Pro Football Hall Of Fame Trims List of Modern-Era Candidates To 52 Players

Any of the following eligible players have played no later than the 2020 season. Eventually, the list will continue to be cut down until the 2026 class is announced at the NFL Honors ceremony in New Orleans this February.

The list of 52 modern-era finalists includes:

QUARTERBACKS (3): Drew Brees, *Eli Manning, Philip Rivers.

RUNNING BACKS (8): Warrick Dunn, Eddie George, Frank Gore, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, Lorenzo Neal (FB), *Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters.

WIDE RECEIVERS (7): Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, *Torry Holt, Jimmy Smith, *Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, *Reggie Wayne.

TIGHT ENDS (2): Greg Olsen, Jason Witten. 

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (12): *Willie Anderson (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), *Jahri Evans (G), Olin Kreutz (C), Nick Mangold (C), Logan Mankins (G), Maurkice Pouncey (C), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G), *Marshal Yanda (G).

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (6): John Abraham (DE also LB), Robert Mathis (DE), Haloti Ngata (DT), Simeon Rice (DE), Vince Wilfork (DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT).

LINEBACKERS (4): London Fletcher, James Harrison, *Luke Kuechly, *Terrell Suggs. 

DEFENSIVE BACKS (6): Rodney Harrison (S), Asante Samuel (CB), Earl Thomas (S), Charles Tillman (CB), Troy Vincent (CB), *Darren Woodson (S).

PUNTERS/KICKERS (3): Gary Anderson (K), Shane Lechler (P), *Adam Vinatieri (K).

SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB).

“*” indicates Finalist (final 15) for the Class of 2025

The committee will reduce this list down to 25 in the next month or so before later cutting it down to the final inductees.