QBs, pioneers enter NFL Hall

CANTON, Ohio — Dan Marino took the long, straight road to the Hall of Fame. Steve Young traversed a long and winding route.
Both got to the football shrine this weekend thanks to often dominant performances that few NFL quarterbacks could match and few defenses could handle. Marino was the most prolific passer in league history, and Young brought an exciting brand of uninhibited play to the game.
They will join yet another quarterback, Benny Friedman, and Fritz Pollard as the Class of 2005. Friedman and Pollard were NFL pioneers. - NFL Football -
Before drafting Marino with the 27th — yes, 27th — choice of the first round in 1983, when five quarterbacks went ahead of the Pittsburgh product, Dolphins coach Don Shula preferred a run-oriented offense and conservative play-calling. That all changed when Marino showed up in Miami. - NFL Football -
Marino became the most prolific passer the NFL has seen. When he left the Dolphins after the 1999 season, he had NFL bests of 4,967 completions, 8,358 passes, 61,361 yards and 420 touchdowns. His record of 48 TD passes in the 1984 season was broken by Peyton Manning last year.
Although he never won a Super Bowl, Marino was the 1984 league MVP, made three All-Pro teams and nine Pro Bowls. - NFL Football -
Young began his pro career in decidedly non-Hall of Fame style. He played for the Los Angeles Express of the USFL, then the ragtag Tampa Bay Buccaneers before Bill Walsh engineered a trade to get him to the 49ers.
Young sat behind Joe Montana from 1987-90, but replaced the future Canton inductee when Montana was injured in 1991. He kept the job most of the rest of the decade, leading the Niners to the 1994 NFL championship — their last title. - NFL Football -
The first modern-era, left-handed quarterback elected to the Hall of Fame, Young was the league's most valuable player in 1992 and '94.
Friedman played for four teams from 1927-34 and was one of the early NFL's great quarterbacks. A contemporary of Red Grange, he also was a strong draw at the box office. A college star at Michigan, his popularity stayed with him in the pros.
At 5 feet 8, 170 pounds, Friedman would have been a pip-squeak in today's game. He was an all-star during his career, though, and Grange once called him "the best quarterback I ever played against." - NFL Football -
Pollard was the first black head coach in the NFL, in 1921, and was an outstanding player. A running back, he led the Akron Pros to the 1920 championship with an undefeated record and later organized the Chicago Brown Bombers, an independent team of black players that barnstormed the country.

Barry Wilner
The Associated Press