THESE TWO ARE REALLY WORTHY OF A HALL PASS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

As if the sports world didn't already owe a big thank you to players like Tim Brown and Rafael Palmeiro, we should be grateful for their recent display of good timing.

Brown announced his retirement as pro football's third-most prolific pass receiver a few days after Palmeiro joined baseball's 3,000-hit club. Thus they became linked in the latest round of debate over what qualifies an athlete for immortality. Which permits us to dismiss the silly arguments against their Hall of Fame candidacies with one column instead of wasting space on two.

Brown, 39, and Palmeiro, 40, could exchange resumes if they swapped a few football words for baseball words. It's kind of eerie.

Both were first-round picks. Both were Pro Bowlers or All-Stars, though never MVPs. Brown, five times in the top 10 in receptions but never the league leader; Palmeiro, five times in the top 10 in hitting but never a batting champion. Brown, five times in the top 10 in receiving yards and eight times in the top 10 in receiving touchdowns but never the leader; Palmeiro, 11 times in the top 10 in home runs and nine times in the top 10 in RBI but never the leader.

Brown, the only receiver other than Jerry Rice and Cris Carter to have 1,000 catches and 100 touchdowns; Palmeiro, the only man other than Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray to have 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Neither played for a title-winning team.

Now, many very bright people say a player like Brown or Palmeiro, who steadily accumulates statistics without making headlines, without changing the game, without having a historic moment, is the sort who doesn't belong in his sport's Hall of Fame.

I say a player like Brown or Palmeiro is exactly the sort who does.

Look, Mickey Mantle doesn't need the Hall of Fame. Sandy Koufax doesn't need the Hall of Fame. Same with Walter Payton and Joe Montana. We know they were great. Of course players like that are in Cooperstown and Canton, but it seems almost like a waste of an artist's skills, crafting a plaque or bust to certify Rice or Mays is famous.

Brown and Palmeiro need the Hall of Fame. The whole point of a Hall of Fame, the reason that the honor is determined by expert voters and not by the mechanical analysis of stat boards and award lists, is to allow each generation to hand down its admiration for the most exemplary performers of its time.

What's more exemplary than Tim Brown, playing 16 games for 14 consecutive seasons with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, putting up all those ``quiet'' 76- to 104-catch years? What's more exemplary than Rafael Palmeiro, missing no more than eight games for 16 consecutive seasons with Texas and Baltimore, wrapping 10 consecutive 37- to 47-homer years around the 1994 strike year?

What's the knock here, again?

Listening to the Palmeiro and Brown critics, you get the idea they wanted a little less dependability. A little more back-page bold type in the New York tabloids (``Raf Jailed in Bar Brawl''). A little more desperation for the reflected glory of a better team (``Leading SportsCenter tonight, Tim Brown demands a trade to a contender'').

By all accounts, these are players who have lived clean, worked hard, not made waves and put up numbers that are not just good but great. It's this apparent wholesomeness, by the way, that drew Viagra to Palmeiro when it was looking for a pitchman.

One argument against Palmeiro deserves some attention. That's the idea that his numbers are inflated because he has played most of his career in the homer-happy steroids era and played 20 seasons in the hitter-friendly parks of the Cubs, Rangers and Orioles. This quibble is going to apply to a lot of Hall of Fame candidates in the years ahead, but it doesn't stick in this case.

First, the only connection between Palmeiro and steroids has been an accusation from Jose Canseco (no less). No evidence, no fair.

Second, Palmeiro's hit and homer totals are still pretty impressive, even if he's been helped by Camden Yards and The Ballpark at Arlington. Think about the following:

In his first five-year stretch in Baltimore, 1994-1998, Palmeiro had 831 hits and 182 homers. Cal Ripken Jr., who will be a Hall of Famer, was an Oriole in the same five years, and he had 791 hits and 87 homers. Advantage, Palmeiro.

In his latest five-year stretch in Texas, 1999-2003, Palmeiro had 805 hits and 214 homers. Comparisons are tricky, because no hitter stayed with the Rangers for the same five years. But Juan Gonzalez, who was a Ranger from 1995 to 1999, winning two MVP awards in that time, had 808 hits and 200 homers. Even, or slight edge to Palmeiro.

There is no single Hall of Fame template. You look at numbers, which tell you what a player did. You listen to your gut, which tells you how he did it.

To anybody who says Tim Brown's and Rafael Palmeiro's credentials don't look like a Hall of Famer's, I say you're welcome to your opinion, but sure they do. Brown's look like Palmeiro's, Palmeiro's look like Brown's.

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(1 -- 2) Rafael Palmeiro, above, and Tim Brown may not have had spectacular careers, but their productivity and integrity warrants their induction into their sport's respective Hall of Fame.

Getty Images