123 Modern-Era Nominees Announced for Hall of Fame's Class of 2022

The list of Modern-Era Nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 is comprised of 123 players. Among the group announced Wednesday are 10 first-year eligible players: wide receivers Anquan Boldin, Devin Hester (also PR/KR), Andre Johnson and Steve Smith; offensive linemen Jake Long and Nick Mangold; linebacker DeMarcus Ware; defensive linemen Robert Mathis and Vince Wilfork; and defensive back Antonio Cromartie.

The roster of nominees consists of 66 offensive players, 46 defensive players and 11 special teams players. The list of Modern-Era Nominees will be reduced to 25 Semifinalists in November and, from there, to 15 Finalists in January.

MODERN-ERA NOMINEES FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2022

*Finalist in 2021. Underline indicates first year of eligibility. (Players must have last played at least five full seasons ago to be eligible for nomination. Therefore, any individual who last played in 2016 is eligible for the first time in 2022.)

QUARTERBACKS

Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Boomer Esiason, Jeff Garcia, Dave Krieg, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair

RUNNING BACKS

Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Larry Centers (FB), Corey Dillon, Eddie George, Priest Holmes, Steven Jackson, Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis, Eric Metcalf (also WR/PR/KR), Lorenzo Neal (FB), Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker (also KR), Ricky Watters, Brian Westbrook

WIDE RECEIVERS

Anquan Boldin, Troy Brown (also PR/KR), Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), Devin Hester (also PR/KR), *Torry Holt, Joe Horn, Andre Johnson, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, Andre Rison, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Steve Smith, Hines Ward, *Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker

TIGHT ENDS

Dallas Clark, Ben Coates, Brent Jones, Heath Miller, Wesley Walls

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), *Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), D’Brickashaw Ferguson (T), Kevin Glover (C/G), Jordan Gross (T), Olin Kreutz (C), Jake Long (T), Nick Mangold (C), Logan Mankins (G), Jesse Sapolu (C/G), Jeff Saturday (C), Chris Snee (G), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G)

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

John Abraham (DE also LB), *Jared Allen (DE), La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Casey Hampton (DT/NT), Robert Mathis (DE), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Michael Dean Perry (DT/DE), Simeon Rice (DE), *Richard Seymour (DT), Justin Smith (DE), Neil Smith (DE), Greg Townsend (DE/LB/DT/NT), Justin Tuck (DE), Vince Wilfork (DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT), Bryant Young (DT)

LINEBACKERS

Cornelius Bennett, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, London Fletcher, Seth Joyner, Willie McGinest (also DE), *Sam Mills, Hardy Nickerson, Takeo Spikes, Pat Swilling (also DE), *Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Patrick Willis

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Eric Allen (CB), *Ronde Barber (CB/S), Dre Bly (DB), *LeRoy Butler (S), Nick Collins (S), Antonio Cromartie (CB), Merton Hanks (S), Rodney Harrison (S), Albert Lewis (CB), Tim McDonald (S), Allen Rossum (DB), Asante Samuel (CB), Bob Sanders (S), Charles Tillman (CB), Troy Vincent (CB), Adrian Wilson (S), Darren Woodson (S)

PUNTERS/KICKERS

Gary Anderson (K), Jeff Feagles (P), John Kasay (K), Sean Landeta (P), Ryan Longwell (K), Reggie Roby (P), Matt Turk (P)

SPECIAL TEAMS

Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Mel Gray (PR/KR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (ST also WR)

 

Eighteen Finalists will be presented to the full 49-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee during its annual meeting. The Finalists will consist of 15 Modern-Era Finalists and the recently named Senior Finalist, Cliff Branch; Contributor Finalist, Art McNally; and Coach Finalist, Dick Vermeil.

The Selection Committee will meet early next year (on a date to be determined) in advance of Super Bowl LVI. While there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the selection process by-laws provide that between four and eight new members will be selected. 

The Senior Finalist, Contributor Finalist and Coach Finalist are voted “yes” or “no” for election at the annual selection meeting and must receive at least 80% support from the Committee to be elected. The Modern-Era Finalists will be trimmed during the meeting from 15 to 10, then from 10 to five. The remaining five Finalists will be voted on individually, “yes” or “no,” and must receive the same 80% positive vote as the Senior, Contributor and Coach Finalists to earn election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This year’s reduction voting and the Selection Meeting ballots will be processed via an online voting platform developed specifically for the Pro Football Hall of Fame by Ernst & Young.

EY also oversaw the election process for the Centennial Class of 2020 and Class of 2021.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 will be enshrined in August 2022. For the most up to date information on the annual Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls, visit https://www.profootballhof.com/enshrinement/.  

FAN VOTE

The annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Fan Vote presented by Ford launched today. Fans can start voting as many times as they wish at www.profootballhof.com/fanvote to predict the five Modern-Era players who will be elected to the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022. 

Fans who vote automatically become eligible for sweepstakes prizes, including a Grand Prize trip for two (2) to the 2022 Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls in Canton.

This marks the 12^th consecutive year that Ford, the Official Automobile of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has invited fans to predict the outcome of the annual Hall of Fame class. More than 25 million votes have been cast in the past decade.

2022 ENSHRINEMENT WEEK POWERED BY JOHNSON CONTROLS OFFICIAL TICKET PACKAGES

Official Ticket Packages for the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls are available from Hall of Fame Experiences at www.HOFExperiences.com or by calling 844-751-0532. Packages range from single-day offerings to four-day experiences that include premium seating, VIP access and exclusive parties.