regard to logic, historical precedent or what is actually happening on the field. It's not surprising that his "Upper Room" follows no consistent methodology. There will always be arguments on these type of things, like saying Gronkowski over Ditka, but Florio's list is one of gross negligence. Its ironic that the concept is "you know who the top HOFers are", yet Florio's list excludes 50% of those players. Here are guys who I would have on my 1st or 2nd All-Time team that Florio overlooks:

John Hannah
Jim Parker
Tom Brady
Lance Alworth
Mel Hein
Herb Adderley
Ted Hendricks
Rob Gronkowski
Forrest Gregg

Aside from that, there are just some egregious selections...Elway, Favre, Campbell, Owens, McDaniel, Derrick Thomas, Darrell Green, Art Rooney Sr.

[JohnTurney]

Tom Brady
Rob Gronkowski
.

not eligible for the HOF, so not included