HOFame Senior List of 182 Scrutinized
New Screening Committee to reduce 182 to 50 for Blue Ribbon Senior Committee
In its first foray into the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s new player selection setup, the Seniors Screening Committee (SSC) will pare the preliminary list of 182 senior nominees to 50, who can then be officially considered by the Seniors Blue Ribbon Committee (SBRC).
The preliminary list was initially announced as 183, with Sean Landetta included, but he is not yet a senior, so he was punted off the list.
I would love to start discussing these nominees, especially amongst our SBRC members, but there is a speed bump to negotiate first.
This screening is an additional procedure layer that is intriguing for at least a couple of reasons.
As of this writing, the PFHOFame has not formally announced the 11 members of the SSC. Why is that?
From my perspective, as a long-time member of the SBRC, this creates an additional procedural layer that demands we immediately and actively advocate for seniors we want to be able to discuss. I trust the opinions and insight of the SBRC, which has an average of 47 years involvement in the league and has been actively debating candidates for years. The SSC? Who knows?
We are sure that HOFame president Jim Porter, executive Rich Desrosiers, and whoever else was involved were diligent and well-intended when selecting Screening Eleven as part of a series of selection changes.
But it is frankly a challenge to juggle the varied opinions of nine (formerly 12) veteran senior selectors who worked well together over the years. Based on my experience doing that in our familiar SBRC huddle, I am concerned about how the new Screening Eleven will fare when making final decisions in the cut to 50.
Fifty sounds like a large enough number, and surely The Screening Eleven wouldn’t miss a viable prospect, right? Well, we need to go back only one year to see how an outlier, someone never discussed previously by any committee, leapfrogged well-known names to become a finalist.
Admittedly, this was a player I advocated, but the point here remains appropriate. Until last year, wide receiver Art Powell had never been beyond the preliminary nomination level, never discussed in a committee meeting, even as a semifinalist during 50 years of eligibility.
Such oversights happen. That is exactly why the HOF created a Senior Committee with selectors steeped in the game's history. Last year, Powell was discussed for the first time by that committee and advanced to be a finalist. Surprisingly, he failed to get the 80 percent yes votes from the entire 50-person group necessary for induction. But that’s a story for another time.
The relevant concern here is whether The Screening Eleven would have even put him through so the Senior Committee could discuss him. It took multiple meetings and presentations within the tight-knit Senior Committee to pull him out of the anonymity of the senior abyss and into contention.
What if there is another worthy outlier this year? Is the Screening Eleven astute enough about those worthy players trapped in the abyss that it will recognize one whose name has been ignored too long? Will they know to put through another long-ignored outlier this year so we can debate his merits?
There are a few, but we’ll conveniently go with somebody we know well, former quarterback Jim Plunkett, a two-time Super Bowl winner who has been disregarded — never discussed — during 33 years of eligibility. His name surfaces this year due to an eerie comparison to first-time eligible quarterback Eli Manning, also a two-time Super Bowl winner.
We hope to leave that debate for another time, pending Plunkett being passed by the Screening Eleven.
Meantime here is the SBRC roster, which shows an average of almost 19 years on the committee and more than 47 years covering the history of the NFL. Their job right now is to make sure that anonymous Screening Eleven puts through players they hope to discuss.
Seniors BRC Years as Selector Years involved with NFL 1. D. Orlando Ledbetter 24 39 2. Frank Cooney 32 59 3. Gary Myers 15 46 4. Jeff Legwold 24 38 5. Rick Gosselin 28 52 6. Ron Borges 22 49 7. Howard Balzer 20 49 8. Ron Wolf 1 62 9. John Turney 1 31 Avg 18.6 Avg. 47.22
Here is a list of the 183 players that are being screened. We will give our perspective in another post regarding who we believe are the best among them
SENIOR PLAYER NOMINEES
For the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025
(Players must have last played at least 25 full seasons ago to be eligible for nomination in this category. Qualifications include five years of service and at least one recognized postseason honor.)
QUARTERBACKS (16): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Boomer Esiason, Roman Gabriel, James “Shack” Harris, Bobby Hebert, Jeff Hostetler, Ron Jaworski, Jack Kemp, Dave Krieg, Daryle Lamonica, Don Meredith, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Joe Theismann, Doug Williams.
RUNNING BACKS (25): Alan Ameche, Ottis Anderson, Jon Arnett, Larry Brown, Timmy Brown, Earnest Byner, Roger Craig, John David Crow, Clem Daniels, Hewritt Dixon, Chuck Foreman, Willie Galimore, Pat Harder, Marv Hubbard, Cecil Isbell, Daryl Johnston, Verne Lewellen, Christian Okoye, Bill Osmanski, Glenn Presnell, Mark van Eeghen, Herschel Walker, Byron “Whizzer” White, Sammy Winder, Paul "Tank” Younger.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (31): Mark Bavaro, Gino Cappelletti, Raymond Chester, Todd Christensen, Mark Clayton, Gary Collins, Isaac Curtis, Carroll Dale, Lavvie Dilweg, Boyd Dowler, Henry Ellard, Jimmy Giles, Billie Howton, Harold Jackson, Billy "White Shoes” Johnson, Brent Jones, Homer Jones, Ken Kavanaugh, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Mike Quick, Bob Scarpitto, Sterling Sharpe, Del Shofner, Pat Studstill, John Taylor, Lionel Taylor, Otis Taylor, Rick Upchurch, Bobby Walston, Billy Wilson.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (28): Harris Barton, Dick Barwegan, Ed Budde, Randy Cross, Ray Donaldson, Ox Emerson, Bill Fralic, Gale Gillingham, Kevin Glover, Charles "Buckets” Goldenberg, Wayne Hawkins, Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, George Kunz, Don Mosebar, Ralph Neely, Nate Newton, John Niland, Dick Schafrath, Luis Sharpe, Walt Sweeney, Fuzzy Thurston, Jim Tyrer, Ed White, Al Wistert.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (27): Lyle Alzado, George Andrie, Al “Bubba” Baker, Roger Brown, Ray Childress, Ben Davidson, Mark Gastineau, Bill Glass, L.C. Greenwood, Rosey Grier, Rich Jackson, Ed "Too Tall” Jones, Sean Jones, Tom Keating, Eugene "Big Daddy” Lipscomb, Jim Marshall, Leonard Marshall, Harvey Martin, Leslie O’Neal, Michael Dean Perry, Lou Rymkus, Tom Sestak, Otis Sistrunk, Fred Smerlas, Bubba Smith, Bill Stanfill, Greg Townsend.
LINEBACKERS (22): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Bill Bergy, Dan Conners, Mike Curtis, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Tom Jackson, Vaughn Johnson, Lee Roy Jordan, Seth Joyner, Wilber Marshall, Rod Martin, Clay Matthews Jr., Karl Mecklenberg, Matt Millen, Tommy Nobis, Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds, Andy Russell, Pat Swilling, Darryl Talley, Phil Villapiano.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (28): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Joey Browner, Deron Cherry, Nolan Cromwell, Thom Darden, Don Doll, Pat Fischer, Dave Grayson, Cornell Green, Merton Hanks, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Terry McDaniel, Tim McDonald, Eddie Meador, Jim Norton, Lemar Parrish, Jimmy Patton, Jake Scott, Dennis Smith, Jack Tatum, Roosevelt Taylor, Mike Wagner, Everson Walls, Dave Whitsell, Fred Williamson, Louis Wright.
PUNTERS/KICKERS (4): Jim Bakken, Norm Johnson, Nick Lowery (Sean Landetta was punted off the list because he is not yet a senior).
SPECIAL TEAMS (2): Mel Gray, Steve Tasker.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 will be enshrined next August.