BTW I know Fred a little. I've even had a chance to talk football with him, though this was a few years ago. Fred is a good guy and if you want to talk defensive line play, things like techniques, strategies, and schemes, he's as knowledgeable as it gets. I don't know if he was a HOFer, but he played very well for a lot of years, and as far as the DL info goes, you can't do better.
However if you are going to go BEYOND that area of expertise, you should give Fred has as much (or as little) credence as you would any knowledgeable observer of the game...no more.
It is amazing that even when you play the game, you really don't understand the entire scope of what is going on. Believe me when I tell that you THINK you do, but its only after a several years of coaching or studying the game do you BEGIN realize how much you DON'T know, and you start to get it. And BTW- one of the beauties of the game is that you never completely ever do.
I can listen to guys like Jaws and Boomer all day, when they talk offense, and even defensive stragegies as it relates to the offense. I look forward to listening guys like Rodney talk defense. I only wish they would ever ask him the right questions, so he and other knowledgeable defensive analysts can actually broaden our football knowledge and awareness, instead of struggling to come up with catch phrases to describe a good hit. WE KNOW its a good hit.
My point being, just because you played the game, even at the highest levels, it doesn't make you a football maven, capable of talking intelegently about ANY aspect of the game. Guys like Jaws and Boomer still STUDY the game. Do a lot of tape work, sit down with coaches, etc
Like I said, guys like Jaws are UNDERUSED and are directed to give up only the most superficial stuff, like we wouldn't understand or turn it off if they got into more "depth". Jaws used to do a show, in which he broke down a lot of coaches view game tape. Stuff we rarely see. It was great...except they put on the air about 7:30 AM for a half hour. Then later on they give 3 or 4 hours of highly slick, over produced crap of pregame shows, that I have long since tuned out, because its RARELY worth watching.
Sorry about going off about a pet peeve.