Washington football legend Joe Jacoby will have to wait at least one more year before making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The former undrafted free agent who became a core member of the most famous offensive line in football did not advance to the finals in this year’s voting. Jacoby had been one of nine semi-finalists selected by the NFL's seniors committee.
Jacoby, who retired in 1993 after playing 170 games in the famous burgundy and gold, was part of all three Super Bowl champions for the now-Washington Commanders. He made the Pro Bowl four consecutive seasons and was selected first-team All-Pro in 1983 and 1984. He is one of just three offensive players recognized by the league as part of the all-decade team for the 1980s who are not yet in Canton.
Washington legend Joe Jacoby will have to wait longer for his Pro Football Hall of Fame berth
One of the others, running back Roger Craig, did advance to the final ballot this year.
Craig was joined by ex-Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson and former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood from the seniors committee. Jacoby missed out, along with wide receivers Henry Ellard (who spent five seasons in Washington), Stanley Morgan, and Otis Taylor, defensive back Eddie Meador, and special teamer Steve Tasker.
This year appeared to be Jacoby’s best chance to date. Four other senior offensive linemen washed out at the semi-finalist stage, leaving the former Hogs member as the only remaining candidate at that position.
With Craig and Anderson both receiving strong pushes this year, it appears that Jacoby may have lost out to Greenwood, a member of Pittsburgh’s famous Steel Curtain defense that helped the team to four Super Bowls in the 1970s.
Washington, of course, won three of their own in the 1980s and early 1990s. Whereas Pittsburgh has nine members of those legendary teams in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Washington has just four.
Jacoby might have been the fifth. Instead, the Steelers may be celebrating their 10th inductee.
The knock against Jacoby has always been his relative lack of All-Pro selections. He missed part of the 1985 season, and that led to a slight drop in his reputation. It is hard to understand why he did not receive at least one more All-Pro designation in 1986, and there were several other campaigns in which he might also have been honored.
But it was not to be this year. Offensive line is the least stat-dependent position in football, which makes All-Pro recognition very important.
Those who have championed his cause note that several Hall of Fame defensive players — Randy White, Lawrence Taylor, and Chris Doleman — have said Jacoby was among the greatest they ever faced and deserves enshrinement. Others have noted that he was a genuine game-changer. He was among the first offensive tackles to combine massive size with the agility to pull on Washington’s famous counter trey runs.
He was an integral part of the most famous offensive line in football. Defensive lines often received nicknames, but Washington’s Hogs were culturally groundbreaking in addition to being dominant on the field. Still, Russ Grimm is the only member of that unit in Canton.
Jacoby’s day is coming. He may have been closer this year than ever before.
If Greenwood is enshrined this year, he will be the second member of the Steel Curtain line so honored, along with three other back-seven defenders. Perhaps that will give the voters a bit of a push to put in the second Hogs' lineman next year.
His time is long overdue.