“RMFL HISTORY IS REPRESENTED”; 10
PLAYERS AND 1 COACH ARE INDUCTED INTO THE RMFL’S INAUGURAL HALLOF FAME CLASS.
INDUCTION TO
RMFL – Ten “old time” players and one coach from the RMFL’s early years gained acceptance into the RMFL’s inaugural Hall of Fame Class of 2006 as the RMFL gets set to begin enshrining its greatest players through the years who will forever be recognized for not only their play on the field, but the amount of time they spent representing the RMFL… with class.
The
RMFL announced that the following players will be inducted into the Hall of
Fame this Saturday at the halftime presentation of the RMFL All-Star game at
Shawn O’Hearn, Offensive/Defensive Lineman, Rocky Mountain Bulls/Pocatello Silverbacks – 1997-2002
Jared
Neumeier, Quarterback/Place-Kicker,
Robert Carrick, Wide Receiver, Mini-Cassia Bulldawgs, 1998-2002
Kyle Ahlgren, Defensive Lineman, Rocky Mountain Bulls, 1997-1999
Johnny Peoples, Defensive Back, Rocky Mountain Bulls, 1997-1998
Stacie Harris, Defensive/Offensive Lineman, Rocky Mountain Bulls/Pocatello Silverbacks, 1997-2002
Ryan
Leonard, Offensive Lineman,
Chuck
Jones, Defensive Lineman,
Glenn Slaughter, Offensive Lineman, Mini-Cassia Bulldawgs 1998-2003
Mike Merrill, Linebacker/Offensive Line, Pocatello-Blackfoot Dragons/Snake River Rebels, 1997-2003
Palmer Proffitt, the venerable coach of the Pocatello Silverbacks from 2001 to 2002 was also named as the league’s first coach in the hall of fame.
“The criteria was simple, but certainly subjective,” Commissioner, Jared Neumeier explained, “we of course wanted players that made a significant contribution to the game… that were excellent players in their time; but we also wanted them to be around for a while… at least 3 years, although we excluded an athlete or two based on either superior contribution or some other factor. We also wanted to restrict this first class to 10 players We didn’t want to load up the first one and then just have a few after that. We expect another 10 next season and then we will probably see 5 or so a year after that. We want to make this difficult to get into… we want it to be special”.
Another criteria was that to be qualified, a player must not have played any downs in two consecutive seasons.
The RMFL’s original “commissioner”, Matt Culbertson has been responsible for the development of the Hall of Fame and the players that are listed. The final induction this year, however, fell squarely on the shoulders of Culbertson and Neumeier, the two administrators most responsible for the success of the RMFL since it was conceived in 1996.
“We
really didn’t want to fall into the trap of having so many players the first
year we felt like we were just putting anyone in,” Neumeier
continued, “we really wanted to keep it down.
We felt we could just honor the ‘old time’ players this first season and
then start catching up the contemporary players next season. For instance, if it was between just
Culbertson and I,
Now that an initial “class” is inducted, Culbertson takes over as the “chairman” of the Hall of Fame committee; which will be composed of all of the current members who will have an equal vote in accepting future membership. The RMFL hopes that this Hall of Fame committee will continue to stay actively involved with the league they helped make great.
“The real difficult thing for me is,” Commissioner Neumeier added, “ is that it may be nice to be in, but the players that will be in after they have been retired from the game for a couple of seasons are far more worthy in my mind than most of us. My teammates Sean Powell, Mike Jensen and Doug Brasier to name a few; but then there is the league’s all-time tackle leader, Culbertson himself, who will have to wait until 2007. Also, there will definitely have to be space for guys like Dougherty, Stireman, Manning, Jurasek… I could go on and on. I really look forward to welcoming so many of today’s stars as well as my old teammates in the… hopefully… FAR future!!”
The league, however, has also created a special “Founders” Section, to remember those early pioneers that, for lack of leadership on their part, the league would not exist. “Particularly Culbertson,” Neumeier had to add, “I have no idea where this league would be today had he not done all of that leg work and set up in 1996-97. I know that I wouldn’t have done it… in fact, I wouldn’t even be a has been or a commissioner, I would be a never was. The thousands of players that have played and enjoyed this league owe so much to Matt Culbertson.”
The details of each players careers will eventually be chronicled on the RMFL’s Hall of Fame tab of the main web site. Each inductee will have their own page and stats posted (if applicable) and will forever be honored as the Greatest of RMFL history. The RMFL expects to have all of the profiles filled in by late August.
Proffitt, after coaching only 2 years, got the honor for not only being an excellent coach and leading the Predators to the 2001 RMFL title, but also for his role in holding the RMFL together during a critical stretch in 2001 and 2002. Profitt, along with coach Chuck Hudson of the Boise Roughriders and Ruben Saldana of the Mini-Cassia Bulldawgs single-handedly saved the RMFL from extinction in 2001. Their leadership and commitment to integrity will be forever immortalized.
The
RMFL has cordially invited all of its inductees to the All-Star game to receive
their special commemorative framed certificate of induction from Matt
Culbertson and the RMFL.