THESE TWO GUYS BELONG IN THE HALL OF FAME
By STEVE KING
Former Browns Gary Collins and Dick Schafrath are stuck – likely forever — in the Hall of the Very Good, but they shouldn’t be.
They should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There is absolutely no question about it.
I have tons of respect for Joe Horrigan, whom I referenced in a post just a few days ago as the guy who came up with the “Hall of the Very Good” tag for players who weren’t quite good enough to go into the HOF. I agree with almost everything Horrigan, now retired, has said to me about pro football. The longtime Hall of Fame executive is the smartest pro football person I know, especially when it comes to the history of the sport.
Horrigan thinks the two players, whose careers mirrored each other’s – Collins was a wide receiver who played 10 seasons (1962-71) with the Browns, and Schafrath, a Wooster High School and Ohio State product, was a left tackle for the team for 13 years (1959-71) – are worthy of being in only the Hall of the Very Good. He has told me so. But I told him each time that I respectfully disagree, and, some years later, I am firmer in that stance than ever before.
Schafrath and Collins were better than that – much, much, much better.
Despite playing at a time when defensive players could mug pass-catchers in their routes and get away with it, and in 14-game regular seasons, Collins’ numbers really stood out – and they stand out even now, decades later.
He had 331 career receptions, second-most in Browns history, and 70 touchdown catches, which is far and away a club record. His 13 TD receptions in 1963 stood as a team mark for 44 years. And, in the biggest game of his career, and the biggest in Browns history post-1950s, he caught three scoring passes to help lead the team to the 1964 NFL title with a 27-0 victory over the Baltimore Colts.
As such, Collins checks all the boxes for HOF induction by a wide receiver.
As for Schafrath, he went to six Pro Bowls, the same as one of his former teammates, Hall of Fame guard Gene Hickerson. He blocked for three Hall of Fame runners in Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell, and protected the blind side of the most productive NFL quarterback for a five-year period in the mid-1960s, Frank Ryan.
So, Schafrath also checks all the boxes for his position.
And did I mention that, throughout their careers, the Browns annually were NFL title contenders?
Considering all that, then, the fact that Dick Schafrath and Gary Collins are not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame – and likely will never be enshrined – is nothing short of a crime.
