By STEVE KING

I haven’t talked to the three other panelists about this, and I won’t unless my best friend brings it up to me, which he probably will because he will see this and he’s very, very perceptive, and cerebral. He does a great job of boiling away the superfluous and analyzing the true worth of things.

But I would bet a dollar to a doughnut that they were feeling the same thing as me as we have worked together on a draft of the 75 best Browns for the Canton Repository in honor and recognition of the team’s 75 anniversary. The piece, as I understand it, will run between now and the holidays. Look for it, for it has been really cool doing this.

That is, they were afraid — reluctant, spooked, indecisive — about the candidacy of wide receiver Reggie Rucker. I know the feeling.

It’s not clear-cut by any stretch of the imagination. It’s cloudy, at best. It is, by far — it’s not even close — the toughest call on the board.

By football standards, Rucker is a shoo-in for this top 75 list. After a seven-season career (1975-81) with the team as it began to grow into being the Kardiac Kids, he’s in the top 10 on the Browns all-time in the four most important receiving categories: receptions (sixth with 310), yards (fifth with 4,953), touchdowns (fifth with 32) and average yards per catch (tied for ninth with Dante Lavelli and Gary Collins at 16.0).

But there’s more to it than that — at least perception-wise — and that counts.

Rucker’s off-the-field issues in recent years are well-documented. He’s done some things wrong that have landed him into incarceration.

Now, does that cancel out the football prowess and keep him off the list?

I say no, and it’s why, with my pick — the last one — in the fourth round at No. 60 overall, I chose him.

I got to know Rucker a little over the years and he has always treated me with kindness, and he has been helpful with anything I’ve ever needed from him on various projects. I know him to be a good man who did a bad thing. It’s that simple.

We are moving out of Thanksgiving and into the holiday season. It is a time for giving, and forgiving, and I think we all need to forgive Reggie Rucker.

Let those who have never done something they have grown to regret, cast the first football.

I don’t see any footballs.

By the way, it all worked out for the best, for 60 — his place on this list — is a big number for Rucker. That’s how many catches he had in 1975 in his first year with the Browns, which led the AFC.