Keuchenberg was a borderline Hall of Game guy who didn't get in. It used to bother me but when I apply real world perspective toward how he was viewed in relation to other Dolphins of that time frame, and other offensive linemen who were his peers, it might be the correct decision. Larry Little and Jim Langer were considered superior to Keuchenberg and started getting national and leaguewide recognition earlier. Keuchenberg got a lot of press after that Super Bowl against the Vikings and Alan Page. Only then did he start to receive Pro Bowl nods the following season.
Basically I'm not bothered when late blooming types are held on a lower pedestal than those who have been elite all their lives. More often than not, it is the correct choice. Keuchenberg certainly wasn't the equal of many offensive linemen from that era who starred very quickly...'70s guys like Art Shell or Gene Upshaw or John Hannah, or early '80s types like Anthony Munoz or Mike Munchak or Bruce Matthews.
He couldn't get in above any of those guys. It was always going to be a late supplemental add. That's a much tougher route because now the committee has seen newcomer linemen who are equal or superior to Keuchenberg, players like Jonathan Ogden or Orlando Pace. You have to include them eventually. If you backfit to make room for Keuchenberg types then you are swelling the offensive line entrants far above where it's always been, or logically fits.
Besides, Keuchenberg wasn't always the greatest off the field. Maybe that isn't best to mention so soon after his death, but I remember the personalities of all of those guys, at least how they came across while interviewed. Let's just say he wouldn't be in Csonka territory. Garo Jr. provided further evidence a couple of months ago via private message. He said that Keuchenberg was by far the worst offender in terms of ridiculing his dad to the media in hurtful fashion, regarding that Super Bowl blunder. Garo Jr. told me that Keuchenberg would greet Garo and his family warmly in private and say all the right things, but it was completely different for public consumption. Garo Jr. said Keuchenberg would "twist the dagger" to the media and that his father was always very hurt by it.
