We have another significant retirement to discuss as Brian Gionta announced that he is retiring from professional hockey and has taken a job with the Buffalo Sabres as a Developmental Coach.

From Rochester, New York, Brian Gionta was drafted 82nd Overall in 1998 but prior to joining the professional ranks he went to play for Boston College where he would help the institution win the National Championship in his senior year. Shortly after, he would win the Stanley Cup in his second year in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. In the 2005-06 season Gionta would by far have his best season in the NHL where he scored 89 Points and set the franchise record for Goals with 48. The American would never come close to that level of offensive production again but he would score 595 Points over a 16 Year, 1,026 Game career in the National Hockey League. He would also represent the United States in the 2006 Olympics and he would captain the American team in 2018.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Brian Gionta the best in his new role with the Sabres.

It was announced today that Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Tommy McDonald passed away at the age of 84. There are no details at this time as to the cause of death.

A two-time All-American and two time National Champion from the University of Oklahoma, the 5 foot 7 Wide Receiver was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 3rd Round of the 1957 NFL Draft where he played for six seasons. McDonald was a star immediately going to five consecutive Pro Bowls (1958-62) and he was also a First Team All Pro in 1959 and 1960, the latter of which would see him assist the Eagles win the NFL Championship. He would twice lead the NFL in Touchdown Receptions and was the Receiving Yards leader in 1961.

McDonald would finish his career with the Dallas Cowboys (1964), the Los Angeles Rams (1965-66), the Atlanta Falcons (1967) and the Cleveland Browns (1968). He finished his career with 495 Receptions, 8,410 Receiving Yards and 84 Touchdown catches. At the time of his retirement he was second overall in Touchdowns Receptions.

He would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998 and he is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com offer our condolences to the friends and family of Tommy McDonald at this time.

It seems every time we mention the TNA (now Impact) Hall of Fame we always wonder if there will ever be another inductee. Having said that we still wonder that as despite Impact’s in ring product being the best it has been in years it remains low in the ratings and is on a small channel (PopTV). Still, we are very happy with the wrestling promotion’s announcement that Abyss will be the next member of their Hall.

We think that is an incredible choice, as Abyss (Christopher Park) has been a mainstay for the company literally since the beginning as he appeared as “Justice” on the first NWA TNA Pay Per View in 2002. Park would comeback as the monster “Abyss”, and he would stay with the company with every up and down and remains there today. He has main evented multiple pay per views, has been their Heavyweight Champion, X Division Champion, Television Champion and Tag Team Champion. You could make a case that Park has been the quiet MVP of the company over the last fifteen years and despite overtures from the WWE, he remained loyal to TNA/Impact.

Abyss joins Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Earl Hebner and Gail Kim into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will take place on October 13 at McHale’s Pub in Manhattan.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Abyss for earning this honor.

We wanted to wait a couple of days to see if this would stick. Even after it was posted on his social media, we still wanted to wait. It was just too bizarre.

As regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware, every time a significant player from anyone of the big four North American leagues (MLB, NHL, NFL, NFL) we comment on it as the Hall of Fame eligibility clock begin, whether or not they have a legitimate chance or not.   As such we are ready to discuss Vontae Davis’ retirement from professional football.

First off, the retirement of Davis came at halftime of his Buffalo Bills game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Cornerback pulled himself out of the game telling his coach and teammates that he was done and he did not come out to play in the second half and was not in the locker room at the end of the game.

He released a statement on social media where he discussed that he felt he felt he “should no longer be out there anymore” and that he is unable to play up to a “high level”. While Vontae Davis decreed in his statement that he did not mean any disrespect to his teammates, there were some Buffalo Bills who did voice feeling disrespected and like it or not this is how he is going to be remembered more than anything else he did in his career.

This is not a career backup or one game wonder we are talking about here. Davis was a two time Pro Bowl Selection when he was with Indianapolis and he is a ten year veteran with 22 career Interceptions, but this will likely be the most famous thing he will ever do in football.

While we hate how he ended his career we wish Vontae David the best in his post-playing career…which began at halftime.