Former Pittsburgh Steelers guard Alan Faneca and wide receiver Hines Ward are among the 27 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018, it was announced Tuesday night.
For Faneca., who played 10 seasons with the Steelers after being selected by them in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft out of LSU, this is the third consecutive year that hes been a semifinalists. Faneca played a total of 13 years in the NFL and was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and six-time First-Team All-Pro selection.
As for Ward, who played all 14 years of his NFL career in Pittsburgh after being selected by the Steelers in the third-round of the 1998 NFL Draft out of Georgia, this is the second consecutive year that hes been a semifinalists. Ward, who was named MVP of Super Bowl XL, was a four-time Pro Bowl selection during his NFL career.
The next step in the Hall of Fame selection process comes in January when the list of semifinalists is trimmed to 15 Modern-Era Finalists. That list increases to 18 finalists with the inclusion of the recommended nominees of the Hall of Fame’s Contributors and Seniors Committees.
In reality, Faneca has a much better shot at becoming a member of the Class of 2018 than Ward does. Ward is sure to face a lot of competition in the coming years from players who also played the wide receiver position and thus he might be waiting a long while with no guarantee he’s ever elected.
As for Faneca, if 2018 isn’t his year, one has to think he’ll get in within the next few years.
