Terrell Davis will make a token appearance, then retire, during Denver's pre-season game tonight with the 49'ers. It's best to remember that before he came into the league, football experts thought that John Elway was an overrated stiff who always choked in the "big game". Sad to say, opinions similar to this writer's will probably prevail concerning his Hall of Fame chances. Counter-balanced against the two Super Bowls the Broncos won while Davis was their M.V.P., his 2000-yard season, and his dominating performances in the four seasons he was healthy, is the argument that Davis' career was too short (which is a fair argument), and the claim that Davis compares unfavorably to players who are in the H.O.F. but had even shorter careers, such as Gale Sayers and Ernie Nevers. It is a prime example of a sportswriter not being able to justify his opinions according to any objective criteria, so he makes subjective arguments that he will abandon when it comes time to argue in favor of some other player.

Sayers was indeed spectacular, but arguing, as that writer does, that he should therefore be in the H.O.F. ahead of Davis would be like a baseball writer arguing that Frank Howard should be in the Hall over Kirby Puckett, because his home runs traveled further (or more to the point, that Lynn Swann should be in the Hall over Steve Largent, b/c Largent had no highlight reel grabs). It wasn't Gale Sayers' fault that the teams he played for were lousy, but one can only speculate how he would have done in a game that really mattered; of course, there is no need to do so for Terrell Davis. Sayers is in the HOF for three reasons: 1) he was exciting to watch; 2) he was a famous player in Chicago; and 3) Brian's Song. If Billy Sims had played for the Bears, and had befriended a tragic white teammate, he would have been elected to Canton ten years ago. And the notion that any running back from the Jim Crow era in NFL history, such as Ernie Nevers or Cliff Battles, should rank ahead of any modern-day player is absolutely nuts. None of the players referenced in that article had quite the impact on a team or a season that Terrell Davis did, or more importantly, did as much to help his team win. And that, not whether he looks great in the highlight film, is the only relevant criteria to use in determining a player's qualifications for the Hall of Fame.