A gross exclusion from the Hall of Fame...

Perusing The Bulldog Shop today and taking a look at its new throwback Fresno State football jerseys got me thinking again about former wide receiver Henry Ellard. More specifically, it got me thinking about how Ellard is not yet in the NFL's Hall of Fame.

How can that be?

Someone more in the NFL know, please explain this to me. Ellard, the longtime L.A. Rams star who also spent time with the Redskins and Patriots, retired as the NFL's fourth leading receiver of all-time. I don't know what he ranks as now, and I don't need to know. It's somewhere in the top eight I'm guessing. That's plenty good enough.

The 17 finalists for this year's induction class were announced, and Ellard's name is nowhere in print. Cris Carter is a finalist this year, and he has only been retired a handful of years. Is anyone else in the top 10 who's not active not in the Hall of Fame? Jerry Rice, Steve Largeant, Art Monk, etc.

Ellard's NFL career:

• 17 years (11 Rams, 5 Redskins, 1 Patriots)
• 13,777 yards receiving (7 season over 1,000 yards)
• 814 receptions
• 65 touchdown catches
• 16.9 yards per catch
• 135 punt returns, 1,527 yards, 4 touchdowns
• 19 kick returns, 364 yards
• 2 fumbles lost (1 catch, 1 rush)

FS Dream Team: Wide Receivers

Time to open up the voting at wide receiver (one of the most storied positions in school history). Each Bulldog Bounce blogger has turned in his own votes for each position already, but we want to hear what you -- the readers -- think.

Then, at the end of all the voting we'll compare our results to yours. We'll go position-by-position with the idea of starting healthy debate about why so-and-so is better than such-and-such? YOU decide the criteria! What's more important? College stats or pro? Four-year starters or JC transfers? Single-season greatness or consistency?

Next up is wide receiver, and the nominees are:
--Stephen Baker
--Bernard Berrian
--Marque Davis
--Henry Ellard
--Joe Fernandez
--Charlie Jones
--Stephone Paige
--Brian Roberson
--Malcolm Seabron
--Paul Williams
--Larry Willis
--Tydus Winans
--Rodney Wright

The Bulldog Bounce selects Bernard Berrian, Henry Ellard and Charlie Jones as Fresno State's greatest all-time receivers. Berrian was a unanimous first-teamer, while Ellard and Jones each had three first-team votes and one second-team. Rodney Wright also received two first-team votes, and one second-team, while Stephone Paige, Stephen Baker and Brian Roberson each had three second-team votes.

And boy it was hard to leave guys like Adam Jennings, David Dunn, Jahine Arnold, Charles Smith, Jermaine Jamison, Dwight Pickens, Lee Harris and Latario Rachal off this list. But argue if you want one of those guys or someone else on.

Have fun, voice your opinion and let the voting begin! The nominees will remain posted in the right-hand column for you to choose from, but please add comments to this blog entry as well.