CANTON, OHIO – A total of 122 players, including former Raiders quarterback Jeff Hostetler, running back Maurice Jones-Drew, offensive linemen Kevin Gogan, Lincoln Kennedy, and Steve Wisniewski, defensive linemen La'Roi Glover, Chester McGlockton, Richard Seymour, and Greg Townsend, defensive backs Eric Allen, Albert Lewis and Terry McDaniel, comprise the list of Modern-Era player nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2020. The large list of Modern-Era nominees includes only players whose careers ended less than 25 seasons ago. The nominees include 63 offensive players, 43 defensive players, and 16 special teams players.
MODERN-ERA NOMINEES FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020
FIRST-YEAR ELIGIBLE
Players must have last played at least five full seasons ago to be eligible for nomination. The following nominated players last played in 2014 thereby becoming eligible for Hall's Class of 2020.
John Abraham, DE/LB
Lance Briggs, LB
Josh Cribbs, KR/PR also WR
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB
Troy Polamalu, SS
Justin Smith, DE
Reggie Wayne, WR
Patrick Willis, LB
Quarterbacks
(7) – Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Boomer Esiason, Jeff Garcia, Jeff Hostetler, Dave Krieg, Donovan McNabb
Running Backs
(19) – Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Larry Centers, Corey Dillon, Eddie George, Priest Holmes, *Edgerrin James, Daryl Johnston (FB), Thomas Jones, Maurice Jones-Drew, Eric Metcalf (also WR/KR/PR), Lorenzo Neal (FB), Clinton Portis, Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker (also KR), Chris Warren, Ricky Watters
Wide Receivers
(12) – *Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne
Tight Ends
(6) – Dallas Clark, Ben Coates, Keith Jackson, Brent Jones, Jeremy Shockey, Wesley Walls
Offensive Linemen
(19) – Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), *Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ray Donaldson (C), *Alan Faneca (G), Kevin Gogan (G/T), Jordan Gross (T), Chris Hinton (G/T), Kent Hull (C), *Steve Hutchinson (G), Lincoln Kennedy (T/G), Olin Kreutz (C), Chris Samuels (T), Jeff Saturday (C), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G)
Defensive Linemen
(11) – John Abraham (DE also LB), La'Roi Glover (DT/NT), Casey Hampton (DT/NT), Chester McGlockton (DT), Leslie O'Neal (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), *Richard Seymour (DT),
Justin Smith (DE), Neil Smith (DE), Greg Townsend (DT/NT), Bryant Young (DT)
Linebackers
(17) – Carl Banks, Cornelius Bennett, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, James Farrior, London Fletcher, Seth Joyner, Wilber Marshall, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest (also DE), Sam Mills, Chris Spielman, Takeo Spikes, Darryl Talley, Zach Thomas, Jessie Tuggle, Patrick Willis
Defensive Backs
(15) – Eric Allen (CB), *Steve Atwater (S), Ronde Barber (CB/S), LeRoy Butler (S),
Nick Collins (S), Merton Hanks (S), Rodney Harrison (S), Albert Lewis (CB), *John Lynch (S), Terry McDaniel (CB), Tim McDonald (S), Troy Polamalu (SS), Bob Sanders (S),
Troy Vincent (CB), Darren Woodson (S)
Punters/Kickers
(11) – David Akers (K), Gary Anderson (K), Jason Elam (K), Jeff Feagles (P),
Jason Hanson (K), Sean Landeta (P), Ryan Longwell (K), Nick Lowery (K), Reggie Roby (P), Rohn Stark (P), Matt Turk (P)
Special Teams
(5) – Johnny Bailey (PR/KR also RB), Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Mel Gray (PR/KR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (ST also WR)
NEXT STEPS IN SELECTION PROCESS
The Modern-Era players list will be reduced to 25 Semifinalists in November and to 15 Finalists in early January 2020. The finalists will then be presented to the full 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee during its annual meeting on "Selection Saturday," the day before Super Bowl LIV.
The Hall of Fame Board recently passed a resolution that suspended the Hall of Fame's Selection Committee By-Laws for the Class of 2020 election cycle only. The measure is intended to honor the NFL's Centennial Celebration through a special Centennial Class that will be comprised of 20 members in 2020. The group will include five Modern-Era players to come from the list announced today in addition to 10 Seniors (a player who has been retired for more than 25 seasons), three Contributors (an individual other than a player or coach) and two Coaches.
The Selection Committee will meet on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020 in Miami to elect the Class of 2020 that will include five Modern-Era players. The Modern-Era Finalists will be trimmed during the meeting from 15 to 10 and then from 10 to the five who will be elected as part of the Class of 2020.
The determination of the Seniors, Contributors and Coaches Finalists will be led by a special 25-person Centennial "Blue-Ribbon" panel who will review the backlog of deserving Seniors, Coaches and Contributors. The Blue-Ribbon Panel will be comprised of Hall of Fame Selectors, Pro Football Hall of Famers, media members, football historians and industry experts.
The Centennial Class of 2020 will be formally enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the annual Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls from Aug. 6-9, 2020 and the Centennial Celebration in Canton on Sept. 16-19, 2020.
