Senior Moments

When I heard the name of Les Richter as one of the Hall of Fame selections, he did not sound familiar. He passed away on June 12, 2010 at the age of 79. The NFL Network was pretty silent on its commentary about this "senior" candidate. They interviewed Chris Hanburger, the other "senior" selection, over the phone. Hanburger got a flight the next day and was on the field in time for the ceremonial coin toss, along with the other 2011 selectees.

After doing some research on Richter, I remembered reading his obituary back in June. He was the former Chief of Operations for NASCAR and was involved in auto racing for most of his post-football career.

He played linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams from 1954-1962 and was selected for eight consecutive Pro Bowls.

Richter and Hanburger were the two senior finalists. The selection process is quite controversial at times. If five modern era candidates are selected, the two senior ones are automatically in. This seems like a rather odd rule as the senior committee is overlooking many great players from an era that was mostly black and white television.

There seems to be no consideration given to former American Football League players such as Gino Cappelletti who was the all-time leading scorer for the Pats until Adam Vinitieri broke his record.