Will Shields and Willie Roaf are finalists for the Hall of Fame

[Rain Man]

http://www.profootballhof.com/enshri...012-finalists/

Class of 2012 Finalists
01/07/2012

Two first-year eligible nominees – coach Bill Parcells and tackle Will Shields – are among the 15 modern-era finalists who will be considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when the Hall’s Selection Committee meets in Indianapolis, Ind. on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012.

Joining the first-year eligible, are 12 modern-era players and a contributor. The 15 modern-era finalists, along with the two senior nominees announced in August 2011 (former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Jack Butler and former Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins guard Dick Stanfel) will be the only candidates considered for Hall of Fame election when the 44-member Selection Committee meets. To be elected, a finalist must receive a minimum positive vote of 80 percent.

Although technically a first-year eligible candidate, Parcells has been a finalist twice before (2001, 2002) following his announced retirement as head coach of the New York Jets in 1999. At the time the Hall of Fame By-Laws did not require a coach to be retired the now mandatory five seasons. Parcells returned to coach the Dallas Cowboys in 2003 and the five-year waiting period was in effect when he retired from coaching in 2006.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee’s 17 finalists (15 modern-era and two senior nominees*) with their positions, teams, and years active follow:

See detailed capsule bios on the 17 Finalists>>>
Jerome Bettis – Running Back – 1993-95 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 1996-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers

Tim Brown – Wide Receiver/Kick Returner – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jack Butler* – Cornerback – 1951-59 Pittsburgh Steelers

Cris Carter – Wide Receiver – 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles, 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins

Dermontti Dawson – Center – 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers

Edward DeBartolo, Jr. – Owner – 1977-2000 San Francisco 49ers

Chris Doleman – Defensive End/Linebacker – 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers

Kevin Greene – Linebacker/Defensive End – 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers

Charles Haley – Defensive End/Linebacker – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys

Cortez Kennedy – Defensive Tackle – 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks

Curtis Martin – Running Back – 1995-97 New England Patriots, 1998-2005 New York Jets

Bill Parcells – Coach – 1983-1990 New York Giants, 1993-96 New England Patriots, 1997-99 New York Jets, 2003-06 Dallas Cowboys

Andre Reed – Wide Receiver – 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins

Willie Roaf – Tackle – 1993-2001 New Orleans Saints, 2002-05 Kansas City Chiefs

Will Shields – Guard – 1993-2006 Kansas City Chiefs

Dick Stanfel* – Guard – 1952-55 Detroit Lions, 1956-58 Washington Redskins

Aeneas Williams – Cornerback/Safety – 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams

In addition to Parcells, other finalists who have been eligible in previous years include Bettis, Brown, Carter, Dawson, Doleman, Haley, Kennedy, Martin, Reed, Roaf and Stanfel. Although they were eligible in previous years, this is the first time Butler, DeBartolo, Greene and Williams have been finalists.

From this year’s list, four players – Butler, Dawson, Kennedy, and Shields spent their entire NFL career with just one team.

Butler and Stanfel were selected as senior candidates by the Hall of Fame’s Seniors Committee at their August 2011 meeting. The Seniors Committee reviews the qualifications of those players whose careers took place more than 25 years ago. The remaining 15 modern-era finalists were determined by a vote of the Hall’s 44-member Selection Committee from a list of 105 preliminary nominees that earlier was reduced to a list of 26 semifinalists.

To be eligible for election, modern-era players and coaches must be retired at least five consecutive seasons. Contributors need not be retired.

Doleman, Greene, and Haley have been eligible for eight years. Dawson, Kennedy, and Reed have each been eligible for election for seven years, Carter five years, and Brown and Williams three years. Bettis, Martin and Roaf are in their second year of eligibility. Since the retirement minimum for a player prior to 1968 was three years, senior nominees Butler and Stanfel have been eligible since 1963 when the Hall of Fame first opened.

The Selection Committee will meet in Indianapolis, Ind. on Saturday, February 4, 2012, to elect the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2012. The election results will be announced at 5:30 p.m. ET during a one-hour NFL Network special, live from the Super Bowl Media Center. The Class of 2012 will be the 50th class to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

At the 2012 selection meeting, the selectors will thoroughly discuss the careers of each finalist. Although there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s current ground rules stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year. No more than five modern-era nominees can be elected in a given year and a class of six or seven can only be achieved if one or both senior nominees are elected. Representatives of the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche will tabulate all votes during the meeting.

At the announcement, Pro Football Hall of Fame President/Executive Director Steve Perry will be presented with an envelope containing the names of the nominees elected. Each newly elected member will be contacted immediately by the Hall of Fame. Members of the Class of 2012 in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl will be asked to join the live announcement show. Those not able to attend will be asked to join via teleconference.

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

[Rasputin]

Good deal

[chasedude]

Best Chiefs news I've heard in quite awhile!

[Munson]

Great news. And its a crime that Big Willie didn't get in last year.

[Rain Man]

My ranking of the 15 finalists from the modern era in terms of who deserves to be in. I think the top five are pretty clear.

However, I doubt that the top five will go in, so I also bolded the five that I think WILL go in.



Cris Carter – The guy should've been in a while back. Some of the best hands I've ever seen. While it's obvious that there's opposition to him, I think he's waited long enough and will go in.


Willie Roaf – What a monster at left tackle. Could pancake on the run and protect the pass. I think he'll go in this year.


Kevin Greene – Way too underrated. The guy was a dangerous pass rusher. It's close, but I think if they take five this year he'll sneak in. Not sure, though.


Will Shields – Plugged him in as a rookie and he took care of business for ages. Even briefly moved to left tackle one year and played great. If his position had more visibility he might be as high as #2 on this list. I highly doubt that they'll let him in in his first year, though.

Aeneas Williams – Top-notch player. Definitely in the top five on this list, but I doubt he'll go in this year.

Bill Parcells – Deserves to be in, but I think it's too soon. The guy's still involved in football.

Dermontti Dawson – Pretty dominant center, but is the third-best lineman on this list.

Charles Haley – Solid player, will get more attention because he played on high-profile teams. He'll get in because they'll want to see a pass rusher go in.


Chris Doleman – Underrated guy with a lot of stats. I'm not sure he really dominated, but he was consistently very good.

Cortez Kennedy – Very good player. Great? Not sure.

Jerome Bettis - See above. He may edge out Kevin Greene for a spot this year, though, since he was popular.

Andre Reed – Oh, come on. Decent player but never scared anyone. I think either him or Brown will go in, though, and I think the nod will go to Reed.


Tim Brown – Yawn. Slightly above average for a long time, never a playmaker.

Curtis Martin – See above.

Edward DeBartolo, Jr. – I don't get this at all. Didn't he get forced to sell the team?




I enjoy football history, but I have no idea who the two old-timers are.

[Rain Man]

It's interesting to me that there are no no-brainer first-ballot guys coming in this year. It seems like every year for a while there have been guys with lots of rings and lots of stats and lots of media face time who have shown up, and this year it's just Shields and Parcells. I think they're both really good candidates, but they're not going to get the hype that a Deion Sanders or Jerry Rice or Emmitt Smif will get.

[Rasputin]

I thought Cortez Kennedy was a beast at times, but would disappear other times, memory kind of foggy on him now. Maybe I just don't want to remember. I know I hated the Seasucks for summ reason?

& still do.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

It's interesting to me that there are no no-brainer first-ballot guys coming in this year. It seems like every year for a while there have been guys with lots of rings and lots of stats and lots of media face time who have shown up, and this year it's just Shields and Parcells. I think they're both really good candidates, but they're not going to get the hype that a Deion Sanders or Jerry Rice or Emmitt Smif will get.

Interesting year for sure.....Chris Carters year looks like. Alot of hall voters are souring on the WR's of the past 15 years who put up inflated stats because of the passing era we are in.. Carter suffers for that.

Alot of the guys on this list belong in the Hall of very good, but not Hall of fame IMO.

[DTLB58]

Shields and Roaf both going in would surely be reason enough for me to go back to Canton again. Made the trip in '09 for DT's induction and I loved the place.

I agree Cris Carter should have been in before now, amazing hands and feet at the in-line. Amazing dedication to the game.

Kevin Greene- 160 Career sacks 3rd all-time! What have they been waiting for?

Charles Haley 5 SB's- Probably been kept out cause of the good ol' boys club that is the HOF selection committee. Haley, when trying to get traded from the Niners to the Cowboys walked into Carmen Policy's office and relieved himself on his bosses desk.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Interesting year for sure.....Chris Carters year looks like. Alot of hall voters are souring on the WR's of the past 15 years who put up inflated stats because of the passing era we are in.. Carter suffers for that.

Alot of the guys on this list belong in the Hall of very good, but not Hall of fame IMO.

Honestly, it seems like one of the weaker years. I think most of these guys are borderline at best. While I suspect they'll snub Shields as a first-year formality, this actually is a year where I think our two guys are among the top five candidates.

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

My ranking of the 15 finalists from the modern era in terms of who deserves to be in. I think the top five are pretty clear.

However, I doubt that the top five will go in, so I also bolded the five that I think WILL go in.



Cris Carter – The guy should've been in a while back. Some of the best hands I've ever seen. While it's obvious that there's opposition to him, I think he's waited long enough and will go in.


Willie Roaf – What a monster at left tackle. Could pancake on the run and protect the pass. I think he'll go in this year.


Kevin Greene – Way too underrated. The guy was a dangerous pass rusher. It's close, but I think if they take five this year he'll sneak in. Not sure, though.


Will Shields – Plugged him in as a rookie and he took care of business for ages. Even briefly moved to left tackle one year and played great. If his position had more visibility he might be as high as #2 on this list. I highly doubt that they'll let him in in his first year, though.

Aeneas Williams – Top-notch player. Definitely in the top five on this list, but I doubt he'll go in this year.

Bill Parcells – Deserves to be in, but I think it's too soon. The guy's still involved in football.

Dermontti Dawson – Pretty dominant center, but is the third-best lineman on this list.

Charles Haley – Solid player, will get more attention because he played on high-profile teams. He'll get in because they'll want to see a pass rusher go in.


Chris Doleman – Underrated guy with a lot of stats. I'm not sure he really dominated, but he was consistently very good.

Cortez Kennedy – Very good player. Great? Not sure.

Jerome Bettis - See above. He may edge out Kevin Greene for a spot this year, though, since he was popular.

Andre Reed – Oh, come on. Decent player but never scared anyone. I think either him or Brown will go in, though, and I think the nod will go to Reed.


Tim Brown – Yawn. Slightly above average for a long time, never a playmaker.

Curtis Martin – See above.

Edward DeBartolo, Jr. – I don't get this at all. Didn't he get forced to sell the team?




I enjoy football history, but I have no idea who the two old-timers are.

I agree that Bettis is unworthy of mention.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

My 6:

Roaf
Shields
Greene
Doleman
Bettis
Carter

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by cdcox

I agree that Bettis is unworthy of mention.

If Bettis gets the nod over Kevin Greene, then HOF is a joke this year.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

It's fitting that the two most overrated RBs in history, Martin and Bettis, are finalists together.