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Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee members will consider 52 names as they begin their work to determine three Finalists from the Seniors category for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 presented by Visual Edge.
The nine-person Blue-Ribbon committee received the names today following the initial work of the separate Seniors Screening Committee, which had been tasked with reducing the list of 162 nominees for the new class to 50. (Ties for the final spot also advanced.)
Members of the Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee, who also serve on the full Hall of Fame Selection Committee, will reduce the list of 52 candidates to 25, then again to nine, in balloting that will occur over the next several weeks. They then will meet virtually to discuss those nine Semifinalists and will choose three Finalists for the Class of 2026.
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To be considered this election cycle, each person in the Seniors category could have appeared in a professional football game no more recently than the 2000 season. The players who remain eligible for election with the Class of 2026 are:
QUARTERBACKS (5): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, Jack Kemp, Don Meredith.
RUNNING BACKS (6): Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Roger Craig, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul “Tank” Younger.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (9): Mark Clayton, Isaac Curtis, Lavvie Dilweg, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Otis Taylor.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (11): Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, Marvin Powell, Dick Schafrath, Jerry Sisemore, Walt Sweeney, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (4): L.C. Greenwood, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Jim Marshall, Harvey Martin.
LINEBACKERS (8): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Mike Curtis, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Matt Millen, Tommy Nobis.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (8): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Pat Fischer, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls.
SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker.
Reduction voting in three other categories for the Hall of Fame — Modern-Era Players, Coach and Contributor — also will be conducted this month. This year’s voting will be completed with oversight from the firm Ernst & Young LLP, a Hall partner since 2019. EY’s Agreed-Upon Procedures include validating the completeness of the ballots and tabulating the ballots in accordance with the bylaws established by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026, which can be composed of a minimum of 4 individuals to as many as eight, will be enshrined next August in Canton.
