Sorry, chief, I gotta strongly disagree with you on that one. Mawae was very good, but imo in no way, shape or form was he anywhere near as good or as dominant as Klecko was.
So was Mawae less dominant than Klecko the year Curtis Martin ran for 1,697 yards, the year he ran for 1,513 yards, or the year he ran for 1,464 yards? I'm confused, which year did Mawae look anything less than a dominating man monster pounding holes into the middle of opposing defenses? It is ironic that (aside from the injury year) the only year he didn't make the pro bowl as a Jet was his first year when he led us to the AFC Championship game. It is no coincidence that the one year Mawae was injured was the worst year of Curtis Martin's career when he failed to break 800 rushing yards and could only stay healthy for 12 games.
Mawae was not nearly as dominate a player as Klecko. As far as hall of game snubs though it's not even close, Klecko is far more deserving of a hall nod. Although I'll acknowledge that part of that is because of position as Centers don't get in the hall like defensive linemen. Especially defensive linemen that were all pros all across the line and the anchor of a defensive line that dominated the league in the 1980s... It's no contest there. Ultimately though I got to disagree with your description of Mawae anyway. It kills me because I always liked the guy but there's some kind of misconception here. He was a finesse, smart center not at all the "man monster dominating and pounding holes in the middle of the defense" that you describe. That wasn't even his strength! One on one in the middle he was weak-- he was great at moving down the line, finding guys to block on the second level, zone and read blocking. He was the new breed of center that kind of changed the game in that era-- Birk, Mawae, the guy from Denver I am forgetting the name. Those guys were centers that pulled and moved. Unique from yesteryear. Dermotti Dawson got in the hall as a center from the same era but he was more like the dominating man in the middle you describe. I don't think Mawae gets in ever and I understand if he doesn't.
The other thing that's easy to forget about Mawae is that he was one of the best pulling centers of all time. Mawae lead more sweeps for the Jets than any guard I can remember and he pulled on screens a lot also.
Mawae was a great player, and saying he's being snubbed is not unfair. Somebody saying you don't understand the game of football because you say that is ridiculous. Remember the time he hurt his right hand/arm going into a big game? I don't remember all the particulars of the injury or the game, But it was doubtful he could play. And he took the field to start the game and snapped the ball with his left hand! I wouldn't put him over Joe Klecko, but he was damn good.
Mawae was on the smaller side for a center,too, although he was not undersized. I remember he had a nasty streak am lie wide. Good times.
I am not saying that Klecko does not belong in the HOF. I am saying that Gastineau and Mawae were just as good or slightly better. In any event it is a disgrace that there are only three Jets in the Hall.
Gastineau better than Klecko?! laughable... Gastineau was a one-trick pony who had a steroid issue that actually diminished his effectiveness in rushing the passer. Klecko anchored the DL from each of its positions and was the defense's unquestioned leader.
Watt is Klecko on a healthy diet of steroids and/or PEDs. And I am being serious. That guy is definetely juicing
When Klecko was healthy in his prime he was just as good as J.J. Watt is today when you take the difference in the eras into account. However Watt is just getting started. If he stays healthy he'll have the better career. Klecko got 20 sacks in 1981. The fact that the sack wasn't kept as a stat until 1982 doesn't take away from what he did in 1981. He had 11.5 sacks in 1980. Then he began to get hurt, because he was playing the defensive line at 263 lbs and was undersized even for the time. He was every bit the dominant force that Watt has been for the Texans, again taking the different eras into consideration.
Yeah, life was certainly different for sports fans before ESPN. I remember marveling at being able to see out of town baseball games more than once a week. Before ESPN it was all Yankees on WPIX 11, Mets on WWOR 9 and 1 game of the week on NBC (I think) that had Joe Garagiola and somebody else (I want to say Vin Scully but he was the Dodgers guy so that's wrong) calling it and was usually the Dodgers or the Cardinals.
Mawae was not dominant. He couldn't move his man off the LOS to save his life. He was a finesse blocker and his game was pulling. He was very good at it, but he was not a powerful, dominating type OL. There were many times when the Jets had 4th and 1 and wound up having to punt because Mawae and company couldn't move their men a yard off the LOS. He is not deserving of the HOF imo and is not being snubbed.
So by that logic Barry Sanders doesn't belong in the hall of fame because he was a finesse running back and often was held for negative yards because he failed to push his way through the line of scrimmage. It does not matter is he bulled over defensive linemen or slipped past them to clobber linebackers. Either way he cleared a path for Curtis Martin to put up some big time stats. Beyond that he was a highly effective pass blocker (Vinny and Pennington did not take a lot of hits) and made the likes of Leon Johnson and LaMont Jordan look like beasts. The fact is that Dawson is in the HOF because he was a Steeler and Mawae is on the outside looking in because he played most of his career in a Jet uniform.
