On Tuesday, Cliff Branch and Dick Vermeil were selected as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Branch was selected in the Senior category while Vermeil will be a Coach Finalist.
Branch was one of the greatest receivers in the 1970s and early 80s. He was widely viewed as one of the best deep-ball threats of his era. Branch played all of his 14 years with the Raiders and made four consecutive Pro Bowls from 1974-1977. He was also named a First-Team All-Pro three times.
Branch led the NFL in receiving yards in 1974 and receiving touchdowns in 1974 and 1976. The former University of Colorado alum won three Super Bowls with the Raiders in 1976, 1980, and 1983. Branch finished his career with 501 catches and 8,685 receiving yards, and 67 touchdowns. He averaged 17.1 yards per reception.
As impressive as his regular season stats were, the star wideout made an even bigger mark in the postseason totalling 73 catches for 1,289 yards in 22 games. In three Super Bowls, Branch had 14 catches for 181 yards and three touchdowns. The fact that Branch isn’t in the Hall of Fame already has been a point of contention amongst Raiders fans for some time now.
Vermeil played an instrumental role in rebuilding the Rams in the late 1970s. In Vermeil’s fifth season with the Philadelphia Eagles, they won their first conference championship in 20 years and made it to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the Eagles would ultimately lose the Super Bowl to Cliff Branch and the Oakland Raiders. Vermeil coached seven seasons in Philadelphia before claiming he was getting burnt out coaching.
After 15 years away from the game, Vermeil returned to coach the St. Louis Rams in 1997. Vermeil oversaw ” The Greatest Show on Turf” in 1999 when the Rams went 13-3 and won the Super Bowl against the Tennessee Titans. Following the win, and subsequent Coach of the Year honors, Vermeil retired once more and stepped away from the game for a short time. This absence would be short lived however, as he would come back once more to coach the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite regularly boasting one of the league’s best offenses, KC’s porous defense would undo several promising years under Vermeil. He would coach five seasons in Kansas City before finally retiring for good.
When all was said and done Vermeil finished with six ten-win seasons, and three division titles with three different teams. He is one of only seven coaches to take two separate teams to the Super Bowl. Vermeil finished with a 101-54 record in 15 years of coaching.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83