2026 Hall of Very Good Finalists

[sluggermatt15]

The Hall of Very Good committee is pleased to announce the 20 Finalists for the 2026 Hall of Very Good election. Congratulations to the following:

Joe Alexander
Houstin Antwine
Fred Arbanas
Al Baker
Alyn Beals
Les Bingaman
Butch Byrd
Ward Cuff
Francis “Jug” Earp
Ace Gutkowsky
E. J. Holub
Billy “White Shoes” Johnson
Herman Kerkhoff
Joe Kopcha
Jack McBride
Peggy Parratt
Bob Shiring
Billy Sims
Steve Tasker
Rick Upchurch

[sluggermatt15]

We received nominations from 47 PFRA members, totaling a record 179 nominees. The entire list of nominees is below. Thank you to everyone who sent in their nominations, we appreciate your participation. Stay tuned for details regarding the 2026 HoVG election.

Danny Abramowicz
John Anderson
Joe Alexander
George Andrie
Fred Arbanas
Houston Antwine
Bruce Armstrong
Bill Arnsparger
Al Baker
Jerry Ball
Vince Banonis
Harris Barton
Dick Bass
Bob Baumhower
Alyn Beals
Don Beebe
Cornelius Bennett
Les Bingaman
Rocky Bleier
Forrest Blue
Bill Bradley
Larry Brooks
Bill Brown
Bobby Bryant
Howard “Cub” Buck
Kevin Butler
Butch Byrd
Anthony Carter
JC Caroline
Raymond Chester
Ben Coates
Wally Chambers
Wes Chandler
Gary Clark
Potsy Clark
Randy Cross
Ward Cuff
Ed Danowski
Jim David
Tommy Davis
Hanford Dixon
Don Doll
Ray Donaldson
Johnny Drake
Fred Dryer
Red Dunn
Brad Dusek
John Dutton (defensive tackle)
Francis “Jug” Earp
Doug English
Boomer Esiason
Gary Famiglietti
Andy Farkas
Bill Fralic
Irving Fryar
Willie Galimore
John Gammons
Jimmy Giles
Bill Glass
Pete Gogolak
Charles “Buckets” Goldenberg
Goose Gonsoulin
Mel Gray (returner)
Roy Green
Jack Gregory
Ace Gutkowsky
Merton Hanks
Cedrick Hardman
Dennis Harrah
Jim Hart
Ken Harvey
Len Hauss
Wayne Hawkins
Mark Haynes
EJ Holub
Tom Jackson
Robert James
Billy “White Shoes” Johnson
Bob Johnson
Daryl Johnson
Gary Johnson
Monte Johnson
Ron Johnson (running back)
Dub Jones
Homer Jones
Luke Jonsos
Herman Kerkhoff
Jon Kolb
Joe Kopcha
Dave Kreig
Ernie Ladd
Greg Landry
Keith Lincoln
Louis Lipps
Mike Lucci
Father Lumpkin
Jim Lynch
Dexter Manley
Charles Mann
Archie Manning
Jim Marsalis
Bobby Marshall
Jack McBride
Tim McDonald
Rich McGeorge
Reggie McKenzie
Jim McMahon
Ernie McMillan
Freeman McNeil
Terry Metcalf
Walt Michaels
Frank Minnifield
Max Montoya
Jon Morris
Larry Morris
Mark Moseley
Howard Mudd
Chuck Muncie
Tom Myers
Jim Nance
Jerry Norton
Jim Norton
Jay Novacek
Davey O'Brien
Leslie O'Neal
Bart Oates
Riley Odoms
Peggy Parratt
Don Paul (defensive back)
Gerry Philbin
Nick Pietrosante
Sherman Plunkett
Jethro Pugh
Mike Quick
Tom Rathman
George Ratterman
Gerald Riggs
William Roberts
Eugene Robinson
Reggie Roby
Buddy Ryan
Perry Schwartz
George Seifert
Allie Sherman
Bob Shiring
Phil Simms
Billy Sims
Dennis Smith (safety)
Neil Smith
Matt Snell
Joel Steed
Edward Sternaman
Joey Sternaman
Korey Stringer
Bob Talamini
Steve Tasker
Rosey Taylor
Joe Theismann
Charlie Tolar
Rick Upchurch
Brad Van Pelt
Phil Villapiano
Mike Wagner
Herschel Walker
Wayne Walker
Wesley Walker
Joe Washington
Russ Washington
Charlie Waters
Danny White
Dwight White
Dave Whitsell
Doug Wilkerson
John Wooten
Eric Wright
Sam Wyche
Garo Yepremian
Charle Young
Roger Zatkoff

[Brian wolf]

Wow ... Russ Washington misses again

[JuggernautJ]

Wow ... Russ Washington misses again

Feedback is very important so please don't think I'm being anything other than serious when I ask this...

Of the 20 finalists who would you drop to make room for Russ Washington?

What criteria do you think is most important when making your judgement?
(Pro Bowls, All-Pros, Championships, All-Decade Teams, testimonials, eye test? Others?)

[Brian wolf]

I know finalists can have a hard time getting back but was surprised Washington wasnt even nominated the following year. I felt once he was renominated, he might be a finalist again but not this year ...

Also, we are talking about Air Coryell here ... somebody, Washington, Macek, Wilkerson, needs to eventually get elected. Only Ed White has been selected since 2019. This offensive line was unbelievable.

[pgconboy]

I (and likely others) nominated Wilkerson as one of my two submissions.

Obviously eye is in the beholder on these guys from 30-70 years ago, often with nominal film, though I think he's clearly above most of these finalists. As a plus he has quite a few games on YouTube.

Oh well, maybe next year.

[SeahawkFever]

I (and likely others) nominated Wilkerson as one of my two submissions.

Obviously eye is in the beholder on these guys from 30-70 years ago, often with nominal film, though I think he's clearly above most of these finalists. As a plus he has quite a few games on YouTube.

Oh well, maybe next year.

This is a very good point. In particular when you get further back than the late 70’s, there isn’t likely to be many actual full games of the players playing, and all you are going to get is NFL Films highlight films.

They do a great job capturing big plays, but I’m sure there’s others in between the big plays that don’t end up making their final cuts and could provide additional perspective on the performances.

[Brian wolf]

Fouts had a quick release, and loved to backpedal from center, something QBs today could take advantage of, but I watched and collected alot of Chargers games and this line could stonewall any team. The Chargers could run the ball effectively as well. Looking back, I wish they had eaten clock and ran the ball more but the backs could fumble often.

The only team that could get a rush on them were the Raiders, who could rush any team, but even they had trouble. This offensive line was underrated before the team started winning their division. Once some of the linemen retired, thats when Fouts started getting more injured.