Washington Redskins legend Joe Jacoby fails to make Hall of Fame

Making the Hall of Fame has been a long-awaited dream for Washington Redskins’ legend Joe Jacoby. But that dream will have to wait at least another year.

The final tallies in the Hall of Fame voting conducted recently have yet to be released, but according to J.P. Finlay of NBC Mid-Atlantic, Jacoby was not among the 2018 inductees.

Every year, there is steep competition to be awarded a place in the Hall of Fame, but time and time again, it seems, Joe Jacoby is overlooked.

For the past five years, Joe Jacoby has been in the running for a Hall of Fame spot, and last year, he was a finalist for the honor. However, he failed to achieve such recognition, and in 2018, the story appears to be the same. Jacoby was up against players like Randy Moss, Ray Lewis, John Lynch, and almost a dozen more. But the 6-foot-7 offensive lineman has a very compelling claim to fame.

Jacoby was one of the most feared members of the Washington Redskins’ famed offensive line group, the Hogs, through the 1980s and the early part of the 1990s. Jacoby, along with Mark May, Jeff Bostic, George Stark, and Russ Grimm, helped the Washington Redskins appear in four Super Bowls, three of which they won.

In Super Bowl XVII, in 1983, Jacoby was a key piece of a Redskins’ offense that, behind the legs of John Riggins, ran all over the Miami Dolphins in a 27-17 victory. Jacoby was a dominant piece on the Hogs offensive line, which is still recognized as one of the best, if not the best offensive line in the history of the National Football League. He was a four-time Pro Bowler, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and a three-time All Pro. You won’t find many players with that kind of resume outside of the Hall of Fame.

Jacoby remains the face of a sports era long gone in D.C., and he serves as a reminder that good times can always return. Now 57 years old, Jacoby’s time to enter the Hall of Fame has not come yet. An egregious slight in its own right.

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2018 was unfortunately Jacoby’s last year on the Hall of Fame ballot. His modern era eligibility has been exhausted. To be entered into the Hall of Fame beyond this point, he will need to be inducted by the veterans committee. It’s fair to wonder if outside motivations have caused this slight. But it’s not right to dwell on the news. Jacoby is a Hall of Fame player. Even if some refuse to realize it.