1961 SEMI-FINAL RESULTS:

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

We have completed the years up to 1960.

For “1961,” a Preliminary Vote with over 100 players whose playing career ended by 1954. 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, and the top 25 vote-getters were named 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, with the top five advancing.

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:

We will post the Finalists of the Class of the 1961 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project next Saturday.

Thank you to all who contributed. If you want to be part of this project, please let us know!

Doug Wilkerson was all set to play college ball at Michigan State but an incident with another student in his senior year of high school led to its revocation.  It did not impact his path to the professional ranks, as even though he went to the small HBCU school of North Carolina Central, but shone so bright that he was a First Round Pick in 1970 by the Houston Oilers.  As a rookie, Wilkerson did not start and was also playing at Defensive End.  The Oilers traded the Guard to San Diego, and he would play a large part in the “Air Coryell” Offense of the Chargers. 

Wilkerson was San Diego’s starting Left Guard from 1971 to 1984, and with the arrival of Dan Fouts in 1973 and Coryell’s arrival in 1978, Wilkerson became the protector of the Chargers offense.  Fouts was routinely throwing for unprecedented passing yards at the time, and Wilkerson was one of the top guards who rarely got his due with the exception of the San Diego media.  Wilkerson was finally rewarded with three straight Pro Bowls (1980-82) with a First Team All-Pro in 1982.  Arguable one of the best Offensive Linemen in Chargers history, Wilkerson is part of the Chargers Hall and Black College Hall of Fame.

From Villanova, Bill Melchionni was drafted by the nearby Philadelphia 76ers, where he was a reserve player on their 1967 Championship team. His stay with the Sixers only lasted two years, as his contract was not renewed.  He played for the Trenton Colonials of the Eastern Professional Basketball League, but when the ABA came into existence, his chance for prominence came.

Melchionni joined the New York Nets in 1969, and it was an instant success for both parties.  As their starting Point Guard, Melchionni won three straight Assists Titles (1970-71 to 1972-73), all of which saw him go to the ABA All-Star Game.  He was also a First Team All-ABA Selection in 1972.

The arrival of Julius Erving reduced his role but improved the club, and Melchionni helped the Nets win the 1974 and 1976 ABA Championships.  Following the merger of the ABA and NBA, Melchionni retired and served as their General Manager for two years.

His number 25 would later be retired by the Nets.

The identical twin of Dick Van Arsdale, Tom Van Arsdale played with his brother at the University of Indiana, where he impressed enough to be drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1965.  He was decent enough with the Pistons, but in his third year, Van Arsdale was traded to the Cincinnati Royals, where he had his best run. 

From 1969-70 to 1971-72, Van Arsdale was named to the All-Star Team and averaged over 22 Points per Game in those first two years.  It was productive for Van Arsdale, but his respective team was not very good like in Detroit.  Van Arsdale later played for Kansas City, Philadelphia, Atlanta and one last year in Phoenix where he played with his twin. 

Despite playing 929 Regular Season Games with a 15.3 PPG, Van Arsdale never appeared in a playoff game.