1) Morten Andersen, K -- New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings (Times as a Semifinalist: 4)
2) Steve Atwater, S -- Denver Broncos,New York Jets (times as a semifinalist: 5)
3) Tony Boselli, T -- Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans (times as a semifinalist: 1)
4) Isaac Bruce, WR -- Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers (times as a semifinalist: 2)
5) Don Coryell, Coach -- St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Chargers (times as a semifinalist: 8)
6) Roger Craig, RB -- San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders, Minnesota Vikings (times as a semifinalist: 8)
7) Terrell Davis, RB -- Denver Broncos (times as a semifinalist: 10)
8) Tony Dungy, Coach -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts (times as a semifinalist: 3)
9) Alan Faneca, G -- Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals (times as a semifinalist: 1)
10) Brett Favre, QB -- Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings (times as a semifinalist: 1)
11) Kevin Greene, LB/DE -- Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers (times as a semifinalist: 10)
12) Marvin Harrison, WR -- Indianapolis Colts (times as a semifinalist: 3)
13) Torry Holt, WR -- St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars (times as a semifinalist: 2)
14) Joe Jacoby, T -- Washington Redskins (times as a semifinalist: 6)
15) Edgerrin James, RB -- Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks (times as a semifinalist: 2)
16) Jimmy Johnson, Coach -- Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins (times as a semifinalist: 3)
17) Mike Kenn, T -- Atlanta Falcons (times as a semifinalist: 2)
18) Ty Law, CB -- New England Patriots, New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos (times as a semifinalist: 2)
19) John Lynch, FS -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos (times as a semifinalist: 4)
20) Kevin Mawae, C/G -- Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans (times as a semifinalist: 2)
21) Karl Mecklenburg, LB -- Denver Broncos (times as a semifinalist: 5)
22) Sam Mills, LB -- New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers (times as a semifinalist: 1)
23) Terrell Owens, WR -- San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills,Cincinnati Bengals (times as a semifinalist: 1)
24) Orlando Pace, T -- St. Louis Rams, Chicago Bears (times as a semifinalist: 2)
25) Kurt Warner, QB -- St. Louis Rams, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals (times as a semifinalist: 2)
They join the two Senior Finalists:
Ken Stabler, QB, Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers, New Orleans Saints
Dick Stanfel, G, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins
And the Contributor Finalist:
Eddie DeBartolo Jr., Owner, San Francisco 49ers
Brett Favre, Alan Faneca, and Terrell Owens are in their first year of eligibility. Favre is the one sure bet to be honored in Canton next August. I wouldn't be surprised if Faneca joins Favre but a backlog will probably force him to wait. Owens should wait even if there was no backlog. He had far too many drops to warrant first-ballot induction. He probably dropped more passes in a season than Hall of Fame receivers drop in their career. My Hall of Fame Class of 2016 would look something like this:
Brett Favre
Don Coryell
Terrell Davis
Kevin Greene
Marvin Harrison
Ken Stabler
Dick Stanfel
Eddie DeBartolo, Jr.
I've never understood the complaints over DeBartolo not being in the Hall of Fame. The only owners that have been inducted were actually part of getting the NFL on it's feet. Or the founding of the AFL. DeBartolo had nothing to do with either. The best thing that he ever did was hire Bill Walsh as his head coach and he threatened to or wanted to fire this outstanding coach many times. DeBartolo did provide his team decision-makers all that they needed to field a consistent championship-caliber football team. At times, he did so illegally. I'd be more inclined to group DeBartolo with former Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom. There's another owner that took over a bumbling team (Colts), put the right people in place, and rode a long, sustained wave of success. If there's a Hall of Fame push for Rosenbloom it's a very quiet one. His team's on-field success is comparable to that of DeBartolo's and Rosenbloom probably did more league-wide. I think that the voters will tap DeBartolo but I wouldn't. My vote doesn't count.
Alan Faneca and Orlando Pace are probably the most difficult for me to keep on the outside. I'd like to see Karl Mecklenburg make it. I was never quite sure if others appreciated his versatile play as much as I did. He's a five-time semi-finalist so has some support. I often looked forward to seeing the Broncos play simply to see him.
The list will be further trimmed to 15 in early January.
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