Remove LT From the Hall of Fame???

This morning, on my way to work, I was listening to "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on ESPN Radio. They were talking about Brian Cushing, the Houston Texans player who failed a drug test and has had his Defensive Rookie of the Year title stripped so that the vote can be re-done due to this new detail. This, in turn, became a discussion about Lawrence Taylor being removed from the Hall of Fame. Basically, they were asking whether or not, due to the circumstances of Taylor's alleged involvement with a 16 year-old prostitute, this should somehow disqualify him from Hall of Fame eligibility.

The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting ballot contains a portion which states that players should only be voted in if they had great careers on, and off, the field. It says that their character, leadership and other human qualities help make them eligible. It is basically stating that "If Player X was a jerk, cheater, gambler, philanderer he should not be elected to Cooperstown." While I agree with this, to a degree, a player's enshrinement into a Hall of Fame should be dictated by their performance on their respective playing surface.

So now, back to Taylor. Lawrence Taylor is a Hall of Famer and he should always remain as such. If you remove him from the NFL Hall of Fame for a character issue, you have to also remove people like Ty Cobb (self-proclaimed racist and bigot) from Cooperstown, Michael Jordan (Gambling problem, cheated on his wife) from the NBA Hall of Fame and Michael Irvin (Drugs, Domestic Violence) from Canton. According to the ballot, Cobb shouldn't have been elected in the first place. You cannot keep someone out of the Hall of Fame just because they were a bad person.

This is where I state my case for Pete Rose. Did he bet on baseball? Yes. Did he EVER bet AGAINST his team? No. The man tore up the field for several years, set the mark for career hits which will never be broken and was nicknamed Charlie Hustle for his style of play. If you take his numbers alone, there is no way that Rose doesn't make the Hall of Fame but because Bart Giamatti decided to give him a lifetime ban from the game, Cooperstown has been devoid of one of the greatest hitters of all time.

Back to Taylor. Is what he allegedly did despicable? Yes, absolutely, without a doubt. Does it diminish any of his accomplishments ON the field of play? No, absolutely not, without a doubt. You can't take this man, or any other man, out of any Hall of Fame based on a character flaw. If you did that, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would be empty based on drug use and infidelity alone. Unless you want to talk about letting Pete Rose be eligible for the Hall of Fame, leave things just the way they are.