Being nominated for the NFL Hall of Fame is a great honor, even if a player doesn't make it in. Former Kansas City Chief and New Orleans Saint great Willie Roaf fully understands this. Roaf, who was eliminated from consideration on the second to last ballot of Saturday's Pro Football Hall of Fame voting, is reacting exactly how you'd expect him to - like the class act that he is.
NOLA.com recently spoke with Roaf about not being named an NFL Hall of Famer in his first year of eligibility. Roaf said of the process, "It just wasn't time for me to get in. I had a lot of fun. Next year we'll just see what happens."
Willie, being Willie, knew that 2011 may not be his year. He said, "All these guys were such good athletes, so you really can't argue about what happened. In the back of my mind I knew there was a chance that I couldn't get in."
2011 just wasn't an offensive lineman's year to make the Hall. The 2011 NFL Hall of Fame class was the largest allowed by the voting rules and personally I think that every single one of the players that were elected deserved it.
We'll get 'em next year Willie. Remember, Derrick Thomas wasn't elected until his fourth year of eligibility.