Hall of Fame Finalists

The 15 finalists for the 2016 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame was announced last night.

Brett Favre
Kurt Warner
Edgerrin James
Terrell Davis
Terrell Owens
Marvin Harrison
Joe Jacoby
Alan Faneca
Orlando Pace
Morten Andersen
Steve Atwater
John Lynch
Kevin Greene
Tony Dungy
Don Coryell

Brett Favre, Terrell Owens, and Alan Faneca are in their first year of eligibility.

Favre is the only automatic choice. They might as well give him his gold jacket and bust now. That leaves fourteen players and coaches for four spots. If I had a vote, and I should have a vote, I'd have these five in Canton next August.

Brett Favre
Terrell Davis
Marvin Harrison
Kevin Greene
Don Coryell

Davis, Greene, and Coryell have waited far longer than they deserve. Especially Coryell. His offensive innovations changed the game on that side of the ball. Changes that we still see today. I suppose that his lack of titles have kept him on the outside of the Hall of Fame. His innovations should put him inside. Harrison was just too good to keep out another year. I'd like to say that he should suffer through a wait similar to that of fellow receivers Cris Carter, Anrde Reed, Art Monk, and Tim Brown but that's just petty. I'll put him in now.

Those five should be joined by the senior nominees. Another two players that should have been in long ago. If they had gone in any year before this one they could have been on that Canton stage to receive their much deserved honor.

Dick Stanfel
Ken Stabler

And the contributor nominee.

Eddie DeBartolo Jr.

I think that DeBartolo will make it but I don't think that he should. He'd be the first owner inducted that wasn't part of the NFL's formative years and I don't think that he deserves that honor. His teams were wildly successful but did he really contribute to the league as a whole? I'd put Art Modell in before DeBartolo. Modell played an important role in the NFL-television marriage of the 1960s. Heck, the 49ers original owner Tony Morabito might be more deserving than DeBartolo.

But, this all just one opinion. One that should have a Hall of Fame vote.