Paul Palmer: The Power of A Resume

vinny

Too bad they don’t allow college football nominees to sit down and type out a resume in order to be selected in the Hall of Fame.

Temple’s Paul Palmer would have been selected seven years ago when he was first nominated. All he would have needed to do is type some numbers compared to guys already in there and include a computer printout that had Temple’s schedule ranked in the Top 10 of the hardest schedules in two of his three seasons.

It should have been a no-brainer a long time ago.

Palmer not only had the minimum requirement of being selected as a first-team All-America, but his numbers were far better than a lot of backs already in the Hall of Fame.

Check this list out. The other two guys on this group were already in the Hall during Paul’s first year of eligibility:

dayne

In other words, he should have been in there a long time ago.

Now he joins former Temple coaches Pop Warner, Ray Morrison and Wayne Hardin in the Hall of Fame and becomes the first Temple football player in the Hall in a history that began well over 100 years ago.

Temple had national stat leaders before Paul arrived on the scene, with Sam Shaffer leading the nation in interceptions and Paul Loughran kickoff and punt return yards, but Palmer took the numbers to a new level. lawhorn

When Palmer was at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Md., Bruce Arians was the only Division I coach to offer him a scholarship and it paid off big-time for Arians and the Owls. Palmer had 100-yard rushing games 21 times and six 200-yard rushing games. In 1986, he led the nation with 1,866 rushing yards and 1,976 yards from scrimmage.

He broke the single-season all-purpose yard record previously held by USC’s Marcus Allen with his 2,633 yards that year.

Temple Owls Paul Palmer
He finished second to Vinny Testaverde in the 1986 Heisman Trophy balloting but probably should have finished first.

The numbers do not lie and now the truth is in the pudding or, more precisely, the Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

The induction will be on Dec. 1, and that day should be a party for all Owl fans.

Friday: Heating Things Up

Monday: Hope For Offense

Wednesday: February Surprise

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15 thoughts on “Paul Palmer: The Power of A Resume

  1. Figures don’t lie…Liars figure!

  2. I remember his first game at Franklin Field where he almost lead to a big win over Doug Flutie and BC. A missed FG in the rain dampened the Owls hopes for an upset win. Palmer’s family/friends sat near me, and they were delighted. Good memories

  3. As John Belli said, we should have won at Penn State the day Paul had 227 yards rushing except for the fact that we (not Paul) tried to field a punt that was muffed. Until 2015, there were a lot of demons (losing Bernard Pierce at halftime in 2010 and replacing Mike Gerardi with Chester Stewart in 2011 along with the special teams in 1976) that directly impacted the result against PSU.

  4. Had to delete a comment here that called the three guys in the picture clowns for failing in the NFL. This is not an NFL blog. Success or failure in the NFL is not Germain to the conversation here. We talk college football only and, in that context, all three of these guys are great.

    • So you deleted it?

      • Absolutely. I will not have anyone calling Paul Palmer a “clown” and a “loser” on his special day (or any other) due to the NFL. You can do that over on Philly.com but the topic we were talking about was College football Hall of Fame, not the NFL.

  5. The Boz got hurt, Testeverde played twenty years, and Palmer had a nice career and was waylayed by politics. Clearly not losers in any sense of the word.

    • John, there are 6 criteria to make it to the hall. I did not see “waylay” as one of them. I prefer to stick to the bases of gaining entry. 1 of the criteria does not apply…he’s not a coach. So, I’m assuming your referring to the 3rd criteria… but correct me if I’m wrong…the “waylay” was discovered after the fact! All in all he should have been the Heisman winner…Figures don’t lie…Liars figure. Just saying…

      • Michael: You misinterpreted my post. it was in response to the post Mike struck about the three players not having successful pro careers. Paul’s pro career was waylayed by politics. I in no way denigrated his election to the College Hall of Fame and I defy you to find that I did in my post.

      • Nobody can say John disrespected Paul in any way when he says Paul was the best running back he ever saw, Temple or no Temple. Jim Brown was the best I ever saw but I never saw Jim play at ‘Cuse, only the NFL.

      • John, maybe I did but not sure what “politics” you are speaking about? I have followed Paul’s career pretty closely and consider him a dear friend! So, right, wrong or indifferent he’s my brother and loyalty and respect are attributes that we share. If you could set me straight on the “politics” your referring to, I might understand better. I listen well…

    • Here are Palmers stats in his brief 3 year NFL career,

      CAR. 270. YDS. 1,053. AVG. 3.9. TDS. 4. . Doesn’t male a nice career . Although he was a decent return man for the Chiefs .

      Testaverde had one good year, when he took the Jets to the Championship game.

      Boz was a bust in the NFL, Probably because of his steroid abuse.

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