Now, the Hall of Fame is playing catch-up on people like GMs. That means for many years, there will be people who deserve to be in who aren’t yet in. But Beathard sure seems like a no-brainer.

Still, his selection by the Hall of Fame’s Contributors Committee as a 2018 finalist last week was not without controversy because of accusations that he had an unfair advantage. As Pro Football Talk reported, some in Denver were upset that another former Redskins GM, Charley Casserly, served as a nonvoting adviser to the committee. Pro Football Talk later reported that John Madden, another nonvoting adviser, was an ex-roommate of Beathard’s.

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Longtime Denver reporter Mike Klis appeared to be especially incensed by Beathard being nominated in front of longtime Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, and by Casserly’s participation in the process. Klis called the decision an “incredible travesty,” wrote that Casserly should have recused himself, wrote that Beathard’s late-career struggles in San Diego should have been considered, wrote that Bowlen’s snub was “disgusting,” wrote that Beathard “was nowhere near as worthy as Pat Bowlen,” wrote that Casserly had a “major, major conflict of interest,” wrote that “Bowlen never had a chance,” and called it a “ConflictofCasserly.”

“Just what the Pro Football Hall of Fame needs, another member from the Washington team, one of the most mediocre franchises in NFL history,” Klis wrote. He pointed out that the Redskins had been a winning team before Beathard arrived, and argued that one of the two primary reasons Beathard was selected was because of Casserly’s involvement. Not because he built the most successful team in the NFL over an 11-year span. Because Charley Casserly was a nonvoting adviser to a five-person nominating committee.

There was more. “No longer can the process be upheld as honest, right or trustworthy,” a Broncos blogger wrote. “The fact Casserly was in that room and Bobby Beathard was the pick forever haunts and taints this process. … This feels dirty. This feels wrong. This feels heartless.”

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Casserly, of course, knows that these things are being said. When I asked him if he was bothered, he responded with a tale from his time with Jack Kent Cooke.

“One time I’m getting my [butt] ripped by The Post, and he’s getting his [butt] ripped, too,” Casserly recalled. “So he calls me up, and he goes ‘Charles.’ Yes, Mr. Cooke. ‘They’re getting after you today.’ Yes, Mr. Cooke. ‘Just remember one thing.’ Yes, Mr. Cooke. ‘Criticism’s like being in the rain — once you’re wet, what’s another [bleeping] drop?’

“So that’s been my motto,” Casserly said. “I’ve been in the rain before.”

And so for the record, Casserly said it was an honor for him to be invited to address the committee. He said he was confident in his ability to comment on the 10 names he was given, and to be objective about what he said, but also that the voters “were certainly going to make up their own minds.”

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He’s been on the record for years that former GMs George Young, Ron Wolf, Bill Polian and Beathard should all be in the Hall. He’s also publicly supported Bowlen and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Heck, he’s on the record supporting former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, whose nomination was rejected by the full voting committee in February.

Casserly wasn’t going there to vote, and he wasn’t going there to subvert a process that’s fraught with personal relationships and unusual lobbying. He was going because he was asked to go, and as it turns out, he favors induction for many of the people he commented on.

Is that good enough for the critics? Well, probably not. Either way, Beathard will go before the full voting panel early next year.

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