Hall of Fame Nominees

It feels like the 2015 Hall of Fame Class was just inducted. The process of putting together the 2016 Hall of Fame Class is moving forward. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Senior Comittee named Ken Stabler and Dick Stanfel as their nominees. Eddie DeBartolo Jr. was named the contributor nominee. On Wednesday night 108 modern era nominees were announced. Here they are:

italics=first year of eligibility

Quarterbacks
Drew Bledsoe, Brett Favre, Steve McNair, Phil Simms, Vinny Testaverde, Kurt Warner

Running backs
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, Ricky Watters, Brian Westbrook

Receivers
Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard, Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, Terrell Owens, Sterling Sharpe, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith

Tight ends
Mark Bavaro, Jay Novacek

Offensive linemen
Tony Boselli, Jeff Bostic, Jim Covert, Alan Faneca, Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Kent Hull, Joe Jacoby, Jon Jansen, Mike Kenn, Jim Lachey, Kevin Mawae, Mark May, Tom Nalen, Nate Newton, Orlando Pace, Chris Samuels, Mark Schlereth, Steve Wisniewski

Defensive linemen
Dexter Manley, Charles Mann, Leslie O'Neal, Simeon Rice, Fred Smerlas, Bryant Young

Linebackers
Cornelius Bennett, Tedy Bruschi, Keith Bulluck, Kevin Greene, Ken Harvey, Levon Kirkland, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest, Karl Mecklenburg, Matt Millen, Sam Mills, Zach Thomas, Mike Vrabel

Defensive backs
Eric Allen, Steve Atwater, Joey Browner, LeRoy Butler, Rodney Harrison, Ty Law, Albert Lewis, John Lynch, Lawyer Milloy, Darren Sharper, Shawn Springs, Troy Vincent, Everson Walls, Darren Woodson

Kickers/Punters
Morten Andersen, Gary Anderson, John Carney, Jason Elam, Sean Landeta, Nick Lowery

Special teams
Ethan Albright, Brian Mitchell, Steve Tasker

Coaches
Don Coryell, Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Tom Flores, Mike Holmgren, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Richie Petibon, Dan Reeves, Pete Rodriguez, Lou Saban, Marty Schottenheimer, Clark Shaugnessy, Dick Vermiel

In my opinion, Brett Favre is the only automatic first ballot Hall of Famer. Terrell Owens is not. It should be mandatory for a Hall of Fame receiver to possess the basic skill of catching a football. Owens' hands were horrible, at best. I'd put Alan Faneca in as a first ballot Hall of Famer before I'd put Owens in.

If the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2016 was up to me it would include Clark Shaugnessy, Don Coryell, Terrell Davis, Sterling Sharpe, and Brett Favre. I'd like to include Joey Browner but there's just not enough room. Sharpe and Browner are two players that had their careers cut short by injury. Especially Sharpe. A full career and each is already in the Hall. As it is they played well enough and long enough for legitimate consideration. Browner is a serious long shot but Sharpe really does deserve serious consideration. He was right there with Jerry Rice and Cris Carter as the best receivers of their era. It would also be cool to see Sharpe go in with Favre.

With Favre as the only automatic this could be another clean-up class. I see the Hall of Fame voters putting together a class that looks like this:

Brett Favre
Terrell Davis
Don Coryell
Kevin Greene
Marvin Harrison

Senior Nominees
Ken Stabler
Dick Stanfel

Contributor Nominee
Eddie DeBartolo Jr.

I think that DeBartolo makes it but I'm not so sure that he should. He'd be the first owner that wasn't part of the early, shaky, formative days of the NFL to be inducted. I really don't think that he deserves that honor. Art Modell was far more active and productive in moving the league forward with his work on the television deals. As far as I'm aware DeBartolo did very little league-wide. In my opinion Ralph Hay, Carl Storck and Modell deserve Hall of Fame recognition before DeBartolo. However, DeBartolo does have something in his favor. You can't tell the history of the 1980s NFL without the San Francisco 49ers and you can't tell the history of the 49ers without Eddie DeBartolo Jr. That's often the measuring stick for determining whether a person is deserving of Hall of Fame recognition. In that sense I wouldn't really have a problem with his receiving a snappy gold jacket next August.

Best of luck to all of the Hall of Fame nominees. Each played a significant role in the history of the NFL.