You know, it's starting to get ridiculous. Sure, it's easy for a biased New York Jets fan like myself to complain about this. But it's not without warrant. It's been nine years now. Nine long years have passed since one of the greatest ever to do it hung up his cleats. Four years have passed since his Hall of Fame eligibility began.
But almost half a decade into his window of opportunity, the late great Nick Mangold still lacks a bust in the Hall of Fame gallery. It was wrong on the first ballot, and it's just as wrong today. It's a football crime that he didn't get to don the gold jacket upon induction. Now that he's passed on, it's time to end the silliness.
Unfortunately, the 26 modern-era semifinalists have been named, and Mangold is not among them. This cannot continue.
Nick Mangold belongs with his peers in the Hall of Fame
If you're an NFL fan and you haven't had the honor of walking the aisles of Canton, you really ought to get on that. It's an incredible experience that enraptures you in football lore. All of the great moments and players, whether literally or spiritually, sit in that building. You can almost hear Vince Lombardi in your ear shouting, "What the hell is going on out there?"
After spending 11 seasons watching Nick Mangold open holes for running backs and deterring some of the greatest interior linemen from penetrating the line, it's laughable that he hasn't been bestowed the ultimate individual prize.
He wasn't simply a good center for a long time — he was a superstar. He was a player you built your entire offensive line around. In some ways, you could build your entire offense around him.
He anchored the best offensive line in football for multiple seasons once Rex Ryan got to town. He was a big body, as every NFL center is. But that didn't mean he was landlocked. It wasn't uncommon to see him tailing it down the field in front of a running back, taking out linebackers and safeties in full stride as if he were a prime Mike Alstott.
When he was snapping the ball, the engine was running. Anytime he was off the field, which wasn't often, given that he only missed four games through his first nine seasons, the offense immediately sputtered.
Mangold made three All-Pro teams and seven Pro Bowls in his career (it's a joke that this number isn't at least eight or nine). For a center on a franchise that was as poor as the Jets through the majority of his career, his talent shone through the mediocrity. Everyone recognized him as either the best center in football or one of the handful in that argument.
I'm not sure why his recognition has decreased, but it's clear it has. I remember talking about Nick Mangold when he was playing. All fans, league-wide, considered him an elite talent for a very long time. It's revisionist history to say otherwise. He did everything a center possibly can to make the hall.
Come on NFL, do the right thing. It's long overdue. His legacy and memory deserves it.