Jim Marshall named semifinalist by Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee

The man who, arguably (or unarguably), deserves a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame more than any other player in Minnesota Vikings history is going to get his opportunity again.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has released its list of semifinalists for the Seniors category and the Coach/Contributor categories. There were 31 players on the list for the Seniors category, and defensive lineman Jim Marshall is among them once again.

Marshall spent nineteen years of his twenty-year career with the Vikings from 1962 to 1979. As the article from the Hall of Fame notes, he didn’t miss a game in his entire career, with his streak of 282 consecutive games played being the most in NFL history by a defensive player and 58 games longer than the next-closest defensive lineman.

Marshall has been credited with 130.5 career sacks (after the stats guys went through and tallied the numbers from the days before sacks were counted). Of those, 128 came with the Vikings, placing him second in franchise history behind his fellow Purple People Eaters teammate, Carl Eller (130.5). Marshall is also tied for 22nd on the all-time list in NFL history in sacks.

It seems like we say this every year. . .probably because we do, in fact, say this every year. . .but it’s way past time for Jim Marshall to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The fact that he isn’t in there already is ridiculous, and if those Bud Grant Vikings team would have won just one of those four Super Bowls there isn’t a doubt in my mind he would be in already.

The next hurdle for Marshall to clear will come on 27 July, when the Seniors Committee will meet and reduce their list from 31 names down to 12. After that, the Committee will meet on 22 August to send a final list of three names up for consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

Here’s hoping that this is the last season that we have to write posts like this and that, in a few months, we’ll be able to put one together about Jim Marshall finally getting the call to Canton.