The Dallas Cowboys had two former members available for the Hall of Fame in 2012 in Bill Parcells and Charles Haley. Neither made it, although it is pretty much assured they will both enter the Hall one day. 2013 is the year they should make it in although it will be a crowed Hall of Fame class.
The entire situation with Tim Brown, Cris Carter and Andre Reed getting shafted every year has to end sooner or later. Plus, 2013 features some very interesting first time players including former Dallas Cowboys' offensive lineman Larry Allen and Baltimore Raven's lineman Jonathan Odgen.
In my opinion, both of these men are first time Hall of Famers. If you want more names, there is the NFL single-season sack leader Michael Strahan, Warren Sapp, John Lynch, Steve McNair and Morten Anderson. Add in names from 2012 that were passed over, like the trio of wide receivers as well as Aeneas Williams and Kevin Greene, and it is going to be a tough call.
While 2012 is a relatively lame NFL Hall of Fame class with no headliner that I can see, 2013 might be a huge one for the Dallas Cowboys. Even if the Hall of Fame voters do the right thing and let in Carter and Brown as receivers, there is still room for Parcells and Haley. Add in Brown as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, along with Odgen, and you have three former Cowboys as front-runners for the 2013 class.
If there are only five modern day players in the 2013 NFL Hall of Fame class, I'd vote for Cris Carter, Larry Allen, Charles Haley, Jonathan Ogden and Bill Parcells, although I can see Tim Brown getting in over Parcells in 2013. If the NFL Hall of Fame continues to disrespect wide receivers in their voting, Parcells, Haley and Allen should all be shoe-ins.
For those who aren't familiar, Allen played for the Cowboys from 1994-2005 and then finished his career with the San Francisco 49ers. While he only played on one Dallas Cowboys' Super Bowl team, he was just as good, and I'd argue better, than the legendary offensive linemen from 1992 and 1993. Allen played in 11 Pro Bowls, the most ever for the Cowboys, and remains one of the finest offensive linemen to ever play the game.
He has all the markings of a first-ballot Hall of Fame superstar.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
