Peyton and Friends

When the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters held their virtual selection meeting, the discussion regarding Peyton Manning took all of 15 seconds.  Apparently, his presenter just said "Peyton Manning" then sat down and dropped the (virtual) mic.  So, I think it's safe to say that Peyton will be one of the five names announced as new Hall of Famers.  But we already knew that.  We knew that as soon as he retired after winning Super Bowl 50.

That got me thinking about one crazy Peyton stat, though.  Manning vs. Brady was the rivalry throughout Peyton's entire career.  They combined to make 10 Super Bowl appearances in that time (Brady 6, Manning 4).  In the five years since Peyton retired, Brady's been to four more.  That's just crazy!

But, back to the Hall of Fame and who'll join Peyton in the Class of 2021.  There are only four spots left and, once again, if it were a straight "Yes/No" vote, I think I'd be a "Yes" on probably 12 of the other 14.  But they can't all make it.  And I think they'll get broken down by category, with one from each group getting selected.

First, we have the other rookies: Charles Woodson, Calvin Johnson and Jared Allen.  Jared Allen is absolutely a Hall of Famer.  But he's not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  Especially in this class.  I also love me some Megatron.  He's got a much better chance of being elected than Allen does.  But there are also two other wide receivers who are finalists and he isn't so significantly stronger than either Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne.  Basically what I'm saying is that Megatron should get in eventually, but he'll have to wait his turn.

Charles Woodson, however, does not have to wait his turn.  He and Peyton will continue the trend of multiple first-time guys being elected while also helping to clear out that backlog of defensive backs.  The real question is whether he'll be joined by another defensive back, which would mark the third straight year in which multiple DBs were selected.

Two of those defensive backs happen to be Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which leads me to believe either John Lynch or Ronde Barber will be selected.  With the Super Bowl being played in Tampa, it seemed like a given that they'd put in one of the local guys.  Then you throw in the fact that the Bucs will be playing in the game, I'd say it's almost a guarantee.  That insane Tampa Bay defense of the early 2000s will finally have its third Hall of Famer to go along with Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks (eventually, it should get to five with Simeon Rice).

It seems like John Lynch has been a finalist every year at this point.  It's his ninth year of eligibility and eighth year as a finalist.  It's really getting absurd.  He's like Susan Lucci.  Although, just like Susan Lucci eventually did win a Daytime Emmy, John Lynch will finally see his Hall of Fame wait end.  Honestly, Ronde Barber probably had the better career.  But it wasn't as good as Charles Woodson's and John Lynch has been waiting so long.

Another guy who's had an agonizingly long wait is Tony Boselli, who'll be calling the Super Bowl on radio.  This is Boselli's 15th year of eligibility.  The thing that's been holding him back is probably the fact that his career was only seven years.  Those seven seasons in Jacksonville were extraordinary, though.  And they've started to show that they're less hesitant to put in guys who had shorter careers.  So Boselli gets the nod as this year's offensive lineman.

Which leaves us with five defensive players and two wide receivers for the final spot.  It would be great to see Reggie Wayne go in with Peyton, but I have a feeling they'll make both him and Torry Holt wait and go with one of the defensive guys.  And I think that'll be Richard Seymour, the pass rushing force during the first half of the Patriots' dynasty.

So those are my five: Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson, John Lynch, Tony Boselli and Richard Seymour.  But they won't be the only ones.  As usual, the coach, contributor and senior finalists will be considered separately.  And all three seem likely to get in.

Tom Flores is the coaching finalist.  For years, people have been wondering why Tom Flores wasn't in the Hall of Fame yet, and I can't say I disagree with them.  He won two Super Bowls with the Raiders (XV and XVIII).  Flores, Tom Coughlin, Mike Shanahan and George Seifert are the only retired coaches who've won multiple Super Bowls and aren't in the Hall of Fame.  He was also the first minority coach to win a Super Bowl and went 8-3 in the playoffs as Raiders coach.

Last year, when they had that special "Centennial Class," Drew Pearson was one of the candidates.  I was shocked he wasn't selected.  Apparently I wasn't the only one.  Because this year, with only one senior candidate up for election, Pearson was the committee's choice.  Although, since the 2020 induction was cancelled, it'll be like he's part of the Centennial Class anyway.

The contributor finalist is Bill Nunn, the "super scout" who helped build the Steelers' dynasty in the 70s.  Nunn found talent in places no one had previously thought to look--HBCUs and small colleges.  Steelers draft choices from HBCUs during that era included Hall of Famers John Stallworth, Mel Blount and Donnie Shell, as well as should-be Hall of Famer L.C. Greenwood.  Pittsburgh also snagged Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert from Kent State and Mean Joe Greene from North Texas.  And, with the No. 1 overall pick in 1970, they drafted some guy out of Louisiana Tech named Terry Bradshaw, who worked out alright.

I'm fairly confident that at least four of my choices will indeed be on the stage introduced as Hall of Famers at the NFL Honors (yes, it's the four obvious ones...so what?!).  But I can really see any combination of the other 14 finalists joining Peyton, Flores, Pearson, Nunn and the Class of 2020 on the stage in Canton in August.