1980 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 rhetorical question: What if the PFHOF began 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 we asked each voter to give us 25 names as their semi-finalists and 5 in 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 35th 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 1980:

This is for the “Senior Era”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1980.

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1980.

About the 1980 Inductees:

Bob Lilly DT-DE, DAL 1961-74: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1980 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Bob Lilly would not just become a star player for Dallas, but he would earn the nickname of “Mr. Cowboy.”  He was the first player ever drafted by the team, and while the organization struggled in its early years, Lilly was a definite star for the team.  A Pro Bowl Selection in 1962, Lilly would have a ten-year streak of trips to Hawaii from 1964 to 1973, with seven of those years seeing Lilly named as a First Team All-Pro.

As the Cowboys improved, Lilly became the heart of the first incarnation of the "Doomsday Defense."  It was that defense that brought Dallas to their first Super Bowl appearance (V), which they lost to Baltimore.  The Cowboys returned the next season to the Super Bowl, and Lilly and Dallas would destroy the Miami Dolphins.  It was Lilly who had the signature play of the game when he sacked Bob Griese for a 26-yard loss. 

Lilly played with the Cowboys until 1974, and he is the most outstanding defensive player that Dallas ever had.

Deacon Jones, DE, RAM 1961-71, SDG 1972-73 & WAS 1974: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1980 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

It was Deacon Jones who came up with the term "Sacking the Quarterback," and as such, his style of play revolutionized the idea of what a Defensive Player could be.  Jones helped make the idea of being a defensive player a star, and arguably his entire career occurred by accident as he was a late-round (14^th) pick who was chosen for his athleticism and not for his football skills.  Becoming what would be part of the Rams' "Fearsome Foursome," Jones was a pass-rushing dynamo who would (unofficially) sack the QB well over 150 times as a Ram, and "unofficially" led the NFL in five seasons.  He was a five-time First-Team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl with Los Angeles and was quickly the star attraction of the organization.

Jim Otto, C, OAK 1960-74.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1980 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Jim Otto was undrafted in 1960, as the teams in the National Football League considered the Center to be too small to take his skills to the next level.  They got it wrong.  The AFL took shape the same year, and the Oakland Raiders saw something in the Miami Hurricane, and Otto was given the opportunity to win the Center job with the Raiders.  Otto won it as a rookie, and he would start the next (and first) 210 Games for the team.

Otto was not just the best Center of the AFL in the 1960s, he was the top man in front of the Quarterback in all of Professional Football.  He was an 11-time AFL All-Star/Pro Bowl Selection and was so dominant that in the entire history of the American Football League, no other Center was a First Team All-Pro.

The Raiders would win the division seven times with Otto at Center, and won the AFL Championship in 1967.  Otto played his entire career with the Raiders and is the best Offensive Lineman in team history.

Sonny Jurgensen, QB, NYG 1958, PHI 1957-63 & WAS 1964-74.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1980 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1957, Sonny Jurgensen was the Eagles’ backup when they won the 1960 NFL Championship.  Jurgensen took over as their starting QB, leading the league in Passing Yards in both 1961 and 1962.  Jurgensen was hurt for much of 1963, and the Eagles deemed him expendable; he was traded to the Washington Redskins for fellow quarterback Norm Snead and Cornerback Claude Crabb.

Jurgensen fit perfectly in regards to leading the Washington offense.  He went to the Pro Bowl in his first year in Washington, and he would lead the NFL in Passing Yards in both 1966 and 1967, setting a then-record of 3,747.  That season, he also threw for a league-leading 31 Touchdown Passes.  In 1969, Jurgensen was a First Team All-Pro and was a Pro Bowler for the fourth time as a Redskin.   

As great as Jurgensen was at this time, he did not have the horses around him to help the Redskins make the playoffs.  In the 70s, he helped Washington make their first Super Bowl, but Billy Kilmer now replaced him, as Jurgensen’s injuries were accumulating.  He played until 1974, retiring as a Redskin.

Overall, with the Redskins, Jurgensen threw for 22,585 Yards with a TD-INT Ratio of 179-116.  These were outstanding numbers for his era.  Jurgensen would be named to the 1960s All-Decade Team.

Chuck Howley, RB, CLE 1964-73.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1980 on his 2nd Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.

Chuck Howley was a six-time Pro Bowler and was a First Team All-Pro five times.  Howley was a big game player, and even in the Super Bowl V defeat, he won the MVP of the game.  To this day, Howley remains the only player on a losing team to win that award.  Howley’s play was good enough to win the Super Bowl MVP in Dallas’s win, but Roger Staubach edged him out.  The Dallas defense was loaded those years, but Howley was certainly a great contributor to that.  Legendary coach Tom Landry called Howley the greatest linebacker he ever had, and he was the fourth player in the Cowboys Ring of Honor.

Al Davis, Owner, OAK/LAD 1963-2010.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1980 on his 1st Coaches/Contributor Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

Just win, baby.

This was the mantra of Al Davis, who may not have founded the Raiders, but he became their embodiment. 

Davis joined the Raiders as the head coach in 1962 and was given complete control by Raiders owner F. Wayne Valley. Named the AFL Coach of the Year in 1963, Davis was asked to become the commissioner of the league. His work expedited the expected merger between the NFL and AFL, and after a year, he went back to the Raiders, but now as a part-owner.

It would not be long before Davis became the owner, and the Raider philosophy was his creation. The Raiders won three Super Bowls under Davis, and while he was considered a renegade, no owner wanted to win more. Notably, he was the first to hire an African-American head coach (Art Shell), a Latino head coach (Tom Flores), and a female chief executive (Amy Trask). None of those hires was to fill a quota. He thought they were the best candidate for the job.

Davis is the only person in football who has held the following positions: personnel assistant, scout assistant coach, head coach, general manager, commissioner, chief executive officer, and owner. It is safe to say that it won't happen again.