Let's Get Mick Tingelhoff in the Hall of Fame

Today it was announced that Mick Tingelhoff was the lone "Seniors Nominee" for the 2015 Hall of Fame candidates.

Congratulations to @Vikings longtime center Mick Tingelhoff who has just been selected as #PFHOF15 Senior Nominee!

— Pro Football HOF (@ProFootballHOF) August 20, 2014

There are two older era Vikings players that are deserving of being in the Hall of Fame, but are currently not there yet.  One is Jim Marshall, but the other is Mick Tingeloff.  If you're unaware of who Mick Tingelhoff is, let me take this moment to shed some light on him as a player.

After attending the University of Nebraska, and starting for his final senior year, Tingelhoff found his way to the Vikings in 1962 as an undrafted free agent.  This was the Vikings second year of existence, and Tingelhoff was able to earn the starting center position during training camp that year; a spot he would continue to hold until his retirement in 1978 (17 years later!).  Over the course of a very long and productive career for the Vikings in which he started 240 consecutive games, he was named to the Pro Bowl six times and was voted on by the Associated Press as a first team All-Pro five times.  There are only five centers in the history of the NFL with more All-Pro selections than Tingelhoff, and all five of them are in the Hall of Fame already.  He appeared in all four of the Vikings Super Bowl appearances, and is a member of the Vikings "Ring of Honor" and is also one of only six players to have his number retired by the team.  He is a member of the University of Nebraska's Hall of Fame, and recently was given the Gerald R. Ford Legends Award

Of all of the major accomplishments the 46-member Hall of Fame committee would consider, Tingelhoff has managed to achieve greatness in all of them.  Let's consider:

1.       Length of Career and Consecutive Starts?
-Check, played 348 Preseason, Regular Season and Post-season games...in a row.

2.       Recognition of the Press in his own era?
-Check, 5-time, first team all-pro

3.       Pro-Bowl appearances?
-Check, 6-time Pro-Bowler

4.       Part of a successful and dominant team?
-Check, 4-time NFC Champion, four Super Bowl appearances

5.       Considered to be among the best at his position in his era?
-Check, only Jim Otto was better (and he's already in the Hall).

6.       Received other significant recognition?
-Check (Nebraska Hall of Fame, Gerald R. Ford Legends Award)

Pro Football Reference gives Tingelhoff a career AV rating of 102, which puts him 99^th overall among players since 1950, and is ranked 136^th overall in that sites "Fan ELO" rating, just behind Bart Starr and George Blanda, but ahead of Marvin Harrison (all players either in the Hall of Fame or past finalists).  There's no good reason that Mick Tingelhoff shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame, or at the very least, not even been a finalist yet.  So, it is up to fans like us at the Daily Norseman to sway the 46-member committee to vote "yes" on Tingelhoff's recent Seniors Nomination.  Tingelhoff must receive an 80% yes vote from this committee in order to be selected into the Hall (37 yes votes).  Although if past history is any indication, a Seniors Nomination is nearly as good as an 80% yes vote.  Still, I've included a table below (because how could I not include a table?) that has the name, association and contact information for all 46-members of the Hall of Fame committee, pulled directly from the Hall of Fame website.  I implore you to contact these voters by any means necessary to voice your support for getting Mick Tingelhoff into the Hall of Fame.

It's a very good sign that the news of Tingelhoff's inclusion as a Senior Nominee was included in the Talk of the Hall blog and podcast, which is run by three members of the voting committee.  I didn't have the pleasure of watching Tingelhoff play, as I still wasn't even born yet when he retired in 1978.  But, everything I have learned about Tingelhoff leads me to believe that him not being in the Hall of Fame is a major snub.  So, in closing, check out this short highlight video from Vikings.com and let's try to get Mick Tingelhoff trending on twitter: #GotMickTingelHOF? and get him in the Hall of Fame!