First-year candidates Kurt Warner, Junior Seau, and Orlando Pace are among the 18 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame that were announced Thursday night.
The list of finalists includes 15 nominees from the modern era, one senior nominee and two contributors. Finalists must receive at least 80 percent of the vote from the selection committee to be elected into the Hall of Fame, according to ESPN. Among the 15 modern-day finalists there are three first-year eligible players. Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Edgerrin James, Ty Law, and Kevin Mawae were among those in their first year of eligibility that didn’t make the cut, NFL.com notes.
Warner is a two-time NFL MVP. He also played in three Super Bowls, and won the Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams in 1999. He is the only quarterback that has thrown for 300 yards or more in three Super Bowls. If elected Warner would be the first quarterback to go into the Hall of Fame since Troy Aikman and Warren Moon were elected in 2006.
Pace was a standout from Ohio State and played for 13 seasons. He had seven Pro Bowl selections and earned three All-Pro selections.
Seau played for 20 seasons and made it to 12 Pro Bowls. He was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team of the 1990’s, according to Fox Sports. In 2012 he committed suicide. Seau would be the 22nd person to go into the hall posthumously and the first since Reggie White in 2006 to make it in his first year of eligibility if he is elected.
The other modern-day finalists are kicker Morten Andersen, running back Jerome Bettis, wide receiver Tim Brown, coach Don Coryell, running back Terrell Davis, coach Tony Dungy, linebacker/defensive end Kevin Greene, linebacker/defensive end Charles Haley, wide receiver Marvin Harrison, coach Jimmy Johnson, safety John Lynch, and guard Will Shields. Former Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff is the senior nominee. Bill Polian and Ron Wolf are the contributor nominees.
The Class of 2015 will be announced on January 31. Induction will take place in Canton in August.