Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Of the six slots that are vacant in the modern-era this year in the semifinalists (the five made vacant by the 2021 Class, and the one by Clay Matthews, who transferred to the senior abyss)...who would you like to see occupy those six vacant slots?

First-Year nominees:
DeMarcus Ware
Robert Mathis
Steve Smith
Other (Devin Hester? Andre Johnson? Vince Wilfork?, please specify)

Prior Semifinalists Who Didn't Qualify Last Year:
Albert Lewis
Leslie O'Neal
Simeon Rice
Ricky Watters
Steve Wisniewski

Modern-Era Guys Never Before Semifinalists Who Have Been Waiting to Join the Queue:
Herschel Walker (Final Year of Modern-Era Eligibility)
Michael Dean Perry (Final Year of Modern-Era Eligibility)
Ben Coates
Priest Holmes
Lomas Brown
Richmond Webb
La’Roi Glover
Neil Smith
Willie McGinest
Ruben Brown
Henry Ellard
London Fletcher
John Abraham
Randall Cunningham
Eric Metcalf
Matt Birk
Shaun Alexander
Mike Alstott
Wes Welker
Jamal Lewis
Tim McDonald
Other (please specify)

I am hoping Lewis, O Neil, Walker, Wisniewski, Ellard and Ware ...

I think Andre Johnson will make it to the semis. Not only is he HOF worthy, he's the first real star player in a franchise's history. He has a lot going for him in that regard.

I really hope to see Randall Cunningham get there. Younger fans/voters don't remember just how great he was before his first injury. He still had productive seasons afterward.

GameBeforeTheMoney wrote:I think Andre Johnson will make it to the semis. Not only is he HOF worthy, he's the first real star player in a franchise's history. He has a lot going for him in that regard.

I really hope to see Randall Cunningham get there. Younger fans/voters don't remember just how great he was before his first injury. He still had productive seasons afterward.

Cunningham was exciting but isn't Hof F material imo. Didn't play full time much and the seasons he did weren't anything special except for 1998. Maybe 1990 also.

Too many negatives. He played 16 seasons but started 6 games or less in 9 of those seasons. He's known for running but his best season was 1998 when he threw the ball and only ran 32 times. He led the league in fumbles 3 times and was in double digits for 6 of his 7 full time seasons. The last season, when he didn't run, he had 2 fumbles. Of those 7 fulltime seasons he led the league in getting sacked 5 times.

DeMarcus Ware
Robert Mathis
Andre Johnson
Albert Lewis
Steve Wisniewski
Henry Ellard

DeMarcus Ware
Devin Hester
Anquan Boldin(most have him third among the newly eligible receivers I have him first)
Steve Smith
Andre Johnson
Robert Mathis

This is one of those years where the newly eligible class is really strong and I think they' might take all 6 spots. While I don't expect the voters to think as highly of Hester and Boldin as I do, it's not at all clear who among the "Never Been Semifinalists" list they'd have higher. One's who missed last year I want to see the most are Rice and O'Neal.