Now and then, people contact me about endorsing the idea, and spreading it, of pushing for this or that guy to get into a sports Hall of Fame. One particular baseball stat wonk is a Bert Blyleven enthusiast, and he has written me a time or three about voting for Bert for the baseball Hall of Fame — which I have yet to do.
On Tuesday, I got an e-mail from someone promoting the Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy of Eddie Meador, the Los Angeles Rams’ great safety from the 1960s.
Now, there’s a candidacy I can endorse whole-heartedly … but can’t really do anything (directly) about because of the way the NFL selects its candidates. It’s a small group of football writers, not 500-plus baseball writers.
I can post the e-mail from Eddie Meador’s daughter, along with the link to the Eddie Meador Web site.
And I can assure you Eddie Meador was as good as any player on the Rams of the 1960s — and that was a team that boasted, in the middle-to-late part of the decade, the Fearsome Foursome — the defensive line of Deacon Jones, Merlin Olson, Rosie Grier and Lamar Lundy. And had Roman Gabriel at quarterback and stalwarts such as Tom Mack and Joe Scibelli on the offensive line.
I thought Meador was important as any of them.
Meador certainly was one of the examples of my lifelong fascination with the idea of the “last man” in defensive football. The guy who has to make a play or the other team scores.
The idea of that is more satisfying to me, intellectually, than even the most well-executed offensive play. Whether it means a sure tackle against a great player in the open field … or never giving up on a play and running down a ball-carrier after a long sprint. I love the idea. It always has struck me as romantic. And it also strikes me as very much an analytical and intellectual pursuit, as well — knowing where to be and how to make that TD-saving play. Anticipating and executing. That is, about far more than sheer athletic talent.
Eddie Meador was the Last Man for the Rams time and again throughout the 1960s. Especially in the early 1960s, when the Rams routinely were horrible. I was a child during Meador’s early Rams career, but I always identified with No. 21 and always figured if he couldn’t make the play, no one could.
Life for the Rams and Eddie Meador — who I believe is still alive — changed in 1966, when George Allen took over as coach. The Rams were in the playoffs by 1967 and came close to the Super Bowl a time or two before Meador’s last season, in 1970.
He still holds the Rams record for career interceptions, 46.
Here is a wikipedia link to a mini-bio on Eddie Meador.
And here is the e-mail I received from his daughter, who is leading the campaign to get Eddie into the football hall:
Hello!
I am the daughter of former L.A. Ram, Eddie Meador, who played Defensive Back for 12 seasons (1959-1970). I would like to share with you that my brothers and I have begun a campaign to hopefully get Dad inducted into the Hall. He is officially on the Senior Nominees list for the Class of 2010.
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We have created a website for Dad & would like to invite you to view it. Please go to
www.edmeador21.com . We are proud of it and hope you enjoy it!
Through this website, you can read his Bio/Stats/Fun Facts/ & view photos.
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Would you please forward this website to your contacts/family/friends?
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There is even a link on how a person can send in their Letter of Recommendation to the Hall/Committee Members through the “How To Nominate” Link. The Senior Selection Committee will begin reviewing the list of Nominees in June & make their final decision in August.
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We would GREATLY appreciate your help in spreading the word!
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Sincerely,
Vicki Meador-Baldwin
of Arkansas
OK, I’m back.
Eddie Meador was a great football player. Of that, I have no doubt, and I know a little about the NFL, having covered the Rams home-and-road from 1977 through 1980 and having written about hundreds of other NFL games since then. I saw some great safeties play for the Rams, Nolan Cromwell and Dave Elmendorf, Bill Simpson. And I never, ever thought any of those guys brought more to their team than did Eddie Meador.
I would guess he has issues that complicate his campaign. He played for the Los Angeles Rams, and it’s hard to imagine the St. Louis Rams are working at furthering his candidacy. He played in the 1960s, and if you’re not in your 50s, you probably don’t remember watching him play.
I hope it works out for him. He was as good a defensive back as anyone in the NFL for a decade, and that seems to me like enough to get a guy’s bust into that big room in Canton.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Damian // Apr 29, 2009 at 3:07 PM
I think the Pro Football Hall of Fame is best served in concentrating its efforts towards building another Pro Football Hall of Fame for members of the Pittsburgh Steelers only.
The Steelers are already taking up so much space in Canton that it leaves hardly any room for the other third-world franchises of the NFL to showcase their inferior wares. I mean, are they having to add an extension to the Canton building to fit in a 6th Lombardi Trophy in the Steelers’ wing along with all of that Super Bowl XLIII memorabilia?
Place this new Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, so football fans can realistically still make a drive from the original Hall of Fame to America’s heart and soul of football — Western Pennsylvania — if they want to see all of what the Hall of Fame has to offer.
If construction costs to expand the Hall of Fame are too much to bear in this economy, I suppose another solution to this troublesome dilemma is to throw out all of the insignificant Dallas Cowboys garbage and donate it to Goodwill in order to make more room for the Steelers’ wing.
2 Dennis Pope // Apr 29, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Gag and barf.
3 Vicki Meador-Baldwin // May 17, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Mr. Oberjuerge, I would like to thank you for your kind words regarding my dad, Eddie Meador, that you have mentioned above. It means more than you know for our family . I will be showing him your website so he can read it and I KNOW he will appreciate it all as well.
Thank you, AGAIN, for YOUR support!
Vicki
4 Mickey Meador // Jul 10, 2011 at 1:21 PM
Players with the talent of Eddie Meador were not just good players. They made things “happen”. They made the game more than an event and it was like what is he going to do.He was a big play man like Les Richter.They brought fans to the TV and put people in the stadiums.They worked hard and as a team and to keep them out would be such a loss to the game.
5 Buddy Cagle // Aug 10, 2011 at 5:02 PM
I played with Eddie @ Ark Tech for one year. When he was a senior, I was a freshman and he has always my idol, both on the field and off. I was sub for him on defense in the second game of 1958. We needed him on offense and to rest him on defense. He was always there when I needed him. When he played for the Rams, I watched every game when they were on TV for those 12 years and I let all my friends know that I played with him. He was one of the best defensive backs in the NFL. He has been over looked for so many years by the NFL Hall of Fame. I talked to him at Tech 2 yrs ago at a reunion and told him I was behind him in this endeavor. Little did I know about his kids and what they were doing. Good Luck to all of you.
6 Michael Meador // Nov 8, 2011 at 8:19 AM
I meet Eddie twice once in Green Bay and the next in Milwaukee. He got tickets fot my Dad and I. We meet the fearsome forsome. What an experience. My Dad was from Kentucky. He and Eddie agreed that we where some level family relationship. They even looked like family. My Dad 5 10 180 pounds. Was star point guard on Kentucky State chapion. Also running back
7 Michael Meador // Nov 8, 2011 at 8:27 AM
2nd page My Dad entered Navy 1 week after graduation.Field corpsman with 4 Marines . Ist hour of attack at Iwo Jima. Unit pinned down for 3 days 40% casculity. Meadors are brave people. Glad to have meet your father. Will help to write letters to the hall of fame.
8 John Meier // Oct 23, 2012 at 7:25 PM
Rams fan since 1969. Eddie Meador was probably the best safety in a long line of great Rams safeties. Nolan Cromwell, Dave Elmendorf, Bill Simpson. What a group! Thanks.
9 Pat Saunders // Nov 21, 2012 at 11:47 PM
As a kid at Edwards AFB in the late 60’s Eddie was my first sports hero. I saved all his newspaper clippings. I hope he makes it into the Hall of Fame.
10 Jk Allan // Sep 24, 2017 at 10:33 AM
I was a salesman for Ducommun Metals & Supply in
The ’60s. Ed was a salesman/PR man during the off-
season. We became friends (I doubt if he remembers
me). I me
11 Gale Brown // Oct 28, 2018 at 4:57 PM
We knew the family in Downey when we were all in the Jaycees. The kids were little as mine were also. Great people.
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