Next Year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Class

We should still be celebrating the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022. That Class was announced only a week ago. The members of the new Class have yet to sit for their busts. It’s all still so new. Instead, I’m thinking about the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Maybe I’m just looking at the next Class to see if Jared Allen has a shot. 

All thoughts on the next Class starts with the players that will be eligible for the first time.

Joe Thomas

Darrelle Revis

Chris Johnson

Shane Lechler

Dwight Freeney

Elvis Dumervil

James Harrison

The Class of 2022 had no players make it in their first year eligibility. There will be no first-ballot shut out next year. The Class of 2023 will start with Joe Thomas and Darrelle Revis. From there, DeMarcus Ware’s Hall wait should end at a single year. The final two modern-era selections will be wide open. I’m going with the following five.

Joe Thomas

Darrelle Revis

DeMarcus Ware

Zach Thomas

Jared Allen

I actually think that a receiver (Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne) or Devin Hester will bump Allen from the Class of 2023 but you never know. 

As for the senior, coach, and contributor candidates.

Senior: Lavvie Dilweg

Talk about Hall waits. Lavvie Dilweg’s last NFL season was 1934. He was one of the game’s great ends during the league’s first decade and into it’s second. A five-time All-Pro. He helped lead the Green Bay Packers to three straight titles. He didn’t generate receiving stats like Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne. Dilweg played in a very different time. He also played defense. It wasn’t just token defense. He was a factor on defense. Like Duke Slater, Fritz Pollard, and Benny Friedman, Dilweg probably should’ve made the Hall of Fame before the voting got out of the 1970s. Instead, all four waited at least a half century. Dilweg’s still waiting. Waiting like no one ever has. Slater needed the Centennial Class to finally make it. Will it take a Bicentennial Class for Dilweg to finally make it? He’ll be my senior pick until he finally makes it to Canton. 

Coach: Buddy Parker

When people were bitching about the long Hall wait of Tom Flores, I couldn’t help but think of Buddy Parker. Flores waited a while. Parker has waited 30 years longer. Flores last coached in 1994. Parker’s last season was 1964. Flores won two titles with the Raiders. Parker won two titles with the Lions. He coached the Lions to a third title game. Parker built a decade-long dynasty in Detroit. The Lions haven’t sniffed consistent success, let alone a title, since Parker’s stunning departure. The Lions team that he built and coached won a third title despite Parker bolting the team on the eve of the season. Paul Brown is an NFL coaching legend. Getting past Parker’s Lions was a puzzle that Brown rarely solved. Regular season and postseason, Parker had Brown’s number. The 1950s Detroit Lions is one of the league’s all-time great teams. Their head coach should be in Canton. 

Contributor: Ralph Hay

The Hall should finally properly honor the man that hosted the meeting that started it all. 

A very early stab at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023:

Joe Thomas

Darrelle Revis

DeMarcus Ware

Zach Thomas

Jared Allen

Lavvie Dilweg

Buddy Parker

Ralph Hay