Commentary

All-Pro selections as a Canton guide

Six or more consensus All-Pro picks should guarantee a Hall pass

Originally Published: February 4, 2010

By KC Joyner | ESPN Insider

What this is: Football Scientist K.C. Joyner talks about Canton selection for 2010.

There are many different ways to research history; the one common denominator in all of them is a heavy reliance on contemporary source material. For example, David McCullough listed 497 books and reference sources in the bibliography of his 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning book "John Adams," but those tomes did not take the lead position in that section.

The honor there went to a group of nineteen manuscript collections, including papers from John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Abigail Adams. McCullough knew those contemporary writings offered the closest look he would ever get at Adams' generation and he valued it accordingly.

Heeding the voices of days gone by can also offer value in the world of Hall of Fame voting. There are many methods one can use to go about this but the most effective one may be the annual All-Pro picks.

The process may different in football than in baseball, but the arguments about who belongs in the Hall of Fame remain the same. K.C. Joyner brings some clarity to the argument, but in order to see who really needs to be in Canton, you must be an ESPN Insider.