The Modern-Era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 were announced on Thursday and the list of names includes 102 players and coaches. Included in those 108 are former Pittsburgh Steelers players Alan Faneca, Hines Ward, Thomas Everett and former coach Bill Cowher.
Faneca has been finalist for the Hall of Fame the past three years while Ward has been a semifinalist the last two years. This is the first year that Everett has been nominated.
Hopefully the fourth time will be the charm for Faneca. Of this year’s group of former Steelers who are Hall of Fame hopefuls, he seemingly has the best shot at being enshrined in Canton in 2019. As for Ward’s chances this year, they’re certainly much better than they were last year. Even so, one must think that fellow 2019 wide receiver nominees, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, might be a bit more deserving this year.
Cowher and Everett both seemingly face long odds this year when you closely examine the other nominees in their respective groups.
Everett, who was selected in by the Steelers in the fourth round (94th overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft out of Baylor, played his first five seasons in the NFL in Pittsburgh as a safety. He registered 16 interceptions in the 73 games he played with the Steelers of which 67 he started. After the Steelers traded Everett to the Dallas Cowboys early during the 1992 season, he played two Super Bowl champion seasons for them before ending his NFL career with two more seasons as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This list of 102 Hall of Fame nominees will be pared to 25 in November and then 15 finalists in January. The final vote for election will take place Feb. 2.
MODERN-ERA NOMINEES FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2019
*Finalist in 2018; Underline indicates first year of eligibility (Players and coaches must have last played or coached at least five full seasons to be eligible for nomination. Therefore, any individual who last played or coached in 2013 are eligible for the first time in 2019).
QUARTERBACKS
(5) – Randall Cunningham, Dave Krieg, Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair
RUNNING BACKS
(14) — Shaun Alexander, Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Larry Centers, Corey Dillon, Eddie George, *Edgerrin James, Darryl Johnston, Eric Metcalf (WR/KR/PR), Clinton Portis, Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker (also KR), Chris Warren, Ricky Watters
WIDE RECEIVERS
(9) — *Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard (also PR), Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Sterling Sharpe, Rod Smith, Hines Ward
TIGHT ENDS
(4) — Mark Bavaro, Tony Gonzalez, Brent Jones, Jay Novacek
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
(15) — Willie Anderson (T), *Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ray Donaldson (C), *Alan Faneca (G), Chris Hinton (G/T), Kent Hull (C), *Steve Hutchinson (G), Mike Kenn (T), Olin Kreutz (C), *Kevin Mawae (C/G), Tom Nalen (C), Chris Samuels (T), Richmond Webb (T), Steve Wisniewski (G)
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
(7) — La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Russell Maryland (DT), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Richard Seymour (DT), Neil Smith (DE), Bryant Young (DT)
LINEBACKERS
(14) — Carl Banks, Cornelius Bennett, Tedy Bruschi, London Fletcher, Seth Joyner, Wilber Marshall, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest (also DE), Karl Mecklenburg, Sam Mills, Chris Spielman, Takeo Spikes, Darryl Talley, Zach Thomas
DEFENSIVE BACKS
(18) — Eric Allen (CB), Steve Atwater (S), Champ Bailey (CB), Ronde Barber (CB/S), Bill Bates (S), LeRoy Butler (S), Nick Collins (S), Thomas Everett (S), Rodney Harrison (S), *Ty Law (CB), Albert Lewis (CB), *John Lynch (S), Tim McDonald (S), Ed Reed (FS), Dennis Smith (S), Troy Vincent (CB), Adrian Wilson (S), Darren Woodson (S)
PUNTERS/KICKER
(3) — Jason Elam (K), Jeff Feagles (P), Sean Landeta (P)
SPECIAL TEAMS
(2) — Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (ST also WR)
COACHES
(11) — Don Coryell, Bill Cowher, Tom Flores, Jim Hanifan, Mike Holmgren, Jimmy Johnson, Richie Petitbon, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, Clark Shaughnessy, Dick Vermeil
