Eccentric receivers highlight class of ’18
Owens and Moss among eight members elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame
Linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher and wide receivers Randy Moss and Terrell Owens were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday as part of an eight-member class with plenty of star power and a good measure of controversy.
Bobby Beathard, the former Washington Redskins general manager, also was elected, along with Brian Dawkins, Jerry Kramer and Robert Brazile.
Former Redskins left tackle Joe Jacoby was among the modern era finalists passed over by the selection committee, comprised primarily of media members, which met at a Minneapolis-area hotel on the eve of the Super Bowl.
The new hall of famers will be officially enshrined at a ceremony in August in Canton, Ohio.
Owens and Moss, considered two of the leading divas among the attention-grabbing wide receivers of their generation, will go into the Hall of Fame together. Is any stage big enough or any spotlight bright enough for both?
They along with Lewis, the cornerstone of terrific Baltimore Ravens defences, were the headliners of a class with plenty of sizzle.
Lewis, Moss and Urlacher, the former Chicago Bears standout linebacker, were in their first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, while Owens had been rejected twice.
Owens’ production clearly was hall worthy. He played 16 seasons for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. He ranks eighth in NFL history in career catches.
He’s second behind only Jerry Rice in receiving yards and third behind Rice and Moss in receiving touchdowns.
Moss was not made to wait by the selectors despite being viewed as similarly egotistical and accused of giving less than full effort on certain plays during his career. But like Owens, Moss produced and he did so in dynamic and oftenspectacular fashion.
Moss ranks fourth in league history in receiving yards behind Rice, Owens and Larry Fitzgerald. He’s second in receiving touchdowns behind Rice. He’s 15th in catches.
Lewis was regarded as a nodoubt Hall of Fame choice, having earned a reputation as one of the greatest defensive players in league history during a 17-year career with the Ravens between 1996 and 2012.
He is a two-time NFL defensive player of the year and a Super Bowl MVP. He started four AFC title games and two Super Bowls for the Ravens and was a 13-time Pro Bowl selection, a 10-time allpro choice and a member of the NFL’s all-decade team of the 2000s.
He was the first player to amass 40 sacks and 30 interceptions in his NFL career.
But his career also included offfield controversy thanks to a guilty plea on a misdemeanour count of obstruction of justice in connection to the stabbing deaths of two men outside an Atlanta nightclub in January 2000.
He reached a deal with prosecutors after initially being charged with murder.
Urlacher played 13 seasons for the Bears, ending in 2012, and was named to eight Pro Bowls.
He was the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 2005.