The Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project: 1989 Final VOTE

1989 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 44th official class. 

Below are the final results of this project based on 32 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 1989:

This is for the “Senior Era”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1989.

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1989.

About the 1989 Inductees:

Ted Hendricks, LB, BAL 1969-73, GNB 1974, OAK/RAI 1975-83: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1989 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

Ted Hendricks was a two-time All-American at Miami and a fifth-place finisher for the Heisman in 1968, an incredible accomplishment for a Linebacker.  The Colts stole him in the Second Round of the following draft, and he went on to have stellar performances for three teams.

Hendricks became a starter during his rookie year and was a Super Bowl Champion a year later.  Using his height (6’ 7”), strength, and speed, opposing offenses had to alter their schemes around him, and also special teams, as he was also excellent in blocking kicks.

Leading the NFL in Approximate Value in 1971 (21), Hendricks began a four-year run of Pro Bowls, the last year of which was with the Green Bay Packers, whom he was traded to in 974.  Hendricks was set to bolt for Jacksonville in the World Football League, but was convinced to stay in the NFL when he was dealt to Oakland, where he finished his career and became mostly synonymous with.

As a Raider, Hendricks anchored the team to three Super Bowl wins, including his final year in football.  Hendricks also concluded his career with a four-year streak of Pro Bowls.

Retiring as a champion, Hendricks is unofficially a member of the 25-25 Club with 26 Interceptions and 61 Sacks.  He is also a four-time First Team All-Pro. 

Mel Blount, DB, PIT 1970-83: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1989 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

If you got past the Steel Curtain, you were not that lucky.  You had Mel Blount to contend with.

Blount played the entirety of his pro career with the Steelers (1970-83), and by the middle of the 70s, he had established himself as one of the premier Cornerbacks in the NFL.  A member of all four of their 70s Super Bowl teams, Blount led the league in Interceptions in 1975 (11) and secured 57 over his career, which is tops among all Steelers.

Blount used his size and strength to overpower receivers.  He did it so well that the five-yard no-bump-and-run rule was put in place for how he impeded his opponents regularly.  Blount remained a dominant Cornerback regardless of the rule change, earning five Pro Bowl selections and two First-Team All-Pro honors, and notably being named the AP Defensive Player of the Year in ’75.

Jim Langer, C, MIA 1970-79 & MIN 1980-81.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1989 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Jim Langer went undrafted in 1970 after a college career at South Dakota State, and following a failed attempt to make the Cleveland Browns, he found a home with the Miami Dolphins.  After a pair of non-descript seasons, Langer was about to rise to the top of the food chain of NFL Centers quickly.

Langer did not start in his first two seasons, but he would in 1972, and that was the year he never missed a snap, and the Dolphins went undefeated and won Super Bowl VII.  He would help them win Super Bowl VIII, and Langer marked that season with a six-year streak of Pro Bowl Selections, four of which earned First Team All-Pro Honors.  As the center of a dominant O-Line, Langer deserves a lot of credit for the offensive success that Miami had in the 1970s.

Langer played his final two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, the team that he requested to play for so that he could be close to his home. 

Terry Bradshaw, QB, PIT 1970-83.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1989 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Say what you want about how the help that Terry Bradshaw had with the Steel Curtain defense and Franco Harris in the backfield, but no Quarterback wins four Super Bowls without being an excellent player.

Bradshaw was the First Overall Pick in 1970, where the Louisiana Tech QB had an abysmal rookie year with a TD-INT ratio of 6-24. “The Blonde Bomber” had up-and-down years in the first half of his career, but he was still effective, leading Pittsburgh to its first Super Bowl (IX) for the 1974 season.  Bradshaw's play improved, and he went to his first Pro Bowl and took the Steelers to their second Super Bowl.

Bradshaw’s best season was in 1978, when he won the AP MVP, the Bert Bell Award, and led the NFL in Touchdown Passes (28). Also named a First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler, Bradshaw again led the Steelers to a Super Bowl win, and this time he was the Super Bowl MVP.  Bradshaw arguably had a better 1979, with 26 TDs and a career-high 3,724 Passing Yards. The Louisiana native led the Steelers to their fourth Super Bowl win, with a second Super Bowl MVP trophy landing in his case.

The QB continued to play well, again finishing first in Touchdown Passes (17) in the strike-shortened '82 season.  This was the end for Bradshaw, who only played one game in 1983 after dealing with elbow problems.   

Bradshaw finished his career with 27,989 Passing Yards and 212 Touchdowns against 210 Interceptions.  He became a successful television analyst.

Dan Dierdorf, T-G-C, STL 1971-83.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1989 on his 4th Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

Playing his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Dan Dierdorf played predominantly at Right Tackle, where he started 150 Games and was thought of as a “walking mountain”.

Possessing an elite combination of intelligence, strength, and agility, Dierdorf showcased equal ability in run blocking and pass protection, and helmed a line that allowed the fewest sacks for five straight years.  Dierdorf earned a spot on the 1970s All-Decade Team, was a six-time Pro Bowl and three-time First Team All-Pro.

Bud Grant, Coach, MIN 1967-85.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1989 on his 1st Coach/Contributor Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.

After playing professionally in Philadelphia and Winnipeg in the CFL, Bud Grant went into coaching, first in Canada with the Blue Bombers, where he won four Grey Cups.  That type of success will get you noticed, and the closest NFL team, the Minnesota Vikings, signed him as their Head Coach in 1967.

Grant is still, as of this writing, the most successful Head Coach in Vikings history, winning the Coach of the Year in 1969, and leading Minnesota to four Super Bowl appearances.  The Vikings did not win any of them, but they would not have gotten there without Grant, whose innovations and vision made Minnesota one of the most recognized franchises in the NFL.

Grant, who is also in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, had an overall NFL record of 158-96-5.