By John Sarianides

I love the NFL Hall of Fame. I consider it to be the holy grail of football. Like most fans, I made the pilgrimage to Canton in 2010 with my wife and brother in law to see Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith enter the Hall of Fame.

It was the trip of a life time and an experience none of us will ever forget. From the parade to the inductee round table to the enshrinement ceremony to the Hall of Fame game. It was an experience of a life time. 

That experience however has been tarnished for me to a certain extent when I see how the Hall of Fame voters are treating Terrell Owens. Their comments lately regarding Owens have turned me off. 

I am turned off because I have always felt that the enshrinement process in the NFL was fair and balanced. 

Unlike baseball, I felt that the process to gain enshrinement into Canton wasn’t as complicated or convoluted as it is in baseball. 

I have always felt that football writers were more rational than baseball writers. They went beyond the numbers and a player’s relationship with the media. They looked at enshrinement from a different perspective.

Based on the reaction of some the Hall of Fame voters this week however, they are no different than their baseball brethren. They are just as petty, childish and self serving. 

To say that Terrell Owens doesn’t  deserve enshrinement because he was a bad teammate or because he dropped too many passes is a joke! It is flat out asinine! 

Owens is a sure fire Hall of Famer. There is no doubt he belongs in Canton. I get not putting him in on the first ballot but he should have gotten in this year. 

The fact that he did not is further proof that the voters are punishing him for his behavior during his career and his relationship with the media. 

I don’t buy this nonsense that he did not get voted in because he dropped too many passes or that his teammates didn’t like him. That’s garbage. Owens didn’t get in because the voters didn’t like him when he played and some of them still don’t like him. They are hell bent on making him wait. 

Owens is being punished because he didn’t always play nice with the media and he made it too much about himself. That just doesn’t jive with the “accountability” narrative that the voters are trying to spin now.

 Instead of looking at Owens body of work and his impact on the game, they are judging him because he wasn’t accountable enough for his actions or to his teammates. That’s nonsense.

I have a feeling Randy Moss will get treated the same way next year when he appears on the ballot for the first time. 

 I would be shocked if Moss was elected in his first year of eligibility. I have a feeling his persona and relationship with the media will hurt him as well.

Don’t worry. The 48 voters will make sure that the process remains unbiased when they elect a fringe candidate like Brian Urlacher into Canton before Owens or Moss. 

The enshrinement process is a joke and these veteran writers who participate in it know that. Just like their baseball brethren, they are now frauds.