any point afterward, he could then give detailed analysis of the players, teams, and games that he charted, tracking who plays well against whom, which players are improving or declining, which superstars are overhyped, and which underrated players to "plug" in his writings. Zimmerman also answered a weekly on-line mailbag. He wrote in a stream of consciousness style rather than a simple question-and-answer, liberally sprinkling in tidbits of football history, pieces of popular culture, quotations, admittedly bad jokes and puns, rants, and wine advice. He also frequently attributed a running commentary to his wife Linda, "the Flaming Redhead". Annually, Zimmerman rated the performance of television NFL sportscasters, criticizing those announcers who did little more than hype the stars while making inane comments on the game, ignoring the strategy or play of the game, or generally making mistakes in their commentaries. Zimmerman also praised the sportscasters who provided meaningful, intelligent commentary for football fans. Zimmerman himself briefly worked as an analyst for NBC's NFL coverage in 1985. While covering the NFL draft for ESPN in the 1980s, Zimmerman was asked what the NFL player of the 1990s would be like. Zimmerman responded, controversially, "The player of the '90s will be so sophisticated that he'll be able to pass any steroid test they come up with," ending his television career. Zimmerman had a remarkable year of NFL predictions in 1986. Before the season, he accurately predicted all six division winners and all four wild-card teams, and he also nailed the Super Bowl result, the Giants over the Broncos. In January 2008, Zimmerman correctly predicted that the New York Giants (an overwhelming underdog) would win Super Bowl XLII over the previously undefeated New England Patriots. Zimmerman served on the 44-member Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. He used to be a member of the Hall's smaller Senior Committee, a position that Zimmerman resigned in protest over the committee's repeated rejection of players he deemed worthy candidates. Influences Zimmerman's style showed similarities to New Journalism, and this influence was especially evident in his web entries. Zimmerman named Jimmy Cannon as one of the sports writers he most admired. Zimmerman described George Orwell as his "literary idol," and his writing shows some thematic similarities with that of the late novelist. In the 1980s, Zimmerman, a self-described "round-head", was the last writer at Sports Illustrated allowed to continue using a typewriter and fax to file