Orlando Pace, Kurt Warner and Junior Seau as top among the 18 players as finalist to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With Seau topping the list, let’s take a look at each of the nominees.
The list of nominees last Thursday was reduced to just 15, as the finalist has to receive some 80 percent of the votes of the selection committee that consist of 46 persons, to be elected as a finalist. The pro football final class for the HOF for 2015 is to be announced on the 31st of January 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona on the TV show, NFL Honors, and on that show the Associated Press submits the 8 individual NFL Awards, with induction of selected players to be inducted in August 2015 in Canton, Ohio at the NFL Hall of Fame.
In this modern era, the other finalists are Morton Anderesen a kicker. Jerome Bettis a running back, Tim Brown a wide receiver, Don Coryell a coach, Terrell Davis a running back, Tom Dungy a coach, Kevin Green a linebacker and defensive end, Charles Haley a linebacker and defensive end, Marvin Harrison a wide receiver, Jimmy Johnson a pro football coach, John Lynch a Safety and Will Shields a guard.
The Vikings former center Mick Tingelhoff is the senior nominee, and Special contributors as executives are Ron Wolf and Bill Colin, the architects of Super Bowl Teams. The coaches on the ballot include Dungy who is in his 2nd year of eligibility, with Johnson in his 16th year of eligibility and Coryell in his 28th year of eligibility of the three coaches on the list. Back in 2007 the rules for coaches in the Hall of Fame changed, and now requires coaches to be retired for five seasons prior to nomination.
Junior Seau committed suicide back in 2012, but in his NFL tenure he played some 20 years with 3 different teams, and made the Pro Bowl some 12 times, and in 1992 was elected as the NFL Defensive player of the year. QB Kurt Warner let the St. Louis Rams to their only Super Bowl victory in 1999, then two years later took the Rams to the Title game. He also led the Arizona Cardinals to their only Super Bowl Title at the end of the season of 2008, and Warner won the NFL league MVP in 1999 and 2001.
Back in 1997 Orlando Pace was the 1st overall St. Louis Rams draft pick, and then played some 13 season in the NFL and was selected to the Pro Bowl selections some 5 times. Marvin Harrison a star for the Colts is now in his 2nd year of being eligibility retired with a ranking, second only to Jerry Rice as his receptions totaled 1,102 yards. John Lynch and Morton Andersen are in the 3rd year of eligibility. Lynch was with Tampa Bay for 11 seasons and Denver 4 seasons, and selected to Pro Bowl 9 times. Andersen had 25 seasons as a Pro with 5 franchises and set the NFL records of 2,544 total points, 565 field goals and 382 games and has been seen on the ballot for some 5 years. Andersen if elected would be the only kicker other than Jan Stenerud in the Hall of Fame.
Will Shields who was a selection for Pro Bowl Guard for 12 consecutive years with the Kansas City Chiefs, is in the 4th year of HOF eligibility. Jerome Bettis, known as “The Bus” led the Pittsburgh Steelers to the NFL Championship in 2015 in his last NFL season, and has been on the ballot for some 5 years. Tim Brown in his 6th year of eligibility, was a excellent wider receiver, and kick return specialist and played on 9 Pro Bowls. Running back Terrell Davis was the running game that went along with the passing of Elway for Denver, and they led the Broncos to the Championship in 1997 and 1998, and now in his 9th year of eligibility.
The pass rushing specialists Haley and Green are in their 11th year of being eligible for the HOF, as Green was with 4 teams in his career and played in the Pro Bowl 5 times, while Haley was with the 49ers when they won 2 Super Bowls and with the Cowboys when they won the Super Bowl 3 times, and the only NFL player to do such. Mick Tingelhoff play 17 seasons in the NFL retiring back in 1978, and was one of the most dependable centers in the NFL, who never missed a game, as he started in 240 games, and played in 4 Super Bowls.
So fans, who bet on NFL at SBG Global, watch to see if lines for odds on what players make the final Hall of Fame selections that will be announced on the 31st of January 2015 as previously mentioned.