Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

[Raptor]

Good read...It really bugs the **** out of me when people try and pretend that ST's should be excluded. Its part of the game and should be more represented in the HOF. Tasker was at a whole other level when he played and I still have yet to see any ST'er make the impact he did on covering and blocking kicks. Opposing teams HAD to account for him. He was a very unique and talented player and deserves to be in there

The NFL Network recently posted a list of the top ten players not in the Hall of Fame. Steve Tasker was listed as number 9 on the list. 2009 finalists Bob Hayes, Derrick Thomas, and Cris Carter are also on that list and Carter and possibly Thomas will be elected this year. So if the official network of the NFL thinks Tasker is worthy, how could he be left off of the list of finalists once again?....

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2009/1/25/724380/does-steve-tasker-belong-i

[Uncle Jesse]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

No. His time has passed anyway, he's not getting in.

[Night Train]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

Veterans Committee will vote him in shortly, like they did Ray Guy.

[pmoon6]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

Tasker weighs in on his induction. Class guy all the way.


There was much revelry among the Hall of Fame Bills from the early 90’s teams that won four consecutive AFC titles this past weekend as a fifth player from those teams will be added to their ranks in Canton in Andre Reedthis August. At the same time those players believe the final chapter on their team won’t be complete until one more player from that roster joins them.
“They talk about the big four and we finally got the fourth one in with Andre to join me, Bruce and Thurman,” said Jim Kelly while appearing on Bills flagship station WGR Sportsradio 550 Monday. “We have James Lofton as well, and now it’s time to start working on Steve Tasker to try to get him in one of these days. He’s definitely one of the greatest to ever play his position on special teams and now we have to start working on Steve.”

“It’s pretty much complete,” said Reed of the 90’s Bills Hall of Fame script. “But there’s one more guy… Steve. That would be great.”

Tasker, while certainly appreciative of the sentiments from his former teammates, is uneasy about being mentioned as a player of the same caliber.

“For me I’m uncomfortable being in the fraternity with those guys and other guys who have been there throughout the history of the league,” Tasker told Buffalobills.com. “You look at the guys in the Hall of Fame and in the football world it’s like being one of the 12 apostles. You don’t really put yourself in that group. You get chosen by somebody else. I’m very uncomfortable seeing myself as part of that group.”

Tasker, who has been a Hall of Fame semifinalist four of the last five years, feels that the halls of Canton are for the very best of the best. The Bills Wall of Famer isn’t sure his accomplishments during his time in the league put him in that class.

“I had a nice career and in some ways a unique career, but to be mentioned in a group with even the five guys I love so much in Bruce, Jim, Thurman, Andre and James, I’m uncomfortable because I was different,” he said. “And because I was different I don’t know if I belong in there.”

The seven-time Pro Bowl specialist also knows earning enough support from the Hall of Fame Selectors in a role like he had is very difficult.

“It’s a tough sell to have a guy that played primarily special team to get in the Hall of Fame,” he said. “And you can debate it and maybe it’s a debate worth having.”

The debate certainly appears to be more substantiated now that six-time All-Pro punter Ray Guy was selected for enshrinement for the 2014 Hall of Fame class. Guy became the first special teams player selected for induction in Canton as a Senior Committee nominee.

READ: Does Guy's induction open the door for Tasker?

“Now that Ray (Guy) is in there, that’s a little more of a leg to stand on,” said Reed. “The first punter ever to be enshrined, so for Steve it really opens up the door there for discussion for him.”

“It does raise a question because Ray Guy didn’t get in for a lot of years,” Tasker admitted. “There may be 50 punters since the time of Ray Guy that have better career numbers than Ray did, but the argument is those 50 guys, every one of them was inspired by Ray. Ray Guy was larger than the position that he played. He was larger than the role that he played for those Raiders teams.

“He’s responsible for the success of a generation of players that followed him. So it does raise a question of the criteria the panel uses to get him in and what is worthy of a Hall of Fame career?”

Long time NFL kicker Morten Andersen, the league’s all-time leading scorer, was also a Hall of Fame finalist this year.

One could make the case that Tasker, who averaged between 24 to 30 plays a game on special teams, had an even greater impact on games than Guy, who participated in six to 10 plays a game. Tasker however, seems at peace with his place in NFL history especially after earning a spot on the NFL’s All-Time Team as voted by the Hall of Fame Selectors 14 years ago.

more....

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/HOF-Bills-want-Tasker-in-next-but-specialist-unsure-he-fits/0a7d4832-a652-47c7-8ef1-69aa4a269cb3?campaign=fb_buf_article

[Meathead]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

if you can demonstrate that you could repeatedly make plays on special teams over a long period then yeah you should be a hof candidate just like anybody else imo

tasker is sort of the premier example in that regard so yeah i think he certainly deserves it

[BidsJr]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

Yes he does.

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

another person who I think is worthy is Kent Hull. may he rest in peace

[Turf]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

Absolutely yes, and the only one so far. Guy opened the door for him. Tasker was a beast, no one has even come close to what he accomplished on ST's.

[coastal]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

Without a doubt

[ticatfan]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

His son ,if he keeps it up may make the hall up here, some day.

http://scratchingpost.thespec.com/

This is Luke Tasker's September, so far: Sixteen catches, 201 receiving yards, two touchdowns, four punt returns, holding for 11 Justin Medlock field goal attempts, nine of them good, and moving up to 13th in CFL reception yardage.

Oh yes, and he's one of the singers in the team band which was formed this month.

What? He doesn't cook the team meals? Slacker.

Tasker is the Tiger-Cats' second-leading receiver, 29 yards back of Andy Fantuz and 18 up on Greg Ellingson The Cats receivers are closely bunched, reflecting their spread-it-around philosophy.

Another Cat who could be called Mr. Versatility, Tasker is not one of those import receivers who initially wows you with one overriding asset: speed or height or size. He just does everything well, from getting open more rapidly than expected on blitzes, to coming back toward the quarterback as an outlet when Zach Collaros is forced to scramble, to inhaling tightly threaded passes in dangerous traffic, to averaging good yardage as an emergency punt-returner, to mastering how to hold the football for a left-footed place kicker who is one of the hardest-to-please in the game (he rescued a 50-yarder for Medlock off an inside snap two weeks ago).

"Luke does all the little things that people don't see, " says Kent Austin who, along with offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell had Tasker for his final three years at Cornell.

"He's a great time-and-space guy. He knows how to position his body to take the ball away from DBs, he'll always come back for the ball, he'll get lower than the lowest man in zone. The quarterback knows … there's a trust factor in knowing that the positioning of the receiver is going to be consistent."

But don't confuse all-round skills with being spread too thin to excel at any. Tasker's hands are like crazy glue and it's usually a shock when he doesn't come down with the ball. He honed the catching skills with his father and brothers when he was young, craving the astounding grab, relishing the most impossible throw.

"People will say I'm a possession receiver, that I'm smart, with deceptive speed, " Tasker says. "And to a certain extent all those things are true.

"You have to know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses. But you also have to have an attitude that you're a playmaker, that you're capable of making the big play."

Because, put simply, he catches it, every quarterback who has thrown even a practice pass for the Cats over the past two years has loved tossing to the 23-year-old from East Aurora, New York, which is hard by Orchard Park, the Buffalo Bills' home.

His father Steve was a household word in Bills-ville, a special-teams legend and receiver who played in seven Pro Bowls during the Bills' only dominant NFL era.

More....

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

Don't care AT ALLL if he gets in.

It always annoyed me back in the day when he was everyone's favorite player when we had Thurman, Jim, Bruce, Andre, Cornelius, Daryl, James, etc etc......

[YardRat]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

When you have an impact on how the entire league does business with their roster and on game days, yes, you belong in the HOF.

I don't really think Stenerud did much to change things, but players like Guy and Tasker had an impact on the NFL that carries on today.

[black N yellow]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

until I had to listen to him on CBS and West Herr Ford commercials ALL the time, sure.

[imbondz]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

Don't care AT ALLL if he gets in.

It always annoyed me back in the day when he was everyone's favorite player when we had Thurman, Jim, Bruce, Andre, Cornelius, Daryl, James, etc etc......

Lol!

[The Jokeman]

Re: Does Steve Tasker belong in the Hall of Fame?

No. Tasker himself doesn't think he deserves to be in it. Call him humble but I call is he realizes that his impact on games wasn't as significant as we like to think he is. The fact is he's a product of the Sports Center culture ie people remember most of his plays because it made a highlight reel. Yet what about all the plays he didn't make? I mean the guy played in 160 NFL games, to me he would have had to make a significant impact in about 90 of those games to think he was HOF worthy and honestly I don't think anyone can admit he was that dominant. I mean how many games did he really end up making a big play here? I'd say 20 at most and that's being polite about it.