Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 Elections

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s board of 49 selectors met yesterday to hash out the Hall fates of the 18 finalists for the Class of 2022. The 18 finalists include 15 modern-era candidates, as well as coach, contributor, and senior candidates. 

THE CLASS OF 2022 BALLOT

(Modern-Era Candidates)

OFFENSE (5)

WR (3) – *Torry Holt, Andre Johnson, *Reggie Wayne.

OT (2) – *Tony Boselli, Willie Anderson.

DEFENSE (9)

DL (3) – *Jared Allen (DE), *Richard Seymour (DT), Bryant Young (DT). 

LB (4) – *Sam Mills, *Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Patrick Willis.

DB (2) – *Ronde Barber (CB), *LeRoy Butler (S).

SPECIALISTS (1)

KR/PR – Devin Hester

* Denotes returning finalist

COACHES CANDIDATE

Dick Vermeil

SENIOR CANDIDATE

Cliff Branch

CONTRIBUTOR CANDIDATE

Art McNally

***

Andre Johnson, DeMarcus Ware, and Devin Hester have made the finalist stage in their first year of eligibility. I’m still not sure how Johnson made it to the finalist stage over Steve Smith Sr. Anyway, the Hall selectors have shown a great fondness for jamming through players in their first year of eligibility. Hopefully, they are more selective this year. With Ware being the lone first-year candidate with a real shot this year, many see the Class of 2022 as a “clean-up class.” This could be the year that long-time finalist Tony Boselli finally makes it to Canton. LeRoy Butler and Richard Seymour have also hovered for years around the edges of making it through. I see (hopefully) Boselli, Seymour, and Butler in the Class of 2022. If Ware makes it four, that leaves room for one more.

My Top Contenders:

Ronde Barber

Reggie Wayne

Patrick Willis

Jared Allen

I believe that all four will eventually make it to Canton. For purely biased reasons, I hope that Jared Allen rounds out the Hall of Fame Class of 2022. When it comes to a Hall toss-up situation, I often go with the player that has waited the longest. That would be Ronde Barber. In this situation, I’m probably leaning toward Patrick Willis. In my opinion, he was the best linebacker of his generation. The only knock on his career is that it was only eight years. His first seven years were slam-dunk, first-ballot Hall of Fame quality. An injury-riddled eighth season led to his early retirement. It’s a mystery as to how he wasn’t a finalist last year. It was an even greater mystery when he wasn’t a semi-finalist in his first year of eligibility. I must be watching a different football game than the Hall voters. 

As for the coach, contributor, and senior candidates, Dick Vermeil, Art McNally, and Cliff Branch are in. 

The only Hall of Fame discussions that matter took place yesterday. They reportedly completed that discussing in under eight hours. Last year’s session lasted nearly nine hours. That means that the Hall of Fame Class of 2022 is known to a few. The rest of us aren’t expected to know until the NFL Honors Show on February 10.