Pro Football Hall Of Fame Class Of 2016 Nominees Released
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has revealed their official list of 108 nominees for the class of 2016, Yahoo! confirms. The most notable to make it on the list is former QB Brett Favre, who last hit the field back in 2010 when he played for the Minnesota Vikings. Although Favre has vowed to return to the game since, the 45-year-old retired athlete has qualfied now that he has fulfilled the five-year grace period.
Other pro football players to make the Hall of Fame 2016 nominees list include wide receiver Terrell Owens, who played 15 seasons in the NFL. As pointed out by USA Today columnist Jarrett Bell, Owens could run into some trouble getting in to the Hall of Fame because of his troubles with the law.
“I think that’s a consideration, but I don’t think it really is going to be easy to define. Because the bylaws state that you are supposed to only consider what happens between the lines, what happens on the field… but you can also make the argument if there are things that happened off the field that affected things that happened on the field, then it enters the equation. I don’t think it’s going to be the dominant issue with [Owens], but it is the most controversial part.”
Joining Favre and Owens on the list of new nominees is running backs Clinton Portis and Brian Westbrook, safeties Lawyer Milloy and Darren Sharper, linebackers Keith Bulluck and Mike Vrabel, offensive lineman Alan Faneca, kicker John Carney, and long-snapper Ethan Albright.
The large list will be whittled down to just 25 semifinalists in November followed by 15 finalists in January. The 46-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee will then determine the class of 2016 on February 6, 2015.
Check out the full list below, via the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Official Site.
Modern Era Nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2016 (108 nominees)
QUARTERBACKS (6) Drew Bledsoe, BRETT FAVRE, Steve McNair, Phil Simms, Vinny Testaverde, *Kurt Warner
RUNNING BACKS (15) Shaun Alexander, Ottis Anderson, Tiki Barber, Roger Craig, Stephen Davis, *Terrell Davis, Eddie George, Priest Holmes, Edgerrin James, Daryl Johnston, Jamal Lewis, CLINTON PORTIS, Herschel Walker (also KR), Ricky Watters, BRIAN WESTBROOK
WIDE RECEIVERS (9) Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard (also PR), *Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, TERRELL OWENS, Sterling Sharpe, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith
TIGHT ENDS (2) Mark Bavaro, Jay Novacek
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (19) Tony Boselli (T), Jeff Bostic (C), Jim Covert (T), ALAN FANECA (G), Jay Hilgenberg (C), Chris Hinton (G/T), Kent Hull (C), Joe Jacoby (T), Jon Jansen (T), Mike Kenn (T), Jim Lachey (T), Kevin Mawae (C/G), Mark May (G/T/C), Tom Nalen (C), Nate Newton (G), *Orlando Pace (T), Chris Samuels (T), Mark Schlereth (G), Steve Wisniewski (G)
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (6) Dexter Manley (DE), Charles Mann (DE), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Fred Smerlas (NT), Bryant Young (DT)
LINEBACKERS (13) Cornelius Bennett, Tedy Bruschi, KEITH BULLUCK, *Kevin Greene (also DE), Ken Harvey, Levon Kirkland, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest (also DE), Karl Mecklenburg, Matt Millen, Sam Mills, Zach Thomas, MIKE VRABEL
DEFENSIVE BACKS (14) Eric Allen (CB), Steve Atwater (S), Joey Browner (S), LeRoy Butler (S), Rodney Harrison (S), Ty Law (CB), Albert Lewis (CB), *John Lynch (S), LAWYER MILLOY (SS), DARREN SHARPER (FS), Shawn Springs (CB), Troy Vincent (CB/S), Everson Walls (CB), Darren Woodson (S)
KICKERS/PUNTER(6) *Morten Andersen (K), Gary Anderson (K), JOHN CARNEY (K), Jason Elam (K), Sean Landeta (P), Nick Lowery (K)
SPECIAL TEAMS/POSITION PLAYERS (3) ETHAN ALBRIGHT (LS), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (also WR) COACHES (15) *Don Coryell, Bill Cowher, *Tony Dungy, Tom Flores, Mike Holmgren, *Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Richie Petitbon, Dan Reeves, Pete Rodriguez, Lou Saban, Marty Schottenheimer, Clark Shaughnessy, Dick Vermeil
[Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic]
