Hall a fame bid fell short

[Lee Borgersen]

 Vikings' Jim Marshall's latest hall of fame bid falls short


By By Chris Tomasson / St. Paul Pioneer Press on Aug 24, 2017 at 9:33 p.m.


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MINNEAPOLIS—Former Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall fell short in his latest bid for the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday.

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Marshall, who played for the Vikings from 1961-79, was given serious consideration but did not make the short list of senior finalists: Former former Green Bay Packers guard Jerry Kramer and former Houston Oilers linebacker Robert Brazile.

They can earn induction by getting 80 percent of the vote by the hall of fame selection committee on Feb. 3, the day before Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Marshall wasn't available for comment Thursday but got an endorsement from Kramer, his former NFL rival.

"He was a wonderful ballplayer," said Kramer, who played for the Packers from 1958-68. "He had great speed and quickness. He was a big, strong guy, too; but it was his quickness that set him apart."

Marshall might be most known for scooping up a fumble in a 1964 game at San Francisco, running the wrong way and scoring a safety for the 49ers.

"He ran the wrong way occasionally," Kramer joked, "but that doesn't make him a bad player."

Marshall has been waiting a long time for a shot at the hall. It's been an even longer wait for Kramer, who made all-pro four times in his career. His key block in the 1967 NFL championship game led to Bart Starr's winning one-yard touchdown run against Dallas in the Ice Bowl.

Still, Kramer, 81, long has been passed over for enshrinement in Canton, Ohio.

"I feel very good about (being a finalist)," Kramer said. "It's made my day. I'll have a glass of wine. If you make it, wonderful. If you don't make it, wonderful. Any way you look at it, it's a great day."

"For me, it was better to just assume that that was that and that it was over, and, 'Thank you very much,' '' he said. "I've had a wonderful life and had an awful lot of great moments, so why let one moment impact me in a negative manner?''

Kramer and Brazile, who made seven Pro Bowls while with the Oilers from 1975-84, will be in the Twin Cities for the selection committee vote.

[LPS]

That's too bad.  Remember him well.

[mike89]

he should be in there...

[Steve-o]

With the Mankato Training Camp era ending, it was really good to hear interviews from the likes of Chuck Foreman and Bud Grant.  Both of them emphasized how important Marshall was as a team leader to the Viking's success.

I love the story about how he would start the car convoy from Mankato to Bloomington at the end of training camp by pulling a .45 and shooting it into the air.  He might bend (or break) a rule or two, but he was so well respected that no one was going to challenge him.

I certainly agree he belongs in the hall.  And I'll bet every team in the league can claim a handful of deserving guys just like Jim.