Im pretty sure if the writers wrote something based on their selection criteria it would go like this
1. Does the person have any credible claim to hall of fame with flashy stats or obvious contributions?
2. Was he cool with the media?
3. Did he play a skill position?
4. Did he play or coach a team I like? ( or hate)
5. Was he one of the best of his era at his position?
Step 1 probably has the biggest weight to it
So like Gregg Lloyd was one of the best olbs of his era, and Olb/edge is a skill position in many ways… however he didn’t have extremely flashy stats, played for the steelers, and was a douche to the media… so he won’t ever get in barring a vet committee miracle
Aaron Smith was probably the best technician at 3/4 DE in the past several decades… but that isn’t a “ skill” position with flashy stats… he was cool with the media, but again… steelers and technical superiority means nothing to dimwit writers who barely understand the game. Same goes for Casey Hampton at NT.
You can’t just be great… you have to be obviously great and then politics still play a big role
