Terrell Owens still hasn't set foot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, three years after being inducted as one of the best wide receivers the game has ever seen. Owens -- third on the all-time receiving yards list, third in career receiving touchdowns and eighth in career receptions -- took three attempts to get voted into the Hall of Fame, which he is still bitter about to this day.
Owens has showcased his frustration on the Hall of Fame voting process once again, using Calvin Johnson as an example. Johnson was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection after a standout career, as the committee passed on two other great receivers Owens believes should have been voted in.
"No disrespect to anybody that got in, but I just don't understand the process," Owens said, via Bob Glauber of Newsday. "Calvin Johnson got in [on the first ballot]. This has nothing to do with Calvin himself. The guy was a beast. But there's no justification when you have [Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne on this year's ballot] that have done equal or greater things."
Johnson certainly deserves his Hall of Fame selection, holding the NFL records for receiving yards in a season (1,964 yards in 2012) and tied with Minnesota's Adam Thielen for the most consecutive games with 100 or more receiving yards (eight). Johnson's 86.1 receiving yards per game is still second in NFL history and his 11,619 career receiving yards are the second most in a player's first 135 games.
Holt has been on the Hall of Fame ballot seven times, but has yet to be voted in. When Holt retired in 2009, he was 11th all time in receptions (920), 10th in receiving yards (13,382) and tied for 20th in touchdowns (74). Holt led the NFL in receiving yards twice and earned seven Pro Bowl selections. Wayne, in his second year on the ballot, totaled 1,070 receptions for 14,345 yards and 82 touchdowns in his 14 seasons. Wayne was seventh in career catches and eighth in career receiving yards when he retired in 2014.
Wayne has a strong case to be in the Hall of Fame already, but was bypassed in favor of Johnson this year. Holt is still waiting his turn to get in. Owens has a point regarding the voting process (he should have been a first-ballot selection) regarding wide receivers, but his angst toward the selection committee won't help move the needle toward change.
