WATCH: Pro Football Hall of Fame's Centennial Class is Jets' Joe Klecko's best shot at justice
It's been over three decades since Jets great Joe Klecko hung up his cleats, yet stunningly he still remains snubbed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That's why the news of a special Centennial Class offers hope that the legendary member of the New York Sack Exchange will finally get his due.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is expanding the amount of potential inductees to 20 in 2020 to celebrate 100 seasons of the NFL, according to USA Today.
The Centennial Class could include as many as five modern-day players, 10 seniors, three contributors and two coaches.
“This is an opportunity to catch up on perhaps some injustices,” Hall of Fame president David Baker said to Pro Football Talk. “We can’t have everybody in there that fans want, and I assure you that I get that mail and I get those phone calls. . . .It’s not the hall of very, very good. It’s the Hall of Fame, and it should be hard to make it into."
Klecko isn't just very good. He's great and one of the most underrated players of his generation. Klecko unequivocally deserves entry into the Hall of Fame because of his supreme versatility.
Klecko was the first defensive player in NFL history to be chosen to the Pro Bowl at three different positions: defensive end (1981), defensive tackle (1983-84) and nose tackle (1985).
Solidifying Klecko's candidacy is the fact he's the lone player in the history of the league to be selected first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press at two different positions and not have a bust in Canton, Ohio.
Klecko was the ultimate plug and play defender during his era. Whether you lined him up in the 3-4 or 4-3 didn't matter: Klecko was going to make his presence felt regardless.
Klecko probably would've already been fitted for his gold jacket if the NFL started counting sacks before 1982. Klecko is listed as only having 24 sacks but he unofficially amassed 50.5 during his first five seasons, including an eye-popping 20.5 in 1981.
Not to mention that Klecko's Hall of Fame peers have prodded the voters for years on his behalf.
“I played against Joe Klecko several times,” Hall of Fame left tackle Anthony Muñoz said to New York Jets.com. “To me, in my humble opinion, he is one of the best and should be in. The Hall of Fame would be in a lot better standing with a guy like Joe in it.”
This Centennial Class is about recognizing the integral athletes of the first 100 years of the NFL. You can't tell the history of the league without the man who made the New York Sack Exchange menacing.
The time is now. Do the right thing, Hall of Fame panel.
