OT: How did Eddie Debartalo

[Fraliccrushedme]

get into the Hall of Fame? Didn't he plead guilty to felony racketeering charges? Didn't he have to pay millions in fines? Wasn't he suspended from the NFL for 2 years? Wasn't he forced to turn over control of the Niners to his sister? TO is a douchebag and doesn't get in, but the "Hall" welcomes Eddie D with open arms. What's up with that?

 

[pbrad]

TO will get in. They are making him wait but he will get in. As with Lawrence Taylor, Debartalo's off the field problems had no bearing on the fact that he oversaw a dynasty.

 

[upj87]

get into the Hall of Fame? Didn't he plead guilty to felony racketeering charges? Didn't he have to pay millions in fines? Wasn't he suspended from the NFL for 2 years? Wasn't he forced to turn over control of the Niners to his sister? TO is a douchebag and doesn't get in, but the "Hall" welcomes Eddie D with open arms. What's up with that?

NFL Hall of Fame ethics requirements no where near as strict (not even noted in criteria at all I believe)as the MLB. TO, as with all receivers lately will wait longer than their talent and stats would otherwise dictate.

 

[Pittx9]

Yeah T.O. will probably get in, but it will be no time soon. Hell, if Pete Rose were a football player, there would have never been the option of him missing out on the Hall. It's all about on field performance, which is hard to argue against.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

TO will get in. They are making him wait but he will get in. As with Lawrence Taylor, Debartalo's off the field problems had no bearing on the fact that he oversaw a dynasty.

Yes, but a substantial part of the dynasty that he oversaw was when the 49ers cheated on the NFL's salary cap. That is a major part of what allowed them to keep everyone together – they were basically paying players under the table.

If that happened today the 49ers would be seen in the same dishonest light as the Patriots.

 

[yourhired]

Eddie D was the owner for those 4 Super Bowl wins. HOF voting has become a joke it's player representatives cozying up to the voters. Sounds a lot like our election system now that I write it.

 

[pittdan77]

He was only forced to turn over "ownership" for one year but decided not to return to the primary role of running the team on his own. The guy was basically loved by everyone so the league took it easy on him by today's standards. But the NFL was run much differently back then. The "Bounty Scandal" and "Deflategate" would have seen the owners pulled aside and told to get their act together or else before allowing a media debacle.

So far as cheating the cap, that wasn't a mystery. No different than the Redskins keeping forty guys on IR out of camp or the league's wink and nod approach to PED's. Skirting the rules is something of a time honored tradition in the league for some reason.

 

[Pittx9]

Personally, I don't think there is a bigger form of cheating than stealing signals, or really anything that would have involved spying on another team. As for the bounty thing, I really feel that was the most blown out of proportion, stupid nonsense of a scandal. Vontaze Burfict is not getting paid by his coaches to murder people on the field, and he makes those Saints players look they were playing two hand touch. IMO suspending Sean Payton was absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

In a different life, I once interviewed Eddie D., albeit briefly. One of the things that I asked him was whether there would be an NFL players' strike. He responded something to the effect of "why should the players strike? They've got it good! They're all happily making lots of money; there's not gonna be any strike."

Several days later....they were on strike.