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Raiders legend Tom Flores has best chance at Hall of Fame

By Khaled Abdallah

LOS ANGELES - SEPTEMBER 28: Head coach Tom Flores and his Los Angeles Raiders prepare for battle against the San Diego Chargers during a game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 28, 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The Raiders won 17-13. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - SEPTEMBER 28: Head coach Tom Flores and his Los Angeles Raiders prepare for battle against the San Diego Chargers during a game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 28, 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The Raiders won 17-13. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) /
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Legendary Raiders coach Tom Flores is a shoo-in for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021 thanks to a new selection process.

Raiders fans have been clamoring for decades now that legendary head coach Tom Flores gets his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and they seem to have finally gotten the memo. Flores was overlooked in the 2020 class in favor of two coaches in Bill Cowher and Jimmie Johnson who had rightful cases, but their accomplishments are far more recent than Flores’.

Now thanks to the relatively new “coaching category”, Flores has his best chance to finally get his enshrinement and get the recognition he fully deserves. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement, “Flores must receive the same 80 percent voting support by the entire 48-member Selection Committee on ‘Selection Saturday’”.

He has no competition in the coaching category in 2021 and as a result should almost guarantee his selection and eventual enshrinement. Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain believes Flores is “just about guaranteed” to be part of the class because “the committee almost always approves the nominees”.

Flores however is not getting too excited just yet which is a natural reaction after the years of disappointment brought on by being passed up for the honor. Flores told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Scott Bair, “You can’t blame me for not being a little guarded, but I think this is about as close as you can get without being in so I am excited about it. But, until I get that gold jacket, I’m going to wait to celebrate”.

Incredible Hall of Fame-worth Resume

The legendary coach lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories in 1980 and 1983 and had just two losing seasons in nine years with the Silver and Black. He is third all time in Raiders history in winning percentage with a record of 83-53 and was an incredible 8-3 in the playoffs.

Flores is one of 13 head coaches in NFL history with two Super Bowl wins and is one of the four retired coaches who have yet to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The other three coaches (Tom Coughlin, George Seifert, and Mike Shanahan) on that list won their Super Bowls in the 1990s or 2000s so they can afford to be a bit more patient than Flores who won his first Super Bowl 40 years ago.

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A common feeling in Raider Nation is that our legendary players and coaches are overlooked by the NFL because of the renegade nature of the team and former owner Al Davis. Tom Flores was one of the more egregious examples of that but it seems that the Pro Football Hall of Fame will finally do the right thing and give him the gold jacket and bust he so richly deserves.

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