LOCAL MEL KIPER

Judge & Jury: Should Mel Kiper Be in Pro Football Hall?

By Clark Judge, Yard Barker

photo: ESPN

Originally posted on FanNation Talk of Fame Network

Mel Kiper went to Essex Community College (CCBC-Essex) and started mock-drafts in 1984 with the encouragement of Ernie Accorsi of the Baltimore Colts.

Each week the Talk of Fame Two entertains historians and/or media members and asks them to answer the Question du Jour. After hearing from them, a judge – in this case, Hall-of-Fame voter Clark Judge -- renders a verdict based on their responses. Today we consult a group of Hall-of-Fame voters to decide a question put before football fans after last week's NFL draft:

Q: In a recent interview with Front Office Sports, ESPN’s vice president of production, Seth Markman, said that Mel Kiper, ESPN's lead draft analyst for nearly four decades, should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame “for what he’s accomplished.” Do you agree?

THE JURY

PAUL DOMOWITCH, HOF voter, Philadelphia

“Uh, no. If the Hall wants to award Mel with one of those Awards of Excellence, I’m good with that. That would be a deserving acknowledgement for his long career. But to actually put him in the Hall of Fame, as they say on ESPN … c’mon man.

PETE DOUGHERTY, HOF voter, Green Bay

“Mel Kiper surely deserves his share of the credit for making the NFL draft the extravaganza it is today. I don’t know that FINISH READING HERE

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