Does he belong? I don't think voters have a good answer for wondering what a Hall of Fame career would look like for a player in the middle of the NASL collapsing. For someone that did anything he could to continue playing until age 38, his career is easy to forget given the time.

Messing never earned a cap for the national team, which is fairly damning for nearly every Hall of Fame voter. But realistically Messing played in an era when the USMNT didn't mean anything. If the 1978 Cosmos team played the USMNT at the time, it'd likely be a toss up. So it's hard to criticize a player for not being a part of an organization when it didn't take itself seriously enough to warrant participation.

Messing is probably the most iconic NASL goalkeeper and it would be nice to have another goalkeeper from a forgotten era, which there is precedent for when looking at the first inducted goalkeepers.

Outlook? Similar to Harvey, he hasn't had the support in the past and there appear to be more favorable names for the veteran's committee than Messing. He did earn 39% in 2015 (needed 50% to get in) but it was still fifth overall and they only approve one per year with the veteran's vote. At this point, if he hasn't made it yet he most likely never will.

Goalkeepers in the National Soccer Hall of Fame

bios taken from USSoccer.com

Peter “Pete” Renzulli (1951) - Goalkeeper who played for a string of American Soccer League clubs in the 1920s and won three U.S. Open Cup titles. Renzulli played in the original ASL from 1922 to 1930, for Todd Shipyards, Paterson, Indiana Flooring, New York Nationals and New York Giants. He won Open Cup titles with Robins Dry Dock in 1921, Paterson in 1923 and New York Nationals in 1928.

George Tintle (1952) - Goalkeeper who was the first famous goalie in American soccer history, making Scandinavian tours with the U.S. National Team in 1916, Bethlehem Steel in 1919 and a St. Louis all-star team in 1920. Tintle played for a string of different teams during his career, including Harrison AA in the first two seasons of the original American Soccer League.

Jimmy Douglas (1953) - Goalkeeper who played for the United States in both the 1924 Olympic Games and the 1930 World Cup. Douglas also played nine seasons in the original American Soccer League, for eight different teams. He played nine full internationals for the United States between 1924 and 1930, including both of the U.S. games at the 1924 Olympics in Paris and all three of the U.S. games at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.

Stanley Chesney (1966) - Goalkeeper who played 17 seasons in the American Soccer League for the New York Americans. He won an ASL championship with the Americans in 1936 and the U.S. Open Cup in 1937. Although he never played for the full U.S. National Team, he gained the nickname “The International Man” for his frequent appearance for ASL selections against foreign teams, including three games against the touring Scottish all-stars in 1935 and 1939.

Gene Olaff (1971) - Goalkeeper who played for the Brooklyn Hispano team that won the American Soccer League-U.S. Open Cup double in 1943 and took the Open Cup again a year later. Olaff, who played for Hispano from 1941 to 1953, was the premier American goalkeeper of the 1940s but played only one game for the U.S. Men’s National Team, which went 10 years without a game because of World War II.

Frank Borghi (1976) - Goalkeeper who is often considered the top contributor to the United States’ 1-0 upset of England in the 1950 World Cup. That game was one of nine full internationals he played for the United States between 1949 and 1954, games that included three in the World Cup and five more in World Cup qualifying. Borghi won numerous honors with several club teams in St. Louis, including winning U.S. Open Cup titles in 1948 and 1950 with Simpkins.

Gino Gard (1976) - Goalkeeper who was a member of the United States squad at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Gard, who was born in Italy and whose name was Gardassanich before he moved to the United States, played from 1949 to 1959 for Slovak of the National Soccer League of Chicago. He reached the National Amateur Cup final in 1953 with Slovak.

Arnie Mausser (2003) - Goalkeeper who played 10 seasons in the North American Soccer League and was the first-choice ’keeper for the U.S. Men’s National Team through most of the NASL era. Mausser played 35 full internationals for the United States between 1975 and 1985, including 11 World Cup qualifiers. He played for seven different NASL teams and was the only American chosen as a first-team NASL all-star in that league’s last nine seasons.

Tony Meola (2012) - Goalkeeper who was captain of the United States team in the 1994 World Cup. Meola played 100 full internationals for the United States between 1988 and 2000, including seven games at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and five World Cup qualifiers in 1989 and 2000. Meola played 11 seasons in MLS, winning both a league title and the MLS most valuable player award with the Kansas City Wizards in 2000.

Kasey Keller (2015) - Goalkeeper who started for the 1989 U20 World Cup team that earned a US-best ever 4th place finish. He would go on to earn 102 caps with the senior team from 1990 to 2007 and appear on four USMNT World Cup rosters. Keller was one of the first American players to have a successful and lengthy career abroad, playing for Millwall, Leicester City, Rayo Vallecano, Tottenham, and Borussia Mönchengladbach before returning to the Seattle Sounders for his final years, earning the 2011 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award.

A full list of the Hall of Fame's members can be found here.