I prefer to look at what happened on the field rather than what might have happened on the field. There are plenty of quotes where Red Grange and others discuss how much more physical the pro game was.RyanChristiansen wrote:The earliest players, though... I believe there's room for debate about whether they were the best athletes, because many of the best football players in the early days chose NOT to play professional football.
There's not much interest in other leagues like the PCFL, but I think Washington would have a better chance than someone like Bobby Marshall. There's no interest in pre-NFL.RyanChristiansen wrote:What about the black athletes who were shut out of the NFL for a decade-and-a-half? Kenny Washington, for example, didn't get the chance to play in the NFL until he was nearly washed up. He was a premiere athlete in the Pacific Coast League when he was with the Hollywood Bears for six seasons. Why hasn't he made it into the Hall of Very Good? Too few seasons? I see Charley Hennigan actually played fewer seasons of pro ball than Washington, and Hennigan is in the HOVG.
Someone mentioned elite athletes, Marshall played baseball and hockey as well, but it was a long time ago, so never mind.
https://www.profootballresearchers.org/ ... d61#p39444
If Tank Conrad was a HOVG finalist, I'd vote for him, but for the players in the category you mentioned, its near impossible to make a case. Only black newspapers were covering the games and they were always a week late and didn't have a very extensive sports section. Folks like Bob and Tod went to the microfilm, but it sounds like there just wasn't a lot there.
https://www.profootballresearchers.org/ ... 01-393.pdf
http://profootballresearchers.com/archi ... 05-384.pdf