1970 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project Class.

Here we are!  Again!!

If you have been following our Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, you know we have asked the rhetorical question: What if the PFHOF began in January 1946?

After soliciting and obtaining a passionate group of football fans and historians, we sent out a ballot for a Preliminary Vote, in which we asked each voter to give us 25 names as their semi-finalists and 5 in the Senior Pool. We then asked the group to vote for their 15 Finalists in the Modern Era and 3 in the Senior Category. The final stage was to vote for their five Modern Era inductee and one Senior inductee.

This is the result of the 25th official class;

Below are the final results of this project based on 32 votes.

Remember that the group took a vote in “1970”, and we have reverted to the top five candidates entering the Hall, PROVIDING THEY MAKE 50% of the vote.  This will be put to a vote again in “1972”.

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1970:

This is for the “Senior Era”,

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1970.

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”,

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1970.

About the 1970 Inductees:

Y.A. Tittle QB, BCL 1948-50, SFO 1951-60 & NYG 1961-62: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1970 on his 1^st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

Beginning his career with the Baltimore Colts of the AAFC, Quarterback, Y.A. Tittle played 17 years of professional football.  His accuracy and cerebral style of play, combined with his natural leadership skills, made him one of the best pivots of his day.

After the AAFC merged with the NFL, Tittle joined the San Francisco 49ers, and was one of the top Quarterbacks throughout the 1950s.  Tittle was surprisingly traded to the New York Giants after being named the UPI MVP in 1957, and he would keep the Giants competitive while winning versions of the MVP in 1962 and 1963. 

Frank Gifford HB-FL-DB-WR, NYG 1952-60 & 1962-64.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1970 on his 1^st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

Frank Gifford was a former star at USC, and the Giants were lucky to grab him with their 11^th Overall Pick in 1952.

Gifford played on both sides of the ball early in his career, but he would move mostly into an offensive role.  Playing at Half Back, Gifford was a multi-threat player, and from 1953 to 1959, he was a Pro Bowl Selection, with four of those years earning a First Team All-Pro Selection.

His best season by far was 1956, where he had a career-high of 1,422 Yards from Scrimmage, which was enough to lead the NFL. That year, Gifford and the Giants would win the NFL Championship.  Gifford had 9,870 All-Purpose Yards overall, an incredible total for his era. He also threw 14 Touchdown Passes, the most ever for a non-Quarterback.

Gifford’s career was derailed by a hit to the head from Chuck Bednarik took out 18 months of his career.  He missed half of 1960 and all of 1961 but returned as a Flanker for three more years in the NFL.

A member of the 1950s All-Decade Team, Gifford’s #16 was retired by the team.  He later became a successful broadcaster, commentating on Monday Night Football for 27 years.

Yale Lary DB-P, DET 1952-53 & 1956-64: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1970 on his first Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

With the exception of two years serving his country, the multi-tasking Yale Lary played for the Detroit Lions from 1952 to 1964 and was a large part of the success of the organization’s success in the 1950s which brought Detroit three NFL Championships.  The three-time NFL Champion was a five-time First Team All-Pro who was not just a Safety, but was exemplary as a Punter and a Returner. 

Lary amassed 50 Interceptions, and 2,269 All-Purpose Yards and was a three-time league leader in Yards per Punt with 22,279 Punting Yards.

Andy Robustelli DE, RAM 1951-55 & NYG 1956-64.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1970 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

From the tiny Arnold College, Andy Robustelli always seemed to be in a position to win on the professional level.

A two-time NFL Champion (one with the Rams and one with the Giants), the Defensive End appeared in eight NFL Championship Games, was a seven-time First Team All-Pro, and was the premier pass-rusher of his generation.  Robustelli was exceptionally durable, only missing one game in his career, and was named the Bert Bell Award winner in 1962.

George Christensen G-T, PRT 1931-33 & DET 1934-38.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1970 on his 7^th Senior Ballot.  Was never inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A member of the 1930's All-Decade Team, George Christensen, was one of the better Tackles of the decade (obviously based on the above accolade).

Christensen signed with the Portsmouth Spartans in 1931 and stayed with the team as they relocated to Detroit to become the Lions in 1934.  The Tackle would help Detroit win the NFL Championship in 1935, and he played his entire career with the organization, which spanned 95 Games.

Paul Brown Coach, CLE 1946-62 & CIN 1968-75.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1970 on his 1st Coach/Contributors Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.

Paul Brown received his first big league coaching opportunity with the Cleveland Browns of the All-American Football Conference, a new league with designs to challenge the NFL.  Brown assembled a team full of players that he previously coached, and the Browns (named after him despite his objections) would win all four titles in the league's existence.

Paul Brown was a master strategist and innovator, creating the draw play and complicated routes for receivers.  It was also from Brown's mind where the "pocket" derived, by which a quarterback is protected by his offensive line added precious seconds, allowing for greater protection and more high-potent offenses.  A consummate professional, Brown was the first to have full-time assistants, and he developed his own scouting system. 

The Browns and other AAFC teams were absorbed into the NFL in 1950, and the newer teams were not expected to challenge immediately for the NFL Championship.  Brown did just that, winning in Cleveland's first year in the NFL and collecting two more titles in the 50s (1953 & 1954).  As innovative and as brilliant as he was, some flaws would come to light by the early 60s.

Brown was considered cold and downright unfeeling by many of his players, and he did have a controlling nature.  That would lead to his downfall and an acrimonious split between him and owner Art Modell.  Brown was fired in 1962.

Six years later, Brown was a co-investor for a new NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals, where he was their first head coach and general manager.  Brown took the Bengals to the playoffs three times but never got a playoff win in Cincinnati.  He retired after the 1975 season at age 67.

Love him or hate him, the game of football became exponentially better because Paul Brown was part of it.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the New York Giants. 

In 1925, the New York Giants were one of five teams that joined the National Football League, and of those five, they are the only ones that are still in existence.

The Giants have been in existence for nearly a century and have won eight Championships. The first four as NFL Champions (1927, 1934, 1938 & 1956) and they were a perpetual contender in the early 1960s. In the Super Bowl Era, they won in 1986 (XXI), 1990 (XXV), 2007 (XLII), and 2011 (XLVI).

Eight Championships is impressive regardless of the league and the sport!

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here,but as always, we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Lawrence Taylor

2. Emlen Tunnell

3. Rosey Brown

4. Mel Hein

5. Michael Strahan

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our more material coming soon!

Up next, will be the top 50 Los Angeles Chargers.

As always we thank you for your support.

Frank Gifford was a former star at USC, and the Giants were lucky to grab him with their 11^thOverall Pick in 1952.