Hall of Fame Expectations

The 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class will be announced tonight during the "NFL Honors" broadcast. Here are the 15 modern-era finalists.

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

There's only one automatic, slam-dunk player/coach on this list and that player is Brett Favre. His bust may already be made. His jacket already fitted. And his ring already sized. As many as four other players/coaches will join Favre tonight. If I had a vote, and I really should have a vote, the five modern-era inductees would look like this.

Brett Favre
Terrell Davis
Kevin Greene
Don Coryell
Orlando Pace

I expect the class to look more like this.

Brett Favre
Kevin Greene
Marvin Harrison
Terrell Davis
Orlando Pace

I actually think that Don Coryell might have a better shot at the Hall of Fame if he was in the contributor category. It's his passing game innovations and his impact on offensive football that make him a Hall of Famer in my book. As a coach, he turned the San Diego Chargers into an offensive dynamo but he never took his talented team to the Super Bowl. The voters frown on that sort of thing.

As for Marvin Harrison. Personally, if Cris Carter had to wait for more than five years every receiver should wait for at least five years. Unless he's Jerry Rice. But that's just me.

Terrell Davis and Kevin Greene have waited too long.

Terrell Owens might be the most hotly debated player. The most important thing that a receiver has to do is catch the football. Getting open is pretty important too but a great receiver catches the football even when he isn't open. Catching the football. So important. A receiver can't do anything else if he doesn't catch the football. Owens had horrible hands. Damn near every catch that he made looked like a challenge for him. For that reason alone I have a hard time ever accepting him as a Hall of Fame receiver. How can a Hall of Fame receiver struggle so much with the one thing that he has to do so well? But, all anyone cares about are the stats. And Owens has very pretty stats.

Tony Dungy is a tough one. He has one Super Bowl win. And he did much of the legwork that built the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into a Super Bowl winner. But I'm a little puzzled as to why he's been such a hot candidate over the last couple of years and Jimmy Johnson hasn't. Johnson won two Super Bowls. Not only did he coach the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins he was the architect for three. I see Dungy as a Hall of Fame coach I just don't see him getting in before Johnson. Or Buddy Parker.

Alan Faneca is the one player that I'd really like to find room for in the 2016 Class. I guess, like Pace, that he'll have to wait a year.

The Senior nominees for the Class of 2016.

Ken Stabler
Dick Stanfel

It's a real shame that both passed away last summer. Both should have been inducted years ago. Both should have been in Canton for their deserved inductions.

The contributor nominee.

Eddie DeBartolo Jr.

I expect DeBartolo to make it. The special contributor category was started two years ago to acknowledge deserving candidates that were being pushed aside by deserving players and coaches. It's difficult to imagine that a person nominated in only the second year of the contributor category not making it. The problem for me is that I don't think this candidate deserves it. I'd put in Carl Storck and Steve Sabol first. I actually thought that the contributor category was initiated to get Sabol in the Hall. DeBartolo would be the first "modern" owner to be inducted. Before Art Modell? Before Carroll Rosenbloom? I kind of figured that the contributor category was dedicated to individuals that made an impact on the league. DeBartolo made a significant impact on the San Francisco 49ers. A lot of owners of teams that won titles got the people in place to win those titles. Rosenbloom. Joe Robbie. I just question what DeBartolo did to better the league as a whole. If anything, it can be argued that he had a negative impact on the league.

So, my 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class would look like this.

Brett Favre
Terrell Davis
Kevin Greene
Don Coryell
Orlando Pace
Ken Stabler
Dick Stanfel

I expect the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class to look more like this.

Brett Favre
Kevin Greene
Marvin Harrison
Terrell Davis
Orlando Pace
Ken Stabler
Dick Stanfel
Eddie DeBartolo Jr.