Drew Pearson is a HoF Finalist After Having His Soul Crushed by the Selection Committee Last Time
Source - Drew Pearson wasn’t happy when he wasn’t part of the Centennial Class of 2020 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The former Cowboys receiver is happy today.
The Hall of Fame’s senior committee on Tuesday selected Pearson as its finalist for the Class of 2021.
“Thank you for the call. You made my day, and you made my life,” an emotional Pearson said during a call from Hall of Fame CEO David Baker. “How can I thank you? I’m crying, and I haven’t cried in a long time. Happy tears. I’ve been waiting for this call for so long.”
Pearson now must receive 80 percent voting support from the 48-member selection committee on Selection Saturday to be inducted next August.
Good Lord, what a long, strange trip it's been for Drew Pearson. The understatement of the year so far is that he "wasn't happy" when he was passed over by the committee last time. Because this was the scene:
Surrounded by generations of loved ones. All decked out in merch printed up specifically for the occasion. A 15-member class being inducted into Canton in honor of the league's 100th anniversary celebration. Only to have his heart torn out of his chest when was passed over yet again. At that point, it had to seem like the last mail stop before he reaches the end of the line. Seemingly fated to live out eternity among us sad, grey souls who don't know the immortality of a Hall of Fame enshrinement. A cruel end for the only position player on the 1970s All Decade team not to be inducted into Canton. And a man who finished his career among the all time greats at his position:
Receptions: 6th all time
Receiving Yards: 7th
Yards per Reception (minimum 400 catches): 4th
Touchdown Receptions: 10th
Yards per Game: 10th
… in an era when defenders could legally do things to receivers that would get them charged with mayhem today.
So the news broke him. Understandably. And now Pearson has a renewed hope. Though I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, if he gets passed over again, I'm not sure if he can survive it. He was crying the 5-gallon buckets of eye rain the last time. In fact, he looked like he aged 10 years in one video clip. Another disappointment might just finish the job.
Now let's say he makes it. Is that really a positive? Yes, he's in and all the people who shelled out for sweats and tees with his likeness on it get their money's worth. But there'll be no doubt in anyone's mind - not a particle of doubt - that he's getting in because he cried. I mean, it's not like he's added to his resume in the last eight months. He'll just have made the voters feel bad. The same voters who didn't think he was good enough last time. So they'll change their vote, in that way you'll buy your kid the Gummy Worms you told him he couldn't have just because you don't want him to make a scene at the checkout. It solves the problem, but only in the short term. And you know you'll be paying for it down the road. Dearly.
I mean, what happens the next time a borderline HoFer doesn't get voted in. Does he just need to shed tears on the internet to turn around the voters who are on the bubble? Isn't that how DiCaprio finally got his Oscar? We all know it's because the Academy couldn't bear to see the sadness in his beautiful, piercing eyes on TV every time someone else's name got called. When he lost for "Wolf of Wall Street" to McConaughy for "Dallas Buyer's Club," hearts melted. They felt so bad they gave him the award for about his 17th best performance. And all he had to do was grunt incomprehensibly, eat raw animal liver, swim in cold water and get pretend sexually assaulted by a CGI bear, without any actual acting involved.
So sadness can be a powerful agent to the uninitiated. If I was a Hall voter, I'd start drinking the tears of every eligible candidate to build up an immunity, just to keep it fair.