1991 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 46th 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 1991:
Player | Year of Eligibility | Vote Total |
John Hannah G | 1 | 26 |
Earl Campbell RB | 1 | 25 |
Lee Roy Selmon DE | 2 | 13 |
Roger Werhli DB | 4 | 12 |
Ron Yary T | 4 | 12 |
Tom Mack G | 8 | 11 |
Dave Wilcox LB | 12 | 9 |
Jackie Smith TE | 8 | 8 |
Bob Griese QB | 6 | 8 |
Randy Gradishar LB | 3 | 8 |
Elvin Bethea DE | 3 | 6 |
Lynn Swann WR | 4 | 5 |
L.C. Greenwood DE | 5 | 4 |
Robert Brazile LB | 2 | 4 |
Dave Casper TE | 2 | 4 |
Joe Demielleure G | 1 | 2 |
This is for the “Senior Era”,
*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1991.
None of the Above | N/A | 11 |
Pat Harder FB | 13 | 9 |
Marshall Goldberg FB | 18 | 7 |
Bill Osmanski FB | 19 | 5 |
Does this mean we have inducted None of the Above?
This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”,
*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1991.
Bill Walsh (Coach) | 1 | 16 |
Tom Landry (Coach) | 1 | 14 |
Tex Schramm (Owner) | 12 | 1 |
None of the Above | 1 |
About the 1991 Inductees:
John Hannah, G, NWE 1973-85: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1991 on his 1st Ballot. Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.
John Hannah studied his craft under the tutelage of Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama, where he would become a two-time All-American. He was coveted by all of the NFL teams, and the New England Patriots would select him with the fourth overall pick in 1973.
Hannah never played for any other professional team, and he would start all 183 games for the Patriots. Hannah played at Left Guard and was a Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro in 1976. In 1978, he was again named to the Pro Bowl and repeated the honor every year until he retired in 1985. In seven of those years, he was a First Team All-Pro.
Through the bulk of his tenure, whether the Patriots were contenders or not, Hannah was regarded as one of the top Offensive Linemen in the game. There was no weak part of his game, and he was an immediate leader not only on the line but of the entire team. When he was paired with Leon Gray, they were the best left side of the line, and it can be wondered what they would have done had Gray not been dealt to Houston.
Hannah would be named to the 1970s All-Decade, 1980s All-Decade Team, the 75th Anniversary Team, and the 100th Anniversary Team.
Earl Campbell, RB, HOU 1978-84 & NOR 1984-85: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1991 on his 1st Ballot. Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.
After winning the Heisman Trophy in 1977, there was little doubt that the Texas Longhorn would not be the number one pick in the Draft. The Houston Oilers held that selection, and Campbell remained in the Lone Star State, where he was the top Running Back in football for a few years.
As a rookie, Campbell led the NFL in rushing with 1,450 Yards, and not only was he the best at his position, he was the most physical, preferring to plow through defenders rather than elude them. Campbell won both the Offensive Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, and both the NEA and PFWA named him their MVP. What do you do for an encore? Have an even better season.
In 1979, Campbell exceeded his rookie mark with 1,697 Rushing Yards and a career-best 19 Touchdowns, which also led the NFL. Campbell swept every major award he could win (AP MVP, Bert Bell, NEA MVP, PFWA MVP, and OPOY) and had his second straight Rushing Title. His 1980 Season saw him again lead the NFL in Rushing with 1,934 Yards and 13 TDs, and his third consecutive OPOY was his.
Those three seasons ended his apex, but he still had two more 1,300/10 TD years as an Oiler (1981 & 1983). Campbell got off to a poor start in 1984 and was traded to the Saints, but his playing style caught up to him, and he retired shortly after.
Campbell had 10,213 Yards From Scrimmage with 74 Touchdowns.
Lee Roy Selmon, DE-DT, TB 1976-84. Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1991 on his 1st Ballot. Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
A beast at the University of Oklahoma, where he won the Outland Trophy and two National Championships, Lee Roy Selmon was the first overall pick in the 1976 Draft, taken by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and back in those days, despite how great your first pick is, expansion teams were generally very bad.
Even though Selmon was described as a “man among boys”, the Bucs around him were atrocious, losing their first 26 games, but Selmon was the piece they could build around. Selmon was the consummate defensive player whose ability to read offenses had no peers. Quick, powerful, and intelligent, Selmon was constantly double-teamed, especially in the Bucs’ lean years. Selmon willed Tampa to the 1979 NFC Championship Game, beginning a six-year run of Pro Bowls.
Selmon was later named to the NFL 100th Anniversary Team and was fittingly the first man named to the Buccaneers Ring of Honor.
Roger Wehrli, DB, STL 1969-82. Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1991 on his 4th Ballot. Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
As Larry Wilson’s career was winding down, the St. Louis Cardinals had another star Defensive Back in Roger Wehrli to take over command of the secondary.
An All-American at Missouri, Wehrli impressed scouts with his speed at the combine, which allegedly propelled him to a late First Round Pick. Some pundits at the time might have thought it was a reach to take Wehrli, but that was debunked almost immediately, as the Cornerback was the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year (1969).
Wehrli promptly went on to the following two Pro Bowls and became the top Corner in the middle of the 1970s after struggling for the two years after. Dubbed a "shutdown corner" by Dallas Quarterback Roger Staubach (which may have been the first time that term was used), Wehrli was named a First Team All-Pro three years in a row (1974-76) while also accumulating a four-year run of Pro Bowls (1973-76).
Adding a seventh Pro Bowl in 1979, Wehrli slowed down afterward but would leave the game with 40 Interceptions.
Ron Yary, T, MIN 1968-81 & RAM 1982. Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1991 on his 4th Ballot. Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Guarding the right side of the offensive line for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Ron Yary built a legendary career defined by consistency, toughness, and excellence. Tasked with protecting his quarterback and opening running lanes for his teammates, Yary became one of the most reliable and dominant offensive linemen of his era, anchoring the Vikings’ line throughout their rise as an NFC powerhouse.
The first offensive lineman ever selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Yary more than justified the honor. He earned six consecutive First Team All-Pro selections and was voted to seven straight Pro Bowls, establishing himself as the premier tackle of his generation. Perhaps most meaningful to Yary, however, was the respect he earned from his peers, as he was named NFLPA NFC Offensive Lineman of the Year three times, a testament to his reputation within the league.
Bill Walsh, Coach, SFO 1979-88. Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1991 on his 1st Coach/Contributor Ballot. Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Hired from Stanford in 1978, Bill Walsh took over the reins of a San Francisco team that had never won it all. Walsh would change all of that.
Taking a philosophy, he learned in Cincinnati called the “West Coast Offense”, Walsh and a slew of skill players (Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Roger Craig) dominated the 1980s, with the 49ers winning three Super Bowls, and Walsh winning two Coach of the Year Awards. Walsh set up a prominent coaching tree, including such luminaries as George Seifert, Sam Wyche, Dennis Green, Mike Holmgren, and Ray Rhodes.
Departing to go back to Stanford in 1992, Walsh had an overall NFL Head Coaching record of 92-59-1
A two-time NFL Coach of the Year, Walsh would be named to the 1980s All-Decade Team and the 100th Anniversary Team.
