Willie Roaf, a standout member of one of the greatest offensive lines in both Kansas City Chiefs history as well as NFL history, was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame, the league announced on Saturday. His teammate, guard Will Shields, fell just short of making it in.
Roaf played the last four seasons of his career (2002 – 2005) with the Chiefs after coming over from the New Orleans Saints, the team that made Roaf a first-round draft pick (#8 overall) back in 1993.
The big left tackle suffered a severe knee injury in 2001 that caused him to miss the last nine games of the season. The Saints decided not to keep Roaf and there were very few teams interested, but the Chiefs personnel director at the time, Bill Kuharich, convinced GM Carl Peterson and head coach Dick Vermeil to take a chance on Roaf. Kuharich had been with the Saints front office when Roaf was drafted.
The result was Chiefs history as Roaf, Shields, center Casey Wiegmann, guard Brian Waters, and right tackle John Tait were the anchors of four of the most prolific offenses in Chiefs history. The Chiefs led the NFL in scoring with a franchise-record 484 points in 2003 and led the league in scoring again in 2004 with 467 points and a club-record 6,000 yards as quarterback Trent Green, running backs Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson and tight end Tony Gonzalez put up franchise-record numbers.
Roaf was voted to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1990s for his play in New Orleans and was a second-team selection for the team of the 2000s, making him only one of 16 players since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to be chosen to two All-Decade rosters. He was selected All-Pro eight times, with four selections as a Saint, and all four as a Chief.
Even though Shields failed to make the Hall-of-Fame in his first year of eligibility, he was the only first-year eligible player to crack the final 15 modern-day finalists list. He was eliminated when the 15 was reduced to 10.
Along with Roaf, the rest of the 2012 Hall of Fame inductees are Seattle defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy; Minnesota/Atlanta/San Francisco defensive end Chris Doleman; New York Jets/New England running back Curtis Martin; Pittsburgh center Dermontti Dawson and Pittsburgh defensive back Jack Butler, one of two senior-era candidates.
Notable names that did NOT get in are wide receivers Cris Carter and Tim Brown, running back Jerome Bettis, and defensive end Kevin Greene – all players ranked in the top-6 statistically at their positions. Also snubbed is defensive end, Charles Haley, the only player in the NFL with five Super Bowl Championships to his name.
Another first-time qualifier, former head coach, Bill Parcells, did not make it, which is a bit of a surprise considering how well regarded he is in most NFL circles. However, the acid-tongued Parcells may have rubbed just enough HOF voters raw that they decided to make him wait a little while before enshrinement.
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