Oakland Raiders: A definitive case for Jim Plunkett’s enshrinement in Canton
By Kevin Saito
Oakland Raiders legend Jim Plunkett has been passed over for enshrinement in Canton time and time again — here, we debunk the arguments keeping him out.
Yet another Oakland Raiders great has passed in Cliff Branch — a legend who, like Ken Stabler before him — was ridiculously denied entry into the Hall of Fame during his lifetime.
The Snake was finally given what was due him — enshrinement in Canton in 2016, a year after his death. And now Branch, if the Hall of Fame voters ever manage to do what’s right — and what they should have done long ago — another Raiders legend will not be alive to see himself inducted.
The NFL has announced that in celebration of the league’s one-hundredth season, the Hall of Fame will induct the 20-member Centennial Class.
Five Modern-Era players, 10 Seniors (a player who has been retired for more than 25 seasons), three Contributors (individuals other than players or coaches), and two coaches.
And with the advent of the Centennial Class, the Hall of Fame finally has the ability to correct a long-running wrong — the enshrinement of Raiders legend Jim Plunkett.
In a recent article, an argument was made for Plunkett’s enshrinement. There was some pushback of course, with most of the arguments being some variation of, “he didn’t do enough to warrant enshrinement.”
Fair enough.
However, in this article, we are going to prove those arguments completely invalid by giving a side-by-side comparison with one of Plunkett’s contemporaries who has been enshrined in Canton since 1985.
This is a player most everybody on this planet recognizes as a worthy Hall of Fame quarterback — Broadway Joe Namath.
Seriously, if you were to ask one hundred people if Namath should be in the Hall of Fame, one hundred people would say, “yes, absolutely.” Go ahead and go ask one hundred people yourself, we’ll wait.
For those of you willing to take that on faith, the argument that Plunkett is not a Hall of Fame-worthy quarterback falls apart if you support Namath’s inclusion.
Still not convinced? Okay, let’s deliver that side-by-side comparison debunking some of the anti-Plunkett arguments. Hopefully, that should put an end to the notion that Plunkett isn’t worthy of induction when Namath has been enshrined for the last 34 years.