Hall Of Fame nominees announced
The complete list of ‘modern-era’ candidates for the 2014 NFL Hall of Fame class is made up of 126 nominees was announced last night on NFL Network. On that list of 126 there are 16 first-year eligible candidates, and out of the entire group, the HOF Committee will choose 25 candidates to be semifinalists (announced in November).
The semifinalists will be voted on again and reduced to 15 finalists and announced in January. Then finally, the Class of 2014 is selected from the list of the 15 plus the two senior nominees (former Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders punter Ray Guy and former Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Claude Humphrey). Then the inductees are announced the day before Super Bowl XLVIII.
Now that you know how all of that works, let’s get to the good stuff. Who from the AFCE is eligible and/or a modern-era (new) candidate for the HOF? Let’s take a look:
Buffalo Bills
QB, Drew Bledsoe (02-04)
QB, Doug Flutie (98-00)
RB, Larry Centers (00-01)
WR, Andre Reed (85-99)
C, Kent Hull (86-96)
NT, Fred Smerlas (79-89)
DT, Ted Washington (95-00)
LB, Cornelius Bennet (87-95)
LB, Darryl Talley (83-94)
CB, Troy Vincent (04-06)
ST/WR, Steve Tasker (86-97)
Coach Chuck Knox (78-82)
Coach Lou Saban (72-76)
GM, Bill Polian (84-92)
Miami Dolphins
QB, Trent Green (2007)*
WR, Gary Clark (1995)
WR, Mark Clayton (83-92)
LB, Zach Thomas (96-07)*
CB, Sam Madison (97-05)*
CB, Patrick Surtain (98-04)*
CB, Troy Vincent (92-95)
Coach Bill Arnsparger (76-83)
Coach Jimmy Johnson (96-99)
GM, Bobby Beathard (72-77)
GM, George Young (75-78)
New England Patriots
QB, Drew Bledsoe (93-01)
QB, Doug Flutie (2005)
RB, Larry Centers (2003)
RB, David Megget (95-97)
WR, Henry Ellard (1998)
DT, Steve McMichael (1980)
NT, Fred Smerlas (91-92)
DT, Ted Washington (2003)
LB, Tedy Bruschi (96-08)*
LB, Willie McGinest (94-05)*
S, Rodney Harrison (03-08)*
K, Nick Lowery (1978)
Coach Lou Saban (60-61)
Owner, Bob Kraft (94 -)
New York Jets
RB, David Megget (1998)
WR, Keyshawn Johnson (96-99)
S, Steve Atwater (1999)
K, Nick Lowery (94-96)
*First year of eligibility
The 2013 class included a few names like Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden, Cris Carter, and Bill Parcells and seemed to be a stellar class of strength and long term success. But as with every year when a new HOF class is called up, there are players still waiting that are just as deserving.
The only holdover that is relevant to our division that is likely for selection in 2014 is Bills WR Andre Reed who helped lead them to an unprecedented four straight Super Bowls. Reed was a 7 time Pro Bowler and caught 951 receptions for 13,198 yards and 87 touchdowns in 16 seasons. Reed was All-Conference four times and Second-Team All-Pro three consecutive seasons.
Now for predictions, it’s hard to say what happens after the list is narrowed down to the 15 finalists. Of those in AFCE, few stand a chance at cracking the final 15. The first year guys consist of QB Trent Green, LB’s Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Zach Thomas, CB’s Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain, S Rodney Harrison- but most are not first ballot material.
Look for the only 2014 finalists from the AFCE to be Andre Reed and Zach Thomas.
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