Former, Current, Kinda Dolphins Players Among Hall Nominees

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced its list of 167 modern-era nominees for the Class of 2025, and it includes 10 players with a connection to the Miami Dolphins.

Those connections typically involve former Dolphins players, but also extend to current wide receivers coach Wes Welker (though he also played for Miami) and cornerback Aqib Talib, who never played for the team but was on the roster for the second part of the 2020.

Among the former Dolphins players on the list of nominees are Ricky Williams, Brandon Marshall, Irving Fryar, Richmond Webb, Josh Sitton, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Troy Vincent and Matt Turk.

In the next step in the selection process, a Screening Committee will reduce the list to 50 (plus ties, if any, for the 50th spot). The results of that reduction will be announced in mid-October.

The full 50-person Hall of Fame Selection Committee then will reduce the list further — to 25 semifinalists, later this fall. Another vote will create the list of 15 finalists who will be discussed at the annual meeting ahead of Super Bowl LVIX that will produce the new class, which will consist of between three and five modern-era players under the Hall of Fame’s bylaws.

None of the 10 players with Dolphins ties has ever been a semifinalist. It's not a sure thing that any of them will make that cut this year, though we'd peg Webb, Marshall and Fryar as the best candidates.

THE DOLPHINS CONNECTIONS

Ricky Williams played for the Dolphins from 2002-10 as part of his 11-year NFL career. His one Pro Bowl and All-Pro season came in his first year in Miami when he led the league with a franchise-record 1,853 rushing yards.

Richmond Webb played the first 11 of his 13-year NFL career with the Dolphins, earning Pro Bowl honors each of his first seven seasons along with two All-Pro selections.

Welker played two-plus seasons with Miami at the start of his career, but he really took off as a player after he was traded to the New England, for whom he had five seasons with 111 or more catches.

Marshall and Fryar each had two 1,000-yard receiving seasons for the Dolphins after being acquired in a trade.

Vincent, who is now an NFL executive, was a first-round pick for the Dolphins in the 1992 draft and had four good seasons, but his five Pro Bowl seasons came with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Including Talib might be a bit of a stretch because he never played for the Dolphins, though he was a member of the team in 2019 after he was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. The move was a salary dump by the Rams, who gave the Dolphins a fourth-round pick along with Talib and took a seventh-round selection from Miami, with Talib finishing out that season on injured reserve before retiring.

DOLPHINS HALL OF FAMERS

The Dolphins have 11 Hall of Famers, players whose biggest contributions came while with the team, or at least made a big impact with Miami.

The list consists of Coach Don Shula, quarterbacks Bob Griese and Dan Marino, running back Larry Csonka, wide receiver Paul Warfield, offensive linemen Jim Langer, Larry Little and Dwight Stephenson, defensive end Jason Taylor, linebackers Nick Buoniconti and Zach Thomas.

Other Hall of Famers who spent time with Miami but made their name with another organization include executives George Young and Bobby Beathard, head coach Jimmy Johnson, running back Thurman Thomas, wide receiver Cris Carter and linebacker Junior Seau.