1988 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 question: What if the PFHOF had begun 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 each voter selected 25 names as their semi-finalists and five names for 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 43rd official class. 

Below are the final results of this project based on 31 votes.

Remember that we have reverted back to the top five candidates entering the Hall in the Modern Era

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1988:

This is for the “Senior Era”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1988.

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1988.

About the 1988 Inductees:

Jack Ham, LB, PIT 1971-82: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1988 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

A 1971 Second Round Pick from Penn State, Jack Ham brought a speed dynamic to the Linebacking corps of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ham became a starter at Left Linebacker as a rookie, and in 1973, he began an eight-year streak as a Pro Bowler.  The former Penn State Nittany Lion was a nuanced player who was equally great at pass-rushing and playing in the back as well as any Safety.  Ham was one of the most explosive players, and if he was ever caught out of position, he had the blazing speed to rectify it.

A six-time First Team All-Pro (1974-79), Ham was a massive part of the Steelers' success in the 1970s, capturing four Super Bowl Rings.  Ham also had four years where he was in the top ten in Approximate Value.

Ham played until 1982 and recorded 25 "unofficial" Sacks and 32 Interceptions. 

Art Shell, T, OAK/RAI 1968-82: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1988 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

A College Football Hall of Fame inductee from his time at Mid-Eastern Shore, Art Shell was taken by the Oakland Raiders in the Third Round in 1968, and that is the team he stayed for the entirety of his 15-year professional career.

Shell became the Raiders' starting Left Guard in his third season, and he established himself as Oakland’s rock of the Offensive Line.  Shell’s steady presence was perfect to build around, and he helped the Raiders win two Super Bowls. Individually, he was named to two First Team All-Pro Selections with eight Pro Bowls.

Rayfield Wright, T-TE, DAL 1967-79.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1988 on his 4th Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. 

Rayfield Wright came to Dallas as a seventh round pick in 1967, where in his first three seasons, he was used as an Offensive Tackle, Tight End, and occasional Defensive Tackle.  By 1970, he settled in at Right Tackle, and it was there that he became one of the best at that position of all time.

Wright was named to six consecutive Pro Bowls from 1971 to 1976, and in those first three years, he was a First Team All-Pro.  His contributions would help Dallas win Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII.

Wright left Dallas after being released by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1980, but he never played a game for them, so his entire NFL career was with the Cowboys.  He would enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and he is also a member of the 1970s All-Decade Team.  Wright was also honored with a place in the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2004.

Larry Little, G-T, SDG 1967-68 & MIA 1969-80.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1988 on his 3rd Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

After two unremarkable seasons as a backup Guard with the San Diego Chargers, Larry Little was traded to the Miami Dolphins for Mack Lamb.  Little was not thrilled as the Dolphins were not particularly good at the time, but that feeling would quickly change as Miami was building something special.  As for the Chargers, Lamb never played for them. 

We know who won this trade.

Now a starting Right Guard, Little was named an AFL All-Star in his first season in Miami, and from 1971 to 1975, he was a First Team All-Pro.  Little's work on the right side of the line was a vital cog of the Dolphins' back-to-back Super Bowls in the early '70s, and after his run of dominance ended during the first half of the '70s, he would still secure two Second Team All-Pro Selections in the second half of the decade.  Little retired in 1980, and he was named to the 1970s All-Decade Team.  Again, who won this trade?

Larry Csonka, FB, MIA 1968-74 & 1979 & NYG 1976-78.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1988 on his 4th Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Larry Csonka was the first Back drafted in 1968, but the first two seasons were a struggle due to poor play and injuries.  While the start would not be great, the arrival of Don Shula in 1970 changed all of that.

Csonka got healthy, improved his fundamentals, and, with a powerful lead forearm, hurt people before they could hurt him.  His rushes in the first half of the 70s were the stuff of NFL Films legend, and from 1970 to 1974 he was named to the Pro Bowl, with two of those years earning him a place as a First Team All-Pro.  From 1971 to 1973, he rushed for over 1,000 Yards, and he was a beast long before Marshawn Lynch and “Beast Mode” existed. 

Csonka helped the Dolphins reach three Super Bowls, winning the latter two.  In the undefeated Super Bowl VII season, Csonka rushed for 112 Yards.  In the Super Bowl VIII win, Csonka set a then-record of 145 Yards in the Super Bowl, and he was named the MVP of the game.

Like many players, Csonka would leave the NFL for the upstart World Football League, but after that folded, he went to the New York Giants.  Csonka returned to Miami in 1979, where he had a comeback year, winning the PFWA Comeback Player of the Year Award in an 837-yard year, where he had a career-high 12 Touchdowns.  The Fullback decided to retire after that season with 8,901 Yards From Scrimmage.

Ed Sabol, Filmmaker.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1988 on his 5th Coach/Contributor Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. 

Fans of the National Football League can't get enough of NFL Films, video love letters to football. Created by Ed Sabol, NFL Films changed the way we view sports and enhanced the fan experience.

Sabol began his work with the NFL in 1962 and ran NFL Films until he turned it over to his son, Steve, in 1985. He stayed with his creation until 1995, and Sabol's work generated 53 Emmy Awards.

Roll out the red carpet; the king is here. Or according to Time magazine in the 1970’s, Gary Stewart is the “king of honkytonk”. As a teen, Gary was already writing songs, touring with bands and knew how to play the piano and guitar. While playing a show in Florida, Gary ran into (2007 Hall Of Fame inductee) Mel Tillis. Mel told him to take his songs to Nashville. While in Nashville, he signed with a couple small record labels. He got success with his songwriting for other artists, but couldn’t catch a break with his own solo career. That is until a handful of his demo tapes made their way over to RCA Records. After signing there, his first single flopped. But his second single became a top ten hit, allowing him to release a full album. That album “Out Of Hand”, has since been described as a masterpiece of honky-tonk music and one of the greatest country albums of the 1970’s. Unfortunately, his hits soon dried up after that album, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to record great material and gain millions of fans (including getting a very famous fan: Bob Dylan).

In 1992, five men all got jobs at the same place: Opryland U.S.A., a Nashville theme park. Since all five were from Texas but met at their job in Tennessee, they called their group Texassee. Soon after, they changed their name to Lonestar. A couple years later, they were signed to the BNA record label. They already had their first EP out by January of 1995. Their debut single “Tequila Talkin” was released that August and became a top ten hit. From there they were able to achieve success at country radio for over a decade. In 1998, band member John Rich was fired (and a few years became have of the successful duo Big & Rich) and band member Richie McDonald was given the full-time role of lead singer. In 1999, they released their smash success song “Amazed”, which topped both the country and pop charts and broke long-standing records left and right. By the mid-2000’s the band’s radio run dried up, but along the way they collected numerous hits, awards from Grammys and CMAs, and they still tour to this day. Maybe someday down the line, they might find themselves in the Hall Of Fame.

Does this one really need an introduction? Born in 1989, being named after James Taylor certainly began her on a music journey early in life. After watching a documentary about another artist on this list (Faith Hill), that inspired Taylor to pursue a career in country music. At 11, her and her mother travelled to Nashville. Not finding what she was looking for with that trip, she focused on her songwriting. Beginning work with regular Music Row songwriters, she eventually got a record label deal in 2005. Releasing her debut single in 2006, it was like her career was shot out of a rocket and hasn’t stopped since. She continued to get hits on country radio until 2013, when she herself made the decision to transition her music in a more pop direction. That essentially ended her time in the country music industry and stopped her country radio career, but she continued on to becoming the biggest superstar on the planet and still retains the respect of the Nashville community. She has basically won every accolade you can as an artist. There will be a very good chance she gets in the Hall of Fame down the line somewhere, but it’s a matter of does her switch to pop hold her back or does becoming the biggest artist in the world move her forward in odds?