Committee Chairman

Mats Sundin: HOF Hat Trick

Dec 31, 2013

Normally we don’t report on the happenings of the Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame, but we thought that the 59^th entry was worth noting.

Yesterday, at the World Junior Hockey Championships prior to a game in which the host nation, Sweden routed Norway, Mats Sundin was honored as the next member. The Swedish Hockey Hall of Fame is barely three years old, but they have moved quickly to build a Hall of Fame list worth looking at.

This marks the “hat trick” for Sundin in regards to Hall of Fame institutions. Sundin was selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012, and this past May, the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. In the past thirty years, Sweden has emerged as a major powerhouse in International Hockey, and Sundin led his country to the Olympic Gold Medal in a win over Finland at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

We would like to congratulate Mats Sundin on his latest post career accolade.

Tony Gonzalez: Next Stop Canton

Dec 29, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Tony Gonzalez played his final game today in the National Football League today, ending what should be a Hall of Fame career. Gonzalez joined the Atlanta Falcons four seasons ago in hopes of playing for a Super Bowl winner, but unfortunately, the Falcons failed to get there, and in his last year the team was decimated injuries and finished with a losing record.

Gonzalez played both Football and Basketball at the University of California. He elected to focus on the gridiron and forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft, where he was taken in the First Round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1997.

Two years later, he would be named to his first of thirteen Pro Bowls which would be the most ever by a Tight End. Gonzalez was also selected to be a First Team All Pro six times. Statistically speaking Tony Gonzalez retires holding the record for the most receptions and yards by a Tight End by a wide margin. He was the first at his position to ever hit the 1,000 mark in receptions and he holds a plethora of receiving records.

By all accounts, there is little reason to think that Tony Gonzalez will not go into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. He will be eligible in 2019. We would like to thank Tony Gonzalez for all the memories and we wish him well in his post NFL life.

RIP: Paul Blair

Dec 27, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer, Paul Blair died yesterday at the age of 69. Blair was considered one of the finest defensive Centerfielders ever, capturing eight Gold Gloves (all with Baltimore) and recording a very good defensive Career WAR of 18.6.

Blair had his best seasons with the Orioles where he was an All Star twice and helped them win two World Series titles. Late in his career he would win two more World Series with the New York Yankees. His overall numbers in his seventeen year career saw him get 1,513 Hits, with 134 Home Runs and 171 Stolen Bases.

Blair was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1984. We here at Notinhalloffame.com offer our condolences to the friends of family of Paul Blair at this time.

Nnamdi Asomugha Retires

Dec 27, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

His career may have ended with a whimper, but at least it is ending in the right place. Nnamdi Asomugha has returned to the Oakland Raiders where he had his greatest success and will retire wearing the black and silver.

Asomugha joined the NFL after being drafted in the first round (31^st Overall) by Oakland in 2003. By 2005, he took over the starting job at Left Cornerback where he would emerge a year later as one of the top players in the league. Opposing offences threw to his side of the field sparingly, and in 2006 he was named the MVP of the team. His play continued to improve to where he was named to three consecutive Pro Bowls (2008, 2009 & 2010) and was named a First Team All Pro twice (2008 & 2010).

After a three year period where he was arguably the least thrown to Cornerback in the National Football League, Asomugha became a free agent and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles on a five year deal worth sixty million dollars. The Eagles had put a lot of effort into building their team that offseason and Asomugha was expected to be a huge part of that. Unfortunately, the collection of stars failed to gel and many underperformed, including Asomugha, who was still playing at a high level, but not at the All-Pro status he had in Oakland.

After failing to restructure his contract with Philadelphia, Asomugha was signed by the San Francisco 49ers but had an ineffective year and was waived by the team last month. With four dominant years and a couple of average ones, Nnamdi Asomugha is probably not going to make the Hall of Fame, but his career is one worth taking a look at and should have made larger headlines than it did.