Vikings legend snubbed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame once again
By Adam Patrick
Former Minnesota Vikings defense end Jim Marshall was, once again, not among the senior finalists for the 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame.
When the Minnesota Vikings played in a total of four Super Bowls from 1969 to 1976, Jim Marshall was one of the few members of the franchise to participate in all four matchups. The defensive end spent 19 years with the Vikings and was a part of their legendary defensive line known as the “Purple People Eaters”.
According to Minnesota, Marshall’s 127 career sacks are still the second-most by a player to ever wear a Vikings’ uniform (Carl Eller tops the list). To put that into perspective, fellow former Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen finished with a total of 85.5 sacks during his time with the Vikings.
One would think that a player who has accomplished as much as Marshall did during his NFL career would already be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
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The former Minnesota defensive end will have to wait at least one more year before he is considered for his induction as he was not among the two candidates recently selected by the Hall of Fame’s senior committee to be a 2018 finalist. Instead the committee went with former Houston Oilers linebacker Robert Brazile and former Green Bay Packers (yuck) offensive lineman Jerry Kramer.
Marshall is already a part of the Vikings’ Ring of Honor and the team has retired his jersey number. A Hall of Fame induction is just something seems inevitable for the former Minnesota defensive end, but apparently not everyone sees it that way.
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Would the story be different if the Vikings were able to come away with at least one win in any of their four Super Bowl appearances? Perhaps, but that should not be something that prevents Marshall from getting his well-deserved gold jacket from the Hall of Fame.