Full Court Press

Dent not only was 1 dimensional, but he took plays off. Ditka was always on him about that so I'm sure that's not lost on voters. He also played for several teams which doesn't help your chances...if he was that good, why did so many teams get tired of his act.
Finally, his belly-aching a few weeks ago didn't help when he called himself the 2nd best DE ever after Deacon Jones...what a joke. He was basically Fred Dean, another DE finalist who also did not get in. There are plenty of players like Dent who are not in - Kevin Greene is another one. A pass rushing terror who didn't do much else.
Dent needs to realize (like many other '85 Bears) that they are not imortal and go away...and he can take McMahon with him.

"Come out of the closet"...that's funny - I haven't heard that phrase in about 15 years.
You say he didn't play for the Bulls...hmm, if he did, it could have been any of Krause's draft picks during the '90s.

There was a reason his nickname (which he embraced back then) was "The Colonel" after Colonel Sanders who did ONE thing - make chicken. Dent rushed the QBs and that was it. As a few HoF voters said, "pass rushing specialists are a dime a dozen". How can you separate guys like Dent, Fred Dean, Derrick Thomas, etc. For the time he played, Derrick Thomas was much better than Dent.
Also, they '85 Bears have 3 players in the Hall - as the most under-achieving football team in modern history, that seems about right.

I bet whoever is coming out probably wasn't a superstar. Why would someone make a big production out of it? Maybe he's gonna ask his significant other to marry him or something like that. When you said he didn't play for the Bulls that excluded Rodman who I thought would come out just to get some publicity. Good for whomever. Whatever you are you shouldn't hide it. Be yourself. Now, with Dent he'll probably suffer a little longer and make it in a few years. He made the top 11 but didn't make the final cut. When they have people with with a less distinguish career to compare him with he'll make it. Football isn't like baseball where they'll only let 2 guys in at a time. His stats alone will get him in even though sacks are relatively new to the voters. Him,being mainly a sackmaster won't hurt him forever. Maybe just now.It's not like he got ran over all the time like Simeon Rice. A lot of guys will make it ,and have made it, who weren't great at every facet of their position. Time is sometimes kind to certain players and harmful to others. I think free agency will make it harder to have a long and distinguishing career that doesn't end with one team. Who's gonna be docked points for looking rather ordinary in his 12th year and his 3rd team in 4 years? Who's gonna get be denied because he waited too long to quit? GO BEARS!!!

William - the comparison to Simeon Rice is a great one.
Dent basically played the same position as Lawrence Taylor who also didn't really pay attention to the run, but Taylor was lethal. Dent is po'd that Hampton is in and he's not based on his interview a few weeks back. Hampton drew double teams pretty much every play and NEVER took a play off. The Bears record with Hampton vs. without him is incredible and a big reason why Hampton is in the Hall.

Okay how can you compare Dent to Lawrence Taylor? They played different positions. Football is not like basewhere you can look at the back of a card and try to say what player is better. You had to gameplan against Lawrence Taylor. Richard Dent was not a scrub but he should be proud to get this far in the balloting. The Bears of the late 80's should have won 3 titles at least. How many home games did they lose in the playoffs?

Leonard - READ MY POST...I was comparing Dent to Simeon Rice. My point about Taylor was that if you pass rush on every play (like Taylor did - he was an OLB who basically played DE) you can only make the HoF if you create havoc like Taylor did...

Recently retired gay NBA player...? I would have bet the ranch on ...

Roman responds: Ok guys, I can't put in your guesses for this player. Sorry.

Eh, Dent was tough enough to warrant HOF consideration, especially if Hampton's in. Still, there are a ton of stellar defensive linemen, so the curve is a bit steeper. IMHO.

As for the former pro--ya know, at some point in time, you'd think people would figure out that all sex is equally risky and that, ultimately, who a person has sex with doesn't really matter. But, since we live in a society of puritanical hypocrites, heterosexual male promiscuity is looked upon as a valuable trait, while homosexuals and women are pretty much expected to either not exist or be chaste. I can only hope whomever this former player is can help impress upon people the radical notion that homosexuals are actually real people.

LT didn't play the run? On what planet? LT is simply the best linebacker ever to play the game. He changed the way the game was played. He changed the way coaches gameplan. He changed the way we designate "prototypical" linebackers. He is the standard bearer. What do you mean he didn't play the run? I guess he didn't play the pass in coverage either huh? And so all those memories I have of him intercepting passes are made up.

I thought Dent had a good chance this year but now it might be a long time till he is in. I do think he deserves it and I'm looking forward to one more Bear being in the hall.
If I cared about the sexual orientation of sport stars I'd read the national enquirer.I'm sure this will be news to some until Urlacher has another custody case.

I'll bet if you asked any player who played against Dent, they will say he wasa nightmare to block...Football, unlike baseball (ie.Ron Santo), makes sure it's good players get in eventually...How many of you would have voted for Roger Weurli??...There was a poll on ESPN.com and with many thousands of votes, Weurli was last with 1% of the vote...Dent will get in next year.

Houston Titan - if your memories are more than 9 int's in 13 years, then you're making them up. Hardly impressive numbers for ints condering Butkus had 22 ints in an injury shortened 9 years. Funny thing is Dent had 8 ints.
Taylor would occasionally drop into coverage but he was so hard to block rushing the QB, the Giants didn't want to waste his talent. You're right in that Taylor set the standard for the "rush linebacker" but don't talk about him being the best all-around LB cuz he didn't play an all around LB game.