A bunch of guys (some kind of marginal) get into the Hall of Fame, but then there's the slam-dunk guys -- players who cruise into Canton on the first ballot. Which teams have the most of those kind of guys?

I'm not a big fan of the Hall of Fame. I don't like the whole concept.

The Steelers won four Super Bowls in the '70s. Now we're supposed to go through and identify which of their players were "great"? Bradshaw's in. Mean Joe is in. Is Donnie Shell in or out? What about Stallworth -- is he Hall worthy or not?

It's tiresome. The team was great, and all of those guys contributed in varying degrees.

If you took Bradshaw and swapped him out with any of the first three quarterbacks selected the next year -- Plunkett, Manning, Pastorini -- then he definitely wouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. It's partly how good you were, and who you happen to be playing with plays a huge role in how you're remembered.

I'm not a huge fan of the whole concept, and then there are clear oversights. How is Ray Guy not in the Hall? He revolutionized punting. He changed the game -- got other teams thinking about hang time and coffin corners. He never had a punt blocked. Go back and watch the high snap he pulled down early in the Super Bowl win against Washington; remarkable.

At wide receiver, we've been debating Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Andre Reed for years. Those guys are fine, but I think that Cliff Branch and Otis Taylor are more worthy than any of those guys. Different game back then, but they were game-changers.

But whatever. I'm rambling.

I will concede that inside the Hall of Fame, there's kind of a best-of-the-best group -- guys who get voted in on the first ballot. Here's where you weed out a lot of the arguments. For the most part, when you skim over the names below, we all pretty much agree that all (well, most) of these guys were really good.

In the last 20 years, the 49ers have 7 players who were first-ballot Hall of Famers. The Cowboys and Raiders have 6. Nobody else has more than 3.

That's allowing guys to be double-listed. Raiders get credit for Jerry Rice, Eric Dickerson, Ronnie Lott, Warren Sapp and Rod Woodson. That's kind of soft -- those guys played their best ball for other teams. That's easy with most guys, but I didn't want to get into drawing the line (Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders, for example).

Here are your first-ballot guys for the last 20 HOF classes:

FIRST-BALLOT HALL-OF-FAMERS, 1994-
PlayerYearTeam
Emmitt Smith2010Arizona
Eric Dickerson1999Atlanta
Deion Sanders2011Atlanta
Don Shula1997Indianapolis
Rod Woodson2009Baltimore
Jonathan Ogden2013Baltimore
Deion Sanders2011Baltimore
Jim Kelly2002Buffalo
Bruce Smith2009Buffalo
Reggie White2006Carolina
Mike Singletary1998Chicago
Anthony Munoz1998Cincinnati
Troy Aikman2006Dallas
Tony Dorsett1994Dallas
Randy White1994Dallas
Larry Allen2013Dallas
Emmitt Smith2010Dallas
Deion Sanders2011Dallas
Tony Dorsett1994Denver
John Elway2004Denver
Barry Sanders2004Detroit
Reggie White2006Green Bay
Marshall Faulk2011Indianapolis
Eric Dickerson1999Indianapolis
Warren Moon2006Kansas City
Marcus Allen2003Kansas City
Joe Montana2000Kansas City
Don Shula1997Miami
Dan Marino2005Miami
Warren Moon2006Minnesota
Lawrence Taylor1999NY Giants
Ronnie Lott2000NY Jets
Warren Sapp2013Oakland
Ronnie Lott2000Oakland
Rod Woodson2009Oakland
Marcus Allen2003Oakland
Jerry Rice2010Oakland
Eric Dickerson1999Oakland
Reggie White2006Philadelphia
Rod Woodson2009Pittsburgh
Steve Young2005San Francisco
Ronnie Lott2000San Francisco
Rod Woodson2009San Francisco
Larry Allen2013San Francisco
Joe Montana2000San Francisco
Jerry Rice2010San Francisco
Deion Sanders2011San Francisco
Warren Moon2006Seattle
Steve Largent1995Seattle
Jerry Rice2010Seattle
Marshall Faulk2011St. Louis
Jackie Slater2001St. Louis
Eric Dickerson1999St. Louis
Warren Sapp2013Tampa Bay
Steve Young2005Tampa Bay
Warren Moon2006Tennessee
Bruce Matthews2007Tennessee
Deion Sanders2011Washington
Darrell Green2008Washington
Bruce Smith2009Washington