The fans DO have a say in it. They either choose to support the MUSEUM (that’s all it truly is) by paying admission to see the exhibits — including the players enshrined — or they don’t. It’s the same dynamic as any other museum. If there’s no one paying to see “The Treasures of Bob” at the Smithsonian, it won’t take them long to realize they’re doing something wrong. At the same time, you don’t exactly see surveys being passed around, asking the general PUBLIC what they’d like to see on display. That’s up to the PRIVATE committees appointed by these PRIVATE institutions. And you’re right, it’s the Pro Football Hall of FAME, not the Hall of Most Talented NFL Players. As long each inductee quantifies THEIR definition of “fame” — which appears to be the case from top to bottom — they’ve done THEIR job.

My only beef with the enshrinement process is all the first ballot inductees. As far as players go, I think each should be given a finite IN or OUT grade five years after their retirement. Induction should then be based upon that retirement year, with no exceptions. No more waiting years and years to find out. On top of which, there also be some type of nomination process for second reviews. This would have to be accompanied with a compelling argument for revolution of the game, however. This would mainly be for individuals whose long term impact wasn’t apparent until years after their initial review. Or in the case of the current backlog, individuals who were never afforded that initial review. Basically, you’d be putting a whole lot more emphasis on the guys who may not live long enough to see their own bronze bust otherwise, while queueing up the more recent guys with at least a rough ETA, based on their self-imposed annual limits.