I don’t know a whole lot about professional football, but you’d think that after being the only player in NFL history to have played on five Super Bowl-winning teams, former San Fransisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys star, and now five-time Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist Charles Haley would already be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Alas, he isn’t. Not yet, anyway.

What he is, however, is speaking publicly about his bipolar disorder, alongside his family members and former teammates who are doing the same.

According to The Dallas Morning News, the illness that might’ve led to some of Haley’s outrageous behavior in the past is now something he manages “through therapy, medicine and personal resolve,” but it might also be something that’s helping to hold him back from make the leap between semifinalist and actual Hall of Famer.

In a show of support that’s reminiscent of that of Barret Robbins’ wife Marisa, Haley’s ex-wife Karen laments how our perceptions of people – or, what we think we know about people – are often unchanging and based on incomplete information:

“I know that if you mention the name Charles Haley, a lot of people immediately are going to say something negative,” she says. “It will be based on something they’ve heard, read, or it could be based off of a personal experience.”

“I’m very proud to witness his transformation,” she says. “I don’t use that word often, but I really feel it has been a transformation.

“One thing I think is unfair is that once people have a mental image of a person, it generally doesn’t change. I’m worried the negativity will prevent Charles from being in the Hall of Fame – and he is so deserving.”

Like I said, I don’t know a whole lot about professional football. I know even less about the Hall of Fame. If the Hall of Fame bylaws themselves really do “stipulate that selectors focus solely on players’ on-the-field performance,” as the article states they do, then what exactly is keeping Charles Haley suspended in what’s been, thus far, this permanent semifinalist state?

The finalists will be announced tomorrow, and according to the official website the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010 will be announced Saturday, February 6, 2010. In the meantime, do check out the Dallas Morning News article.

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From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (January 7, 2010)

Gregory Montgomery (June 21, 2010)

    Last reviewed: 7 Jan 2010