A couple of weeks ago, the Pro Football Hall of Fame released the preliminary list of 162 players nominated for the Hall's Class of 2026 in the Seniors category.
Here is the list with some brief commentary.
Quarterbacks (9): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, John Hadl, Jack Kemp, Don Meredith, Earl Morrall, Jim Plunkett, Doug Williams
Ken Anderson has had most of the momentum. He played 16 years and six or seven were good, and maybe four were elite, including his 1981 MVP campaign. I'd think he has a good chance to be a finalist.
Conerly, Gabriel, Morrall and Kemp also had MVP seasons in the NFL or AFL accepted by media organizations. Kemp, Plunkett and Williams started for league champions and Hadl was a backup for an AFL champion.
Backs/Running Backs (16): Alan Ameche, Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Earnest Byner, Roger Craig, John David Crow, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Verne Lewellen, Jack Manders, Mercury Morris, Don Perkins, Billy Sims, Herschel Walker, Byron "Whizzer" White, Paul "Tank" Younger
Some new names here. My personal favorites are Larry Brown, Craig and Foreman among recent backs. But who I would most like to see advance to the pinnacle of the HOF process is Verne Lewellen. He was one of the best players of his era, at any position and checks all the boxes.
Ends/Wide Receivers/Tight Ends (30): Fred Arbanas, Todd Christensen, Mark Clayton, Ben Coates, Gary Collins, Isaac Curtis, Carroll Dale, Lavvie Dilweg, Boyd Dowler, Mark Duper, Henry Ellard, Jimmie Giles, Charley Hennigan, Billy Howton, Harold Jackson, Keith Jackson, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Brent Jones, Homer Jones, Steve Jordan, Eric Martin, Stanley Morgan, Jay Novacek, Art Powell, Del Shofner, Lionel Taylor, Otis Taylor, Rick Upchurch, Bobby Walston, Billy Wilson
Like Lewellen, I am for Lavvie Dilweg to get a bust one day. Both have similar credentials and were teammates in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Among the recent receivers, Del Shofner and Art Powell stand out in my eyes. Powell was close a couple of years ago but was voted down at the last moment. The major 'knock' was that his best seasons were in the early AFL, and many think the level of competition was not as high as it was later in the decade of the 1960s. Shofner was a five-time first-team All-Pro, but after his elite seasons, he kept getting hurt and didn't compile a pile of numbers like some of the others.
Harold Jackson and Stanley Morgan are mentioned a lot and have strong supporters on social media. Among tight ends, Todd Christensen has folks pushing for him. All excellent players, but their peaks, to me, don't match Shofner and Powell.
Offensive Lineman (35): Heartley "Hunk" Anderson, Bruce Armstrong, Stew Barber, Dick Barwegen, Ed Budde, Ox Emerson, Gale Gillingham, Charles "Buckets" Goldenberg, Ken Gray, Dennis Harrah, Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, George Kunz, Riley Matheson, Max Montoya, Jon Morris, Ralph Neely, John Niland, Bart Oates, Marvin Powell, Duane Putnam, Dick Schafrath, Jerry Sisemore, Doug Smith, Walt Sweeney, Bob Talamini, Fuzzy Thurston, Jim Tyrer, Bob Vogel, Ed White, Ray Wietecha, Al Wistert
My first choices would be Al Wistert and Ox Emerson. The Blue Ribbon committee that will narrow this list of 162 to 50 advanced Wistert last year, but not Emerson. I am hoping for both this year to make the next round.
The more modern linemen that I will support are Mike Kenn, George Kunz and Joe Jacoby. Jim Tyrer had his shot last year, and it seems the opposition to how his post-NFL career went is too strong to be overcome.
Defensive Lineman (15): Houston Antwine, Gene Brito, Roger Brown, Earl Faison, Mark Gastineau, L.C. Greenwood, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Jim Marshall, Leonard Marshall, Harvey Martin, Jerry Mays, Tom Sestak, Fred Smerlas, Neil Smith, Bill Stanfill
There are maybe a few types of players in this position group. First, guys with high peaks and short/shorter careers, i.e., generally guys who left a lot on the table or may have been felled by injuries. Those are Brito, Faison, maybe Roger Brown, Faison, Tom Sestak and Bill Stanfill.
Then there are the players with longevity, but didn't have as high a peak as the first group. Antwine, Greenwood, Too Tall, Jim Marshall, Martin, Smith and Mays.
Fred Smerlas had a high peak and also played for a long time. But he never gets much traction, being a nose tackle.
If I could pick three, it would be Smerlas, but also would include Brito and Sestak.
One thing that strikes me is that this may be the strongest position group here, from top to bottom.
Linebackers (25): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Cornelius Bennett, Bill Bergey, Matt Blair, Mike Curtis, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Tim Harris, E.J. Holub (also OL), Vaughan Johnson, Lee Roy Jordan, Seth Joyner, Greg Lloyd, Wilber Marshall, Rod Martin, Clay Matthews Jr., Bud McFadin, Karl Mecklenburg, Matt Millen, Tommy Nobis, Isiah Robertson, Pat Swilling, Darryl Talley, Keena Turner
Like the defensive linemen, this is a deep group. But in this group, it seems like the players with longevity get my preference. Baughan, for instance, is one of them. Clay Matthews as well.
But there are some all-around linebackers that I love here, but they seem like they will have a tough route to Canton. Bennett, Blair, Grantham, Joyner, Lloyd, Marshall and Talley.
Among the MLBers Nobis, Bergey and Jordan have the best cases but I wonder outloud if these players just cancel each other out because none really stand out among the others. Their cases are just too similar to differentiate.
Defensive Backs (27): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Dave Brown, Joey Browner, Butch Byrd, Don Doll, Pat Fischer, Goose Gonsoulin, Dave Grayson, Cornell Green, Merton Hanks, Lester Hayes, Warren Lahr, Albert Lewis, Tim McDonald, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Jimmy Patton, Eugene Robinson, George Saimes, Jake Scott, Dennis Smith, Jack Tatum, Everson Walls, Charlie Waters, Abe Woodson, Louis Wright
Glad to see Abe Woodson make the list. He's all but forgotten, but in his day, he was an elite cornerback. I like Albert Lewis, Louis Wright and Lemar Parrish among the corners.
Eddie Meador and probably Tim McDonald are the top safeties -- at least I see them that way.
Kickers/Punters (3): Jim Bakken, Jim Breech, Nick Lowery
If you like analytics -- comparing players to how they compared to their peers then Bakken and Lowery would be Hall of Famers. Kicking percentages just get higher and higher, so you cannot compare kickers who played in the 1960s-1990s in the same light as now. A couple of good sources rate Bakken and Lowery as a cut above.
Special Teams (2): Mel Gray, Steve Tasker
White Shoes Johnson and Rick Upchurch should be listed here, not with the receivers. They were starting receivers at times, but they were all-time great returners and why they should be considered for the Hall of Fame.
