Missing in Action – Part 1

May 23, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Over the next several weeks, I will take a look at three Washington players who I think deserve to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is highly unlikely that any of these players ever make it into the Hall and that is truly an injustice to them.

The first Washington player missing from the Pro Football Hall of Fame is tight end Jerry Smith. Some of the younger fans won’t believe this but the Washington Redskins had a high-powered offense back in the 1960’s. Led by quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, the team had a two excellent receivers in Hall of Famers Bobby Mitchell and Charley Taylor. The third member of that group was tight end Jerry Smith. He was very slight for the position even back then when tight ends were of a much smaller build, but he was exciting to watch on the football field. Jerry had great hands and body control, which made him Sonny’s frequent target when they needed a catch at a crucial point in the game. He made tough catches over the middle of the field in traffic. Here is a link to a YouTube video about Jerry Smith: Jerry Smith Highlights.

Comparisons

One of the aspects that Hall of Fame voters look at is how a player compares against his peers already in the Hall of Fame. The three Hall of Fame tight ends that played in the same era as Smith are Mike Ditka, John Mackey and Charlie Sanders.

Basics

Player	Height	Weight	Years Active	Seasons	Games Played	Games Started
Jerry Smith	6-3	208	1965-1977	13	168	134
Mike Ditka	6-3	228	1961-1972	12	158	118
John Mackey	6-2	224	1963-1972	10	139	118
Charlie Saunders	6-4	225	1968-1977	10	128	122

Smith leads the group in seasons played, games player and games started. So, he compares very favorably to the three Hall of Fame players by those measurements.

Stats

Player	Receptions	Yards	TDs
Jerry Smith	421	5,496	60
Mike Ditka	437	5,812	43
John Mackey	331	5,236	38
Charlie Saunders	336	4,817	31

Smith is second in receptions, just 16 behind Ditka, and also second in receiving yards behind Ditka. He is first in touchdown catches leading Ditka by 17 touchdowns. From a production standpoint, Smith is one the top producers, exceeding all but one of the Hall of Fame players.

Honors

Player	Pro Bowl	All-Pro	Hall of Fame
Jerry Smith	2	1	No
Mike Ditka	5	2	Yes
John Mackey	5	3	Yes
Charlie Saunders	7	2	Yes

This is one area where Smith trails the Hall of Fame group with only two Pro Bowl appearances and one All-Pro season. The context of this is that he was playing in an era with three other Hall of Fame caliber tight ends and that probably impacted his honor selections.

Conclusions

While Jerry Smith certainly has the numbers to be considered for inclusion in the Hall of Fame, there are some barriers that impact why he has not been included.

One is the process of selection. There are two paths to becoming enshrined in the Hall of Fame. For the first 25 years, the players go through the Modern Era nomination and voter selection process against a group of potential enshrinees. Any number of players can be enshrined in any year provided that they have sufficient votes. Once a player has reached 25 years after his retirement, they go through the Senior selection process. Only one senior is selected for each enshrinement class, making it much more difficult for a player to become enshrined. Chris Hanburger is an example of a Washington player who made the Hall of Fame via the Senior selection process.

The second barrier is that Smith played on some overall mediocre to terrible teams in the early part of his career. The Redskins were just getting out from behind George Preston Marshall’s racist policies that held the team back from being successful. Good players who play on successful teams are given higher consideration by Hall of Fame voters. They look at the impact a player has had on their team and the league overall and the teams they played on has an impact on that.

The third barrier is that Smith also played with two other Hall of Fame players on the same team in the same era. Bobby Mitchell and Charley Taylor have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with Sonny Jurgensen. Sometimes voters get a mindset that they have selected enough players from a team of a certain era and other deserving players can get overlooked. Like everything else in life, politics is a part of the enshrinement process.

The fourth major barrier is that Jerry Smith passed away at age 43 from an AIDS-related illness. There is still a tremendous unspoken bias against homosexuality at the professional sports level, even in current times. This probably has impacted his voting when he was first eligible and still impacts him today as part of the Senior selection process. Even though a player’s on-field contributions are the only things that are supposed to be considered in the selection process, this bias will likely prevent Smith from ever being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

 

Sources: www.pro-football-reference.com