The Redskins Blog

David Elfin Discusses Presenting Russ Grimm's Hall of Fame Case

This will probably be the last Russ Grimm post for a bit, maybe until his old offensive line coach Joe Bugel presents him for enshrinement in Canton this summer. But I was curious to hear from the guy who was responsible for making Grimm’s case to the Hall of Fame committee. David Elfin was the longtime Redskins beat writer for the Washington Times until that paper stupidly folded its sports section; he’s now moved on to become the NFC East beat writer at AOL Fanhouse.

But back in February, he was in Miami covering the Super Bowl on a freelance assignment for NFLPA.com, and also to act as advocate for the Redskins’ candidates to the Hall of Fame during the voting. When I caught up with him by phone the Tuesday after the Saints won the championship, he was STILL in Miami, his return to the D.C. area blocked by canceled flights and the endless succession of snowstorms.

Elfin successfully made the case for Darrell Green and Art Monk two years back; it was (obviously) a long and difficult fight to get Monk enshrined, but at least there were available statistical milestones. My first question about this year’s vote was also the most basic: what on earth do you point to when trying to make a Hall of Fame presentation for an offensive lineman?

“Obviously it’s a lot harder for an offensive lineman,” he said. “I think football in general in harder. Baseball is such an easy sport [for determining these things]; if they had this process in baseball — and maybe this is one reason they don’t have it in baseball, because the stats speak for themselves for almost anybody.

“I mean, [baseball defensive standout] Ozzie Smith was probably a tough sell because he’s a defensive player, but most people have seen him play. If you’re trying to sell a defensive player from the ’30s, it’d probably be hard. Almost everything in baseball is quantifiable, and pretty much everything in basketball is quantifiable. Football’s a lot harder, because — forget offensive linemen for the minute; we’ll get back to them. Look at a defensive tackle? How do you measure Albert Haynesworth‘s worth if he’s not getting sacks.

“And cornerbacks: think back to the 1987 season: [Redskins cornerback] Barry Wilburn led the NFL in interceptions. Why? Because Darrell was on the other side. No one’s throwing to Darrell. I’m not knocking Barry Wilburn; he was a solid player. But he was not an elite player. So you look at career interception totals, and they can be pretty deceiving.

“Other than quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and arguably kickers, nobody else really can be judged in football on stats. But offensive line is the most difficult one, because there are no stats whatsoever. So you look at team success, you look at running game results, you look at how good the offense was, and then you gotta talk to people.

“And people say Why Russ versus Jake [offensive tackle Joe Jacoby of the Hogs]? And the arguments are, one, that Russ made four straight Pro Bowls and the All-Decade Team. I think Jake made four straight Pro Bowls but not the All-Decade team.

“Jake played a higher-profile position, no doubt, but you talk to enough people and the majority — two-thirds to three-quarters — will say if it came down to it, they would take Russ over Jake. And that was good enough for me.

“And in our case, Russ has been in the room [for Hall of Fame discussion] something like seven years in a row; Jake has never made the room to my knowledge. So there’s some judgement by people that Russ was worth for being a Hall of Fame candidate and at the moment Jake is in the Hall of the Very Good. Because he makes the original 125 person ballot along with Ken Harvey and Charles Mann and Theismann and whoever else, but he’s never made it to the final 25, even, let alone the 15.”

Believe it or not, there’s plenty more — including Elfin’s strategy, and his predictions for other Hall of Fame-worthy Redskins — after the jump. Read more »

Monday, February 8: Who's Next To The Hall?

So Russ Grimm is headed to the Hall of Fame. In case you missed this news because of blackouts, snow emergencies, or just general aversion to weekend internet, here’s a few of the relevant links:

• On this blog, we had the announcement, quotes from other Redskins, and an old Washingtonian Magazine profile.
• Mike Wise had a good column in the Post.
• Dan Steinberg recounted Grimm’s pranks.
• Mark Maske wrote a news story including some reaction from Grimm.
• Even Peter King was complimentary of the selection.

So the question at this point is always the same: who — if anyone — is next? Who’s the next Redskins player who has even a chance? Some people suggest Joe Jacoby — although I think the Grimm selection is probably going to have to stand for all the Hogs — and you occasionally hear Brian Mitchell’s name come up, but it’s a thin list.

The comments section at Mister Irrelevant offer an interesting suggesiton, though:
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Sunday, February 7: Russ Grimm's Future Turned Out Better Than He Expected

As the 1988 NFL season got ready to kick off, the Redskins were riding high in D.C. Coming off a Super Bowl win, they were the toast of the town, and part of being the toast of D.C. in the eighties was a lengthy profile in Washingtonian Magazine. For the Super Bowl XXII champions, what this meant was a dozen of the players providing first-person accounts of what it was like to play in the NFL, each essay accompanied by a revealing portrait of the subject.

Russ Grimm, who was elected yesterday for enshrinement to the Hall of Fame, was one of those dozen players.

At this point in his career, Grimm had played in three Super Bowls and won two. He was an integral part of one of the greatest offensive lines in NFL history (which also happened to be one of the most famous), in a town that had learned to adore offensive lineman.

The Russ Grimm of 1988 had no way of knowing it, of course, but he also had one more Super Bowl ring coming to him as a player, another as a coach on the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers staff, and would coach in still another with the Arizona Cardinals. Plus that whole Hall of Fame thing from yesterday.

So what did Russ Grimm elect to talk about? It wouldn’t come as a surprise to Donnie Warren or any of his other teammates: Grimm talked about pain: Read more »

Kind Words For Russ Grimm

Courtesy of the Washington Redskins crack media relations staff, a whole bunch of congratulations and kind words for newly announced 2010 Hall Of Famer Russ Grimm. Read on, for the true origin of the name hogs (according to George Starke), high praise from Doc Walker, a heartfelt reaction from Joe Jacoby, and a great story about blood from Don Warren.

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Russ Grimm: Hall of Famer

Back when Russ Grimm was an anchor on the great Redskins offensive lines, this is what February football looked like for him:

Because, if you were involved with football in February, you were talking about the Pro Bowl. (The first February Super Bowl wasn’t held until 2002.) February football was for the best of the best, and Grimm went to the all-star gathering four times.

Grimm was involved with some significant football last February as well, as he was coaching the offensive line for the Arizona Cardinals in last year’s fantastic Super Bowl.

And on February 6 of this year, he was named one of the best of all time as Russ Grimm was named as part of the 2010 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. This makes him the first member of the great Hogs offensive lines so honored, although it’s possible that without the Hogs, John Riggins, Joe Theismann, and maybe even Joe Gibbs wouldn’t be in Canton.

(UPDATE: Not sure where that Theismann mental lapse came from. I’m blaming snow madness.) Read more »

On Russ Grimm's Hall of Fame Credentials

Russ Grimm — former Hog and former Redskins assistant coach — is a little busy right now, getting his Arizona Cardinals ready for a playoff game against the New Orleans Saints. (Also, possibly, either scheduling or avoiding a head coaching interview with the Buffalo Bills, depending on who you believe.)

But it’s good that he’s productively occupied, since it’s probably keeping him from finding out that he’s about twelve seconds away from turning into Art Monk v.2.0, at least from a Redskins-not-in-the-Hall-of-Fame standpoint. With Joe Bugel’s retirement today, the lack of Hogs in the Hall of Fame was a pretty hot topic.

Considering that the audience consisted of Hogs, ex-Hogs, people who coached Hogs, people who write about Hogs, and the spiritual successors to the Hogs, no one was going to come out and say Hey, these guys don’t belong in Canton! But that doesn’t mean that everyone was marching in lockstep. Read more »