Future Hall of Famers

We hear it all the time.  Star players in virtually every sport are inevitably going to be hailed as a "future Hall of Famers," sometimes waaaaayyy too early in their careers.  For example, Mike Trout, Kris Bryant and Bryce Harper are outstanding.  They've all had great careers so far and will likely continue to do so.  They very well may end up in Cooperstown someday.  But, then again, they may not.  We don't know what's going to happen.  People used to call Alex Rodriguez a "future Hall of Famer" too.

The Hall of Fame predictions ran rampant last week prior to the announcement of Baseball's Class of 2017.  There was even an article (a pretty entertaining one at that) predicting every class for the next 30 years!

But the truth is, there are only a handful of players we can feel comfortable 100 percent making that call about.  In my opinion, you're not a "future Hall of Famer" until you've met the criteria to become eligible when you retire (in baseball, that's 10 years).  While I've got no problem with the idea or the term, it's still kinda early to make the call on a lot of these players.

With that in mind, there are still plenty of active players that can feel comfortable with their chances of writing a Hall of Fame acceptance speech after they retire and wait to requisite number of years.  The Hall of Fame represents the "top 1 percent" of players at any given time.

So, using that logic, there are approximately 17 football, 7.5 baseball, 6.9 hockey and 3.6 basketball players active right now that we can expect we'll definitely see inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Of course, the numbers will likely be much higher than that, but using those numbers (obviously rounded to the nearest whole number) as a ballpark, here are the active players that I think are the biggest Hall of Fame "locks" (and "active" players doesn't include David Ortiz or Steve Smith).

Football: It's easy to talk about the quarterbacks, who make up a good portion of the list.  Tom Brady has been to a record seven Super Bowls, has been the MVP of three of them, and will set a record with five wins if the Patriots beat the Falcons in two weeks.  Other Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks likely to join him with a bust in Canton are Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.  And Ben Roethlisberger has won a pair of Lombardi Trophies, so you know he's a lock, too.

There are 21 other positions on the field, though, and they'll be just as well-represented in Canton.  You've got Adrian Peterson at running back, Larry Fitzgerald at wide receiver and Jason Witten and Rob Gronkowski at tight end.  On the offensive line, you've got Joe Thomas at tackle and Maurkice Pouncey at center.

I didn't forget about the defense.  Some of the more obvious names (Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Charles Woodson) have recently retired, but there are still plenty of defensive guys worth talking about.  From JJ Watt, Terrell Suggs and Clay Matthews to Darrelle Revis, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman.

Baseball: This is actually one of the tougher ones, mainly because most of the guys you'd consider no-brainers haven't reached the 10 year minimum yet.  The number of obvious first-ballot Hall of Famers that are active in the Major Leagues currently sits at just three: Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Ichiro (I'm not including his last name, so he counts as the half).  You've gotta put Yadier Molina in the "lock" category, too.  And while they're not "locks," I'd say Adrian Beltre and Dustin Pedroia also look good to make the Hall of Fame.

The two best pitchers in the game right now (Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner) haven't hit the 10-year mark, but Justin Verlander has.  I've gotta think Felix Hernandez has done enough to earn a plaque in Cooperstown, too (although a trip to the playoffs would certainly be a nice thing to add to the resume).

Hockey: Jaromir Jagr may have to have some sort of special election when it's finally time for him to go into the Hall of Fame.  Because I don't think he's ever going to actually retire.  He's in his mid-40s and still going strong.  In fact, it could be a fun game to place bets on who gets inducted to the Hall of Fame first: Jagr, Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin.  Crosby won't be the only current Penguin to be honored, either.  You know Evgeni Malkin will, too.  I'd be willing to bet Zdeno Chara will also be inducted someday, as will Blackhawks teammates Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. 

Basketball: Our selection in the NBA is the smallest, and they've got the most transcendent superstars in all of sports, so narrowing it down to four isn't that easy.  Although, even with that small a sample size, the name LeBron James still clearly stands above the rest.  So do the names Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant.  Wow!  That was pretty easy actually!

As I said, there are many more active future Hall of Famers than are on these four lists.  We might be seeing 30 future Hall of Famers currently playing in the NFL, and that number is likely somewhere in the 20s in each of the other three.  That's part of the fun of trying to guess who's going to make it and when.  And that's part of what makes sports so great.