Fitting class. I agree.

Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe headline 2011 Hall of Fame class - ESPN

 

True story:

When I was a junior in HS, we had TONS of recruiters coming to our school since we'd been in the CIF championship game the year before. USC, UCLA, etc. So I talked to them all, but got the same "If only you were 6 feet..." (I'm just under 5'10"). My senior year rolled around, more recruiters. So the San Diego State guys were the only ones to consider me. Their senior linebacker was about my size (5'10", 225), so I thought... hmm maybe. A bunch of us went down with the coach to watch the game. They played Miami and got smoked, but the thing that stuck with me was watching their senior linebacker (ostensibly where I would be in 4 years) get CRUSHED by the Miami TAILBACK. I should've have still taken the scholarship, but I didn't want to spend my college football time getting destroyed!

The reason for the story? One of the pitches the coach told us was that he had this kid from New Orleans coming... some kid named Marshall Faulk. I would have played college ball with Marshall Faulk. FML

 

Dent! He deserved it BIG TIME!

 

Yeah Richard Dent was a beast... People knock Deion, but he was REALLY good, esp. so considering he was showing off half the time.

 

^ 137.5 sacks. You bet Dent deserved it!!

Deion was the best corner of his generation - bar none.

There was no more feared player in the league during his tenure.

 

I am blanking on the anchor who said it, but one of them mentioned that Deion actually should be in the 'contributor" wing of the hall... Now before anyone jumps at me, I personally think it is a bigger honor to be there as a player than be next to the greats at your same position... Deion single handily changed the way we look at football and how kids play it. His flash, his trash talk and his ability to back it all up on the field. Icky may of started it all with his shuffle, but the best in the league still do the "primetime" dance into the end-zone 15 years later... He has done as much for this league as anyone in the past 25 years.

Deion is still a top 5 fav of all time for me!

edit: Tony Dungy is the one who said it!