Four members of the 1970s version of the St. Louis Cardinals were named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1970s. Certainly a talented bunch for their time– just never mind the fact that St. Louis only managed four winning seasons and two playoff appearances in the decade. With the induction of Roger Wehrli to the Hall of Fame this weekend, three of those four players are now in the Hall of Fame. The other player was kicker Jim Bakken.
How ’bout them Cowboys? This team had ten winning seasons, nine playoff appearances, five Super Bowl appearances, and two Super Bowl wins in the 1970s. Six members of the team were named to the All-Decade team. Only three have made it into the Hall of Fame. Here is a list of the All-Decade team of the 1970s, with the team(s) on which each player was a member and an indication of whether the player has made the Hall of Fame:
Offense |
||
| Quarterbacks | ||
| Terry Bradshaw | Pittsburgh Steelers | Yes |
| Ken Stabler | Oakland Raiders | No |
| Roger Staubach | Dallas Cowboys | Yes |
| Running Backs | ||
| Earl Campbell | Houston Oilers | Yes |
| Franco Harris | Pittsburgh Steelers | Yes |
| Walter Payton | Chicago Bears | Yes |
| O.J. Simpson | Buffalo Bills | Yes |
| Wide Receivers | ||
| Harold Carmichael | Philadelphia Eagles | No |
| Drew Pearson | Dallas Cowboys | No |
| Lynn Swann | Pittsburgh Steelers | Yes |
| Paul Warfield | Miami Dolphins | Yes |
| Tight Ends | ||
| Dave Casper | Oakland Raiders | Yes |
| Charlie Sanders | Detroit Lions | Yes |
| Tackles | ||
| Dan Dierdorf | St. Louis Cardinals | Yes |
| Art Shell | Oakland Raiders | Yes |
| Rayfield Wright | Dallas Cowboys | Yes |
| Ron Yary | Minnesota Vikings | Yes |
| Guards | ||
| Joe DeLamielleure | Buffalo Bills | Yes |
| John Hannah | New England Patriots | Yes |
| Larry Little | Miami Dolphins | Yes |
| Gene Upshaw | Oakland Raiders | Yes |
| Centers | ||
| Jim Langer | Miami Dolphins | Yes |
| Mike Webster | Pittsburgh Steelers | Yes |
| Defense | ||
| Defensive Ends | ||
| Carl Eller | Minnesota Vikings | Yes |
| Seattle Seahawks | ||
| L.C. Greenwood | Pittsburgh Steelers | No |
| Harvey Martin | Dallas Cowboys | No |
| Jack Youngblood | Los Angeles Rams | Yes |
| Defensive Tackles | ||
| Joe Greene | Pittsburgh Steelers | Yes |
| Bob Lilly | Dallas Cowboys | Yes |
| Merlin Olsen | Los Angeles Rams | Yes |
| Alan Page | Minnesota Vikings | Yes |
| Linebackers | ||
| Bobby Bell | Kansas City Chiefs | Yes |
| Robert Brazile | Houston Oilers | No |
| Dick Butkus | Chicago Bears | Yes |
| Jack Ham | Pittsburgh Steelers | Yes |
| Ted Hendricks | Baltimore Colts | Yes |
| Green Bay Packers | ||
| Oakland Raiders | ||
| Jack Lambert | Pittsburgh Steelers | Yes |
| Cornerbacks | ||
| Willie Brown | Oakland Raiders | Yes |
| Jimmy Johnson | San Francisco 49ers | Yes |
| Roger Wehrli | St. Louis Cardinals | Yes |
| Louis Wright | Denver Broncos | No |
| Safeties | ||
| Dick Anderson | Miami Dolphins | Yes |
| Cliff Harris | Dallas Cowboys | No |
| Ken Houston | Houston Oilers | Yes |
| Washington Redskins | ||
| Larry Wilson | St. Louis Cardinals | Yes |
| Special Teams | ||
| Kickers | ||
| Jim Bakken | St. Louis Cardinals | No |
| Garo Yepremian | Miami Dolphins | No |
| Punter | ||
| Ray Guy | Oakland Raiders | No |
Here is another table showing the percentage of All-Decade members who are also in the Hall of Fame, organized by team:
| Team | 70s Team | Hall of Famers | Pct. |
| Baltimore Colts | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Buffalo Bills | 2 | 2 | 100.00% |
| Chicago Bears | 2 | 2 | 100.00% |
| Detroit Lions | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Green Bay Packers | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 2 | 100.00% |
| Minnesota Vikings | 3 | 3 | 100.00% |
| New England Patriots | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| San Francisco 49ers | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Seattle Seahawks | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Washington Redskins | 1 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 | 7 | 87.50% |
| Miami Dolphins | 5 | 4 | 80.00% |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 3 | 75.00% |
| Oakland Raiders | 7 | 5 | 71.42% |
| Houston Oilers | 3 | 2 | 66.67% |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6 | 3 | 50.00% |
| Denver Broncos | 1 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 1 | 0 | 0.00% |
I am more than a little bit happy that Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Rayfield Wright made it into the Hall of Fame, but those other three deserve to be there. Unfortunately, the voters’ love for those losers that were the Cardinals may give Bakken a better chance than the three who should be there. Shameful.
[tags]Dallas Cowboys, Hall of Fame[/tags]
I’ve been looking for this data. It seems that the steeler still have towel boys that will get in before some of the deserving Cowboys.
There is no doubt in my mind that there is an anti-Cowboys bias. But for Christ’s sake, why are Harvey Martin and Drew Pearson not in the Ring of Honor? Jerry Jones needs to get on the ball.