Steve Smith Received A Nomination For The NFL 'Hall Of Fame'. No, Not That Steve Smith.

Just Announced: The full list of Modern-Era nominees for the Class of 2018 #PFHOF18 https://t.co/wzpYBDQy4j

— Pro Football HOF (@ProFootballHOF) September 13, 2017

WIDE RECEIVERS

(13) – *Isaac Bruce, Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, *Terrell Owens, Sterling Sharpe, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Steve Smith, John Taylor, Hines Ward

Congrats to colleague @89SteveSmith, who has been nominated for the HOF despite just retiring ... wait, the other WR Steve Smith (NYG, PHI)?

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 13, 2017

Here's some clarity on why former Giants/Eagles/Rams WR Steve Smith made the list of 108 @ProFootballHOF nominees: pic.twitter.com/M8S1bjYHUf

— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) September 13, 2017

Assuming that (the other) Steve Smith didn't actually write himself in, I feel pretty bad for him right now. I'm sure that championship ring and the outlier that was his only Pro Bowl-caliber season have helped him come to grips with the shortness of his playing days, but still. For someone that was basically the epitome of a flash in the pan, it can't feel great to metaphorically get seared on both sides by a mildly humorous 'Hall Of Fame' nomination. If only for a half of a half of a second, (the other) Steve Smith thought his career was close to Canton-worthy, and that just feels like an unnecessarily...well...mean joke to play on someone.

Not only that, but the one sadistic asshole that found this psuedo-loophole hilarious did something far worse than throw a wrench in the simplistic gears of sports writers. He reminded everyone that (the other) Steve Smith is technically 'Hall Of Fame' eligible. Seriously, tell me that your first thought after reading this story wasn't "holy shit, (the other) Steve Smith has been out of the league for 5 fucking years already?!?". Poor bastard was just minding his own damn business, and all the sudden he's got sports world talking about he was the NFL equivalent of dust in the wind. I mean, it's hard not to look at those 2009 numbers and wrap your mind around the fact that the person who posted them has been out of football long enough to have his accomplishments mockingly mistaken for those of someone that happens to share his name. That drop-off was nothing short of Shaun Alexander-esque, and someone with farrrrr too much time on their hands just had to rudely awaken us to it at the expense of the peace of mind of a Super Bowl Champion...