1951 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 that we have asked the rhetorical question…what if the PFHOF began in January of 1946?

After soliciting and obtaining a passionate group of football fans and historians, we sent out a ballot for a Preliminary Vote, which we asked each voter to give us 25 names as their semi-finalists, and 5 in the Senior Pool. Following that, we 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, one Senior inductee and one Coaches/Contributor inductee.

This is the result of the sixth official class;

Below, are the final results of this project based on 30 votes:

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1951:

This is for the “Senior Era”

As none of the Senior Candidates obtained 50 percent of the vote, no Senior Candidate was chosen.  This is the second year where this rule was instituted.  Please note that voters could also opt out of this vote, as per the request of members of the voting body.

This is for the Coaches/Contributors

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1951:

About the 1951 Inductees:

Don Hutson E-DB-DE, GNB 1935-45: Inducted in 1951 on his 1^st Ballot.  Was inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

An All-American and NCAA Champion at Alabama, Don Hutson became Football’s first “Super End”.  Hutson was arguably the game’s first real Receiver, originating passing routes and combining his unique skills and athleticism to become a legend.  Hutson led the league in Receptions and Receiving Touchdowns eight times, Receiving Yards seven times was a three-time NFL Champion with Green Bay, and was an eight-time First Team All-Pro.  He would also be named the league MVP twice.  When he retired, he was 200 higher than anyone else in Receptions.  As this was the 60-minute era, Hutson played on defense where he recorded 30 Interceptions, making one of the better Defensive Backs of his era.  How could he not enter on the first ballot?

Mel Hein C-LB, NYG 1931-45: Inducted in 1951 on his 1^st Ballot. Was inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Mel Hein was one of the first great players from Washington State, and it was the New York Giants who were able to sign him in 1931.  This was the team he stayed with for his entire career, which ended in 1945.  Hein led the New York Giants to two NFL Championships, and the two-way player (Center and Linebacker) never missed a game.  Hein was an All-Pro in eight consecutive years and was named the league MVP in 1938, and he joins Hutson as a first ballot inductee.

Bill Hewitt E-DE, CHI 1932-36, PHI 1937-49 & 1943: Inducted in 1951 on his 3^rd Ballot.  Was inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

Bill Hewitt might have been best known for his refusal to wear a helmet, a stance he held until it was league-mandated, but this tough-as-nails player was a dominant two-way end and one of the top football players of the 1930s.

Hewitt played for the Chicago Bears from 1932 to 1936, propelling them to two NFL Championships.  A very good player on offense (he led the NFL in Touchdown Receptions in 1935), he was positively devastating on defense.  Known as the “Offside Kid” for his penchant for jumping the snap, Hewitt has blistering speed for his day and was often the best defensive player on the field. 

He finished his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing until 1939, save for a brief comeback when the team was shorthanded in 1943 due to World War II.

Walt Kiesling G-T, DUL 1926-37, POT 1928, CRD 1929-33, 1934 CHI, GNB 1935-36. PIT 1937-38: Inducted in 1951 on his 6^th Ballot (technically his 8^th year of eligibility). Was inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

A large man for his time, Walt Kiesling was one of the top linemen of the 1920s, doing the grunt work that opened holes on offense and closed them on defense.  Kiesling played for multiple teams, most notably for the Chicago Bears in 1934, who were undefeated, and the 1936 NFL Championship Green Bay Packers.

Ray Flaherty E, NYY 1937-38, NYG 1927-35: Inducted in 1951 on his 6^th Ballot (technically his 11^th year of eligibility). Was inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976 as a Coach.

A seven-year veteran player at End for New York (both the Yankees and Giants), Flaherty signed on with the Boston Redskins as their Head Coach in 1936.  The team relocated to Washington the following year, and the Redskins won the NFL Championship, and did so again in 1942.  An innovator of offense, Flaherty is credited with inventing the screen pass among other schemes.  Despite that coaching prowess, he enters the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project as a player, where he was a three-time First Team All-Pro, won a Receiving Title and an NFL Championship.

Joe Carr: Inducted in 1951 on the 2^nd Coaches/Contributor Ballot. Was inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Joe Carr is responsible for much of the structure that exists in the National Football League, and he did it simply by learning and executing what worked in Major League Baseball.  A newspaper man from Columbus, Carr revived the Columbus Panhandles Football Team in 1907.  The Panhandles would be a charter member of the NFL, and Carr, due to his vision, became the league’s first President; a position he held until his death in 1939.  Carr brought structure to the NFL, organizing how college players could migrate to the NFL, and his no-nonsense approach might have been a hardline one, but without it, the existence of the league could have been in doubt.

1951 SEMI-FINAL RESULTS:

Thank you for all of you who have participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, and if you are unaware of what that is, simply, we acted as if the PFHOF had their first class in January of 1946?

We have completed the first two years, where a Preliminary, Semi-Final and Final vote for the 1946 Class, which inducted two full classes

For “1950” a Preliminary Vote with 128 players whose playing career ended by 1943. We are also following the structure in that players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter was asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, with the top 25 vote getters named as Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters were asked to pick 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists, and next week, they will pick five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process weekly until we catch up to the current year.

30 Votes took place

This is for the “Modern Era”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

This is for the “Senior Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

This is for the Coaches/Contributors

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

Next Saturday, we will be posting the results of the 1952 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project.

Thank you to all who contributed, and if you want to be a part of this project, please let us know!

1951 PRELIMINARY RESULTS:

Thank you for all of you who have participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, and if you are unaware of what that is, simply, we acted as if the PFHOF had their first class in January of 1946?

We have completed the first two years, where a Preliminary, Semi-Final and Final vote for the 1946 Class, which inducted two full classes

For “1951” a Preliminary Vote with 130 players whose playing career ended by 1945. We are also following the structure in that players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter was asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, with the top 25 vote getters named as Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters will be asked to pick 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists, and next after, they will pick five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process weekly until we catch up to the current year.

30 Votes took place

This is for the “Modern Era”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

This is for the “Senior Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

This is for the Coaches/Contributors

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

Next Saturday, we will be posting the results of the 1951 Semi-Finalists of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project.

Thank you to all who contributed, and if you want to be a part of this project, please let us know!

1950 SEMI-FINAL RESULTS:

Thank you for all of you who have participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, and if you are unaware of what that is, simply, we acted as if the PFHOF had their first class in January of 1946?

We have completed the first two years, where a Preliminary, Semi-Final and Final vote for the 1946 Class, which inducted two full classes

For “1950” a Preliminary Vote with 128 players whose playing career ended by 1943. We are also following the structure in that players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter was asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, with the top 25 vote getters named as Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters were asked to pick 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists, and next week, they will pick five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process weekly until we catch up to the current year.

30 Votes took place

This is for the “Modern Era”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

This is for the “Senior Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

This is for the Coaches/Contributors

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

Next Saturday, we will be posting the results of the 1949 Finalists of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project.

Thank you to all who contributed, and if you want to be a part of this project, please let us know!

Thank you for all of you who have participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, and if you are unaware of what that is, simply, we acted as if the PFHOF had their first class in January of 1946?

We have completed the two years thus far, and here we are with a third year.

For “1948” a Preliminary Vote with 127 players whose playing career ended by 1940. We are also following the structure in that players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter is asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, with the top 25 vote getters named as Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters will be asked to pick 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists, and a week after, they will pick five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process weekly until we catch up to the current year.

29 people participated in the 1948 Preliminary Vote which yielded the following result:

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

This is for the “Senior Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

Next Saturday, we will be posting the results of the Semi-Final Vote of the 1948 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited.

Thank you to all who contributed, and if you want to be a part of this project, please let us know!

Thank you for all of you who have participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, and if you are unaware of what that is, simply, we acted as if the PFHOF had their first class in January of 1946?

We have completed the first year, where a Preliminary, Semi-Final and Final vote for the 1946 Class, which inducted Fritz Pollard, George Halas, Curly Lambeau, Jim Thorpe and Red Grange into the “Modern Era”. Pudge Heffelfinger, was chosen as part of the Seniors Category.

For “1947” a Preliminary Vote with 130 players whose playing career ended by 1940. We are also following the structure in that players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter is asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, with the top 25 vote getters named as Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters will be asked to pick 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists, and a week after, they will pick five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process weekly until we catch up to the current year.

29 people participated in the 1946 Preliminary Vote which yielded the following result:

This is for the “Modern Era”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

The first reaction that we had from this tally, is how there were over 30 more candidates with at least one vote than the 1946 Preliminary Ballot.

It is also noteworthy that Turk Edwards, who was a Semi-Finalist in 1946 was unable to advance to that stage in 1947.

This is for the “Senior Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

Next Saturday, we will be posting the results of the Semi-Finalists.

Thank you to all who contributed, and if you want to be a part of this project, please let us know!