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The night before “The Big Game”^©®™ is normally reserved for recriminations & drunken yelling.

However, tonight has an extra layer of intrigue & investigation, as the 2021 Hall of Fame class will be announced.

In a normal year, the 48 voting members would meet day-of and ask only the important questions for eligibility.

But this year, they held the meeting remotely – by Zoom – on January 19th. There were people who introduced the candidate’s qualifications, and then debate ensued. According to eligible voter Clark Judge, the shortest debate was Peyton Manning (12 seconds) & the longest was Calvin Johnson (39:17). (I assume the Freep reporter in thrall to the Ford family vehemently objected to his entry.)

The list of candidates is on the poster. Five of them are eligible for entry; the coaching & contributor categories were separate debates. If you assume Manning & Woodson are locks, that leave three spots for the remaining twelve candidates. Of note:

• Sam Mills played for & then coached with the Panthers.

  

  • He’s the guy behind the “Keep pounding” slogan you find associated with the Panthers.
    • One hopes Peter King knows the difference.
• Reggie Wayne is going to get some Peyton voter love. Likely not enough to get in, but close-ish.
• Did you know Jared Allen loves hunting? I learned that the same day I discovered Jimmy Graham played basketball in college.
• The only person in Detroit who still loves Megatron is Barry Sanders.
• Clay Matthews Jr. is currently-unemployed Clay’s old man, and in his last year of voting eligibility.
• I’m not saying there’s a correlation, but John Lynch the GM sure had a lot of time this year for sportswriters who had questions about John Lynch the player.

Personally, and selfishly, I’m pulling for LeRoy Butler, as he was a Packer, was born seven days after me, and – depending on your affinity for it – invented the “Lambeau Leap”.

The results will be announced during the NFL Honors award show tonight, so be prepared for that to light up your notifications.

Tonight’s sports:

• NFL Honors – 9:00PM | CBS
• NHL:
  • Canucks at Leafs – 7:00PM | CBC / Sportsnet
  • Oilers at Flames – 10:00PM | CBC / Sportsnet
• NBA:
  • Warriors At Mavericks – 8:30PM | ABC
• NCAA:
  • 8:00PM – East Coast & Midwest Games on ESPN, ESPN2, AND FS1
  • 10:00PM – West Coast & Mountain Conference Games on ESPN, ESPN2, AND FS1
• Rugby:
  • NBCSN is showing same-day coverage of Six Nations & Premiership matches all night.

And that’s a wrap for the 2021 edition of “Hate Week”. Thanks to everyone who helped out – Low Commander, Jake, Balls – and I’ll see you on Monday night, when we have to talk about other stuff until the Draft.