Rick Gosselin

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CANTON, Ohio – The Pro Football Hall of Fame isn't about statistics. You can find those in the NFL record book.

Football's shrine is about impact. It's about the players whose mere presence on the field changed the way the game is played. The Hall of Fame is about the difference-makers.

Bob Hayes not only changed the way the game is played with his speed – he changed the way the game is drafted. His overall impact on the NFL will finally be rewarded Saturday with his induction into the Hall of Fame.

The NFL had seen speed before. Bobby Mitchell, Tommy McDonald and Johnny Morris could all run fast in the early 1960s. But the league had never seen speed the likes of a Bob Hayes.

Hayes reported to the Cowboys in 1965 fresh off an Olympic gold-medal performance in 1964. He earned the title "World's Fastest Man" at the Tokyo Games when he won the 100-meter dash in a record time of 10 seconds flat.

That speed gave defensive backs fits in 1965, when Hayes averaged 21.8 yards with his 46 catches and scored 12 touchdowns as a rookie.

Coverage was provided in the NFL back then by bigger, physical cornerbacks in man-to-man assignments. But Hayes could run past Herb Adderley, Bobby Boyd and Dick "Night Train" Lane, and they weren't going to catch him. No one was.

That forced NFL defenses to incorporate zone schemes, rolling a safety over the top of the coverage. That way, there'd be another defender to pick up Hayes when he zoomed by the cornerback. So the speed of Hayes forced defenses to change how they played the pass.

His speed also opened the eyes of the NFL's offensive coaches. Suddenly, everyone in the league wanted their own Bob Hayes. They wanted a player who could produce an 80-yard touchdown in one play.

Before Hayes, NFL flanks were dominated by big receivers who were more crafty than fast: Gary Collins, Boyd Dowler, Gail Cogdill and Del Shofner. But Hayes spawned a new term in the NFL's vernacular – speed receiver.

Talent evaluators started placing a greater premium on a receiver's feet than his hands, and a wideout's speed has remained a point of emphasis on draft day for the last 40 years.

Burners Earl McCullouch (1968), Isaac Curtis (1973), Roger Carr (1974), Larry Burton (1975), Lam Jones (1980) and Anthony Hancock (1982) all went high in NFL drafts because of their speed. The Chicago Bears drafted their own Olympic sprinter – Willie Gault – in the first round in 1983.

The Cowboys tabbed Alexander Wright as the first receiver in the 1990 draft with the 26th overall pick despite the fact he caught only 56 passes in college. Wright was an All-America sprinter at Auburn with speed in the 4.2s. He was the fastest player in the draft, so Jimmy Johnson took him.

The first receiver in the 2002 draft was Donte' Stallworth. He also was the fastest receiver in that draft with 4.29 speed in the 40-yard dash. Charles Rogers went first in the 2003 draft with his 4.30 speed, Santonio Holmes first in the 2006 draft with his 4.34 speed and Calvin Johnson in 2007 with his 4.35 speed.

Michael Crabtree was the most talented receiver in the 2009 draft. He caught 97 passes at Texas Tech in 2008 and 231 passes in his two-year career, winning two Biletnikoff Awards as the top receiver in the country.

But last April, the Oakland Raiders tapped Darrius Heyward-Bey as the first receiver taken in the 2009 draft. He caught only 42 passes at Maryland last season and just 138 in his career. But he was the fastest receiver on the board with 4.25 speed – so he went ahead of Crabtree and everyone else.

The first round is a chance for NFL teams to find difference-makers. Thanks to Bob Hayes, speed has become the prerequisite for spending a premium pick on a wide receiver. NFL teams covet Bob Hayes-type speed ... Hall of Fame-type speed.

Rick Gosselin shares his NFL analysis Wednesdays through Fridays on the NFL blog.

Rick Gosselin is the author of GoodFellows, the story of Detroit's surprisingly successful St. Ambrose football teams of the '50s and '60s.