The Modern-era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 were announced on Wednesday. The list of 130 former players is headlined by a couple of players in their first year of eligibility. Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson. Each was a finalist for the same Heisman Trophy. They were both selected at the top of the 1998 NFL Draft. It's only right that they enter Canton together. 12 of the remaining 128 nominees are also in their first year of eligibility.
Calvin Johnson
Jared Allen
Kevin Williams
Charles Tillman
Logan Mankins
Steven Jackson
Wes Welker
Heath Miller
D'Brickashaw Ferguson
Justin Tuck
Jerod Mayo
Roddy White
The roster of nominees consists of 65 offensive players, 49 defensive players and 16 special teams players. The list of Modern-Era nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November and, from there, to 15 finalists in January.
MODERN-ERA NOMINEES FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2021
*Finalist in 2020.
QUARTERBACKS
(8): Drew Bledsoe, Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Jeff Garcia, Dave Krieg, Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair
RUNNING BACKS
(17): Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Larry Centers, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn, Eddie George, Priest Holmes, Steven Jackson, Jamal Lewis, Eric Metcalf (also WR/KR/PR), Glyn Milburn (also WR/KR/PR), Lorenzo Neal (FB), Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker (also KR), Ricky Watters
WIDE RECEIVERS
(13): Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), *Torry Holt, Calvin Johnson, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Hines Ward, *Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, Roddy White
TIGHT ENDS
(7): Dallas Clark, Ben Coates, Keith Jackson, Brent Jones, Heath Miller, Jeremy Shockey, Wesley Walls
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
(20): Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), *Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), *Alan Faneca (G), D’Brickashaw Ferguson (T), Kevin Glover (C/G), Jordan Gross (T), Kent Hull (C), Olin Kreutz (C), Logan Mankins (G), Tom Nalen (C), Chris Samuels (T), Jeff Saturday (C), Chris Snee (G), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G)
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
(15): John Abraham (DE also LB), Jared Allen (DE), Ray Childress (DT/DE), La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Casey Hampton (DT/NT), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Michael Dean Perry (DT/DE), Simeon Rice (DE), *Richard Seymour (DT), Justin Smith (DE), Neil Smith (DE), Greg Townsend (DE/LB/DT/NT), Justin Tuck (DE), Kevin Williams (DT), *Bryant Young (DT)
LINEBACKERS
(16): Cornelius Bennett, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, London Fletcher, Seth Joyner, Clay Matthews Jr., Jerod Mayo, Willie McGinest (also DE), *Sam Mills, Joey Porter, Chris Spielman, Takeo Spikes, Pat Swilling (also DE), Darryl Talley, *Zach Thomas, Patrick Willis
DEFENSIVE BACKS
(18): Eric Allen (CB), Ronde Barber (CB/S), *LeRoy Butler (S), Nick Collins (S), Merton Hanks (S), Rodney Harrison (S), James Hasty (DB), Albert Lewis (CB), *John Lynch (S), Tim McDonald (S), Allen Rossum (DB), Asante Samuel (DB), Bob Sanders (S), Charles Tillman (CB), Troy Vincent (CB), Adrian Wilson (S), Charles Woodson (CB/S), Darren Woodson (S)
PUNTERS/KICKERS
(12): David Akers (K), Gary Anderson (K), Jason Elam (K), Jeff Feagles (P), Jason Hanson (K), John Kasay (K), Sean Landeta (P), Ryan Longwell (K), Nick Lowery (K), Reggie Roby (P), Rohn Stark (P), Matt Turk (P)
SPECIAL TEAMS
(4): Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Mel Gray (PR/KR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (ST also WR)
The Final Process:
Eighteen finalists will be presented to the 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee on the eve of Super Bowl LV. The Finalists will consist of 15 Modern-Era Finalists and the recently named Senior Finalist, Drew Pearson; Contributor Finalist, Bill Nunn; and Coach Finalist, Tom Flores. The 15 Modern-Era Finalists will be trimmed during the meeting from 15 to 10, then from 10 to five. The Senior, Contributor, Coach finalists, and the Final Five Modern-Era Finalists are voted “yes” or “no” and must receive at least 80 percent support. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 is the result. The selection process by-laws provide that between four and eight new members will be selected.
If I had a vote the Modern-Era members of the Class would look like this:
Automatics:
Peyton Manning
Charles Woodson
From there:
LeRoy Butler
Tony Boselli
Alan Faneca
LeRoy Butler and Tony Boselli have been waiting for too long. I'd like to include a receiver (Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne) but I think that Alan Faneca is too deserving. Receiver is a problem. A logjam is forming. Again. I wouldn't be surprised if Calvin Johnson makes it in his first year but I don't think that he's the automatic, first ballot Hall of Famer that Randy Moss was in 2018. Johnson should join the receiver queue that has Wayne and Holt at the front of it. For logjam reasons alone I should include a receiver in this Class. I just hate going that route over going with the most deserving regardless of position.
I currently see a Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 that looks like this:
Peyton Manning
Charles Woodson
LeRoy Butler
Tony Boselli
Alan Faneca
Drew Pearson
Bill Nunn
Tom Flores
Other than the first two and last three, I might see it differently tomorrow. Or next week.
As a Minnesota Vikings fan, I'd be thrilled to see Jared Allen make it in his first year of eligibility but I don't seen him as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. That designation needs to be reserved for the truly special players. It's been handed out too freely in recent years. I think that Kevin Williams quietly had a Hall of Fame-quality career. I also think that he might have a Richard Seymour-like Hall of Fame wait. Just on the outside year after too-many years.
Congratulations to the 130 Pro Football Hall of Fame Nominees.
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