The candidates for next year's Pro Football Hall of Fame were announced Saturday. There are 131 preliminary candidates including NFL Football greats Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith. The list will be reduced to 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January 2010.
On September 17, 1920 the National Football League (NFL) was created. Over 80 years later, the NFL continues to turn out great players, many of whom will end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
NFL career receiving leader Jerry Rice and career rushing leader Emmitt Smith are two of the 131 candidates for the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame. To be considered for the Hall of Fame, a player or coach must have been retired at least five years. A contributor may still be active in his pro football career.
The preliminary class of 103 players, 10 coaches and 18 contributors was announced by the NFL Saturday. That will be narrowed down to 25 semifinalists on November 27, and those 25 will be whittled to 17 finalists on February 6, 2010, the day before the Super Bowl.
Here are the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame candidates:
Quarterbacks Ken Anderson, Randall Cunningham, Boomer Esiason, Rich Gannon, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Joe Theismann, Danny White, Doug Williams
Running backs Ottis Anderson, Larry Centers, Roger Craig, Terrell Davis, Eddie George, Leroy Hoard, Eric Metcalf, Brian Mitchell, Mike Pruitt, Gerald Riggs, George Rogers, Emmitt Smith, Herschel Walker, Ricky Watters
Wide receivers Cliff Branch, Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard, Irving Fryar, Roy Green, Herman Moore, Stanley Morgan, Andre Reed, Jerry Rice, Sterling Sharpe
Tight ends Mark Bavaro, Todd Christensen, Ben Coates, Russ Francis, Shannon Sharpe, Frank Wycheck
Offensive linemen Tony Boselli, Lomas Brown, Jim Covert, Dermontti Dawson, Russ Grimm, Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Kent Hull, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Jim Lachey, Max Montoya, Korey Stringer, Steve Wisniewski
Defensive linemen Al “Bubba” Baker, Ray Childress, Richard Dent, Chris Doleman, Charles Haley, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Cortez Kennedy, Joe Klecko, Dexter Manley, Charles Mann, Steve McMichael, Leslie O’Neal, Michael Dean Perry, John Randle, Clyde Simmons, Fred Smerlas
Linebackers Cornelius Bennett, Matt Blair, Kevin Greene, Ken Harvey, Rickey Jackson, Rod Martin, Clay Matthews, Karl Mecklenburg, Sam Mills, Hardy Nickerson, Chris Spielman, Pat Swilling, Darryl Talley
Defensive backs Eric Allen, Steve Atwater, Joey Browner, LeRoy Butler, Raymond Clayborn, Kenny Easley, Lester Hayes, Carnell Lake, Albert Lewis, Frank Minnifield, Donnie Shell, Aeneas Williams, Darren Woodson, Louis Wright
Kickers/punters Gary Anderson, Ray Guy, Nick Lowery, Reggie Roby
Special teams Steve Tasker
Coaches Bill Arnsparger, Don Coryell, Tom Flores, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, A.O. “Bum” Phillips, Dan Reeves, Buddy Ryan, Clark Shaughnessy
Contributors K.S. “Bud” Adams, Jr., Bobby Beathard, Gil Brandt, Leo Carlin, Jack Kent Cooke, Otho Davis, Ed DeBartolo, Jr., Ole Haugsrud, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Art Modell, Art Rooney, Jr., Carroll Rosenbloom, Ed Sabol, Steve Sabol, Paul Tagliabue, Jim Tunney, Ron Wolf, George Young
Written by Cheryl Phillips
Providence, RI
Exclusive to HULIQ.com
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