OPINION:
Kudos to longtime Washington Redskins linebacker Chris Hanburger on his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This honor was long overdue for the nine-time Pro Bowler and key member of the 1972 team that reached Super Bowl VII.
Still, it is dispiriting to think of all the deserving Redskins who have not yet received the same honor. What about Mark Moseley, a perennial Pro Bowl selection and the only placekicker to be named NFL MVP (in 1982)? Or Joe Theismann, who quarterbacked Washington to victory in Super Bowl XVII? Then there’s Pat Fischer, the undersized cornerback who had more career interceptions than Hall of Famers Ken Houston or Darrell Green.
The list goes on. There’s Eddie LeBaron, the Redskins’ 5-foot-7 All-Pro quarterback from the 1950s. Larry Brown, a discovery of Vince Lombardi’s, eventually became the 1972 NFL MVP. Len Hauss, the “original Hog,” was also a perennial Pro Bowl center. Offensive linemen Jeff Bostic, Joe Jacoby and George Starke - along with Hall of Famer Russ Grimm - led John Riggins to Super Bowl glory. What about Doug Williams, the MVP of Super Bowl XXII? And what of general manager Bobby Beathard, who built the great Redskins teams of the 1980s? All of them, too, deserve a “call from the Hall.”
STEPHEN A. SILVER
San Francisco
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