The debate about whether a pure punter belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame will continue, and a couple of wide receivers whose numbers were excellent at the time but look less impressive with each passing year will get another chance at Hall of Fame enshrinement.
That’s among the news coming out of NFL Network today, where the 26 Hall of Fame semifinalists are being revealed on NFL GameDay Morning.
Former Cardinals and Chargers coach Don Coryell, who died in July, is also on the list of semifinalists.
The first-time finalists include cornerback Deion Sanders, offensive tackle Willie Roaf and running backs Jerome Bettis, Curtis Martin and Marshall Faulk.
The list of 26 semifinalists will be reduced to 15 finalists by a vote of the Hall of Fame selection committee, and then those 15 men, plus Seniors Committee nominees Chris Hanburger and Les Richter will be voted in or out of the Hall of Fame on the day before the Super Bowl.
The other semifinalists are Don Coryell, running back Roger Craig, running back Terrell Davis, center Dermontti Dawson, owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., defensive end Richard Dent, defensive end Chris Doleman, linebacker Kevin Greene, punter Ray Guy, linebacker Charles Haley, cornerback Lester Hayes, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, owner Art Modell, wide receiver Andre Reed, NFL Films founder Ed Sabol, tight end Shannon Sharpe, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, cornerback Aeneas Williams and contributor George Young.
The other semifinalists will be announced later this morning; we’ll update this post with those names.