Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Super Bowl sabotage be damned. Even before Tim Brown accused Bill Callahan of trying to throw the biggest game in all of sports the Raiders receiving legend was already longshot to make the final cut for the Hall of Fame in 2013. His words didn’t help his case this time around but in reality there was nothing Brown could do or say that would have increased his odds.

Oddly enough it’s a man that has gotten the Hall call ahead of Brown that might have made the best case for the former Heisman winner and Notre Dame Alum to earn a yellow jacket this time next year.

Cris Carter gathered enough votes to finally be allowed into Canton and with that there was a breakthrough amongst the Hall eligible receivers that have been playing the waiting game the last three years.

After Carter there remains Andre Reed and Tim Brown among those that have put up Hall of Fame numbers at receiver even though they never added a Super Bowl ring to their jewelry collection. That would seem to be the most logical reason why it’s taken Carter this long and even longer for Brown and Reed.

Look at the list of Hall of Fame receivers and you won’t see many that have the career accomplishments in terms of stats that Reed and Brown have amassed. However winning a Super Bowl or two certainly helped Michael Irvin get inducted and without a doubt is the biggest reason Lynn Swann is enshrined.

Carter never won a Super Bowl yet had plenty of praise as one of the best to ever play his position. Now that he’s in the path has been paved for Reed and Brown. Just how much longer those two will have to wait is anyone’s guess but the precedent has been set and a blueprint established to make a much better argument for those two all-time greats to finally earn their overdue honor.

Far from a surprise but none the less deflating the Hall of Fame class for 2013 has been announced and Tim Brown is not included. Yet another year of waiting for the Raider great one that will be filled with plenty of questions surrounding his chances of ever getting the Hall call.

No doubt Brown has the credentials as he’s amassed numbers few in the history of the game can touch. However his outlandish claims of Super Bowl sabotage reportedly didn’t sit well with many voters and could cloud his future prospects of enshrinement.

It would be very unfair to hold something that happened after his playing days were over against Brown but since when has this process been fair or unbiased? Ray Guy knows a thing or two about that.

However if there is some hope out there it can be found in Cris Carter’s selection today. Carter has a similar resume to that of Brown and it proves there is a strong case to be made going forward. The wide receiver position has been one of the toughest to break through but that could be changing.

Last week I took Tim Brown to task over his idiotic claims of Super Bowl sabotage. My words didn’t sit well with many member of Raider Nation but I couldn’t blindly ignore how ignorant Brown’s unfounded claims were regardless of all the great things he did wearing Silver and Black.

But my opinion hardly matters. However there are now rumblings that the opinions of those who vote on the Hall of Fame have taken a view similar to mine. Vic Tafur Tweeted that he has spoken with various Hall voters in New Orleans and the general feeling is that Brown had no chance of getting in and his sabotage comments have effectively sabotaged his Hall chances with the vote coming this weekend.

I’ll be the first to argue that Brown’s production on the field has more than merited his induction into Canton. His numbers dwarf those of Hall of Fame receivers such as Michael Irvin and Lynn Swann. I’ll also be the first to say that what a man does and says off the field should not be held against him.

However what Brown claimed was reckless, selfish and arrogant. For him to assume he could accuse a coach of an act that would effectively equate to throwing the biggest game in all of sports then simply sweep it all under the rug with a half-hearted denial was foolish.

The Hall voters aren’t supposed to take things like this into account when they vote but who is going to stop them?

At this point I can’t even feel for Brown because he dug this ditch. Even if Bill Callahan did indeed throw the game just to spite Al Davis why did it take a full decade for Brown to bring up the sore subject? Even more confusing is why Jerry Rice has been given a free pass when he quickly co-signed Brown’s sabotage story.

But I think we know why Brown has been painted as the villain while Rice gets to continue his pointless ramblings.

We already know there are unfair stigmatisms associated with the Raiders’ franchise. Those ideals shouldn’t be held against men that have worn Silver and Black but we know they are. Fair or unfair that’s just life. And in this life Tim Brown needed to think before he spoke. Taking ten years to expose perhaps the most scandalous story in the history of the Super Bowl makes Brown looks attention starved instead of forthcoming.

I do believe his day will come and more open minded voters will do what is right. Now I’m just afraid that might not happen while Brown is still a relevant name in the football landscape. From here out when the name Tim Brown is mentioned by the sports public it will be associated with a faulty accusation he quickly retreated on instead of a phenomenal talent that played the game with the pride and passion of a true Hall of Famer.