Football Hall of Fame pares list of senior nominees

Sixty former NFL players have made the cut to remain in consideration for selection into the seniors category of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025.

The newly formed Seniors Screening Committee whittled the list from 182 players, the Hall of Fame announced Thursday. Each player last appeared in a game in 1999 or earlier.

The list is littered with former Super Bowl winners, including quarterback Jim Plunkett; running backs Ottis Anderson and Roger Craig; defensive linemen L.C. Greenwood, Harvey Martin and Ed "Too Tall" Jones; linebackers Carl Banks and Lee Roy Jordan; and defensive backs Lester Hayes and Everson Walls.

Only one person who played primarily on special teams is included -- Steve Tasker, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection who appeared in four consecutive Super Bowl losses with the Buffalo Bills in the early 1990s.

The nine-member Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will pare down the list further to three nominees later this year.

Ten players on the list of 60 reached the semifinal stage last year when Steve McMichael and Randy Gradishar were elected in the senior category.

The returning semifinalists are Anderson, Craig, Maxie Baughan, Joe Jacoby, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Art Powell, Sterling Sharpe, Otis Taylor and Al Wistert.

The 2025 enshrinement ceremony at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, will be held Aug. 9.

The senior players who remain eligible for election with the Class of 2025 are:

QUARTERBACKS (5): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, Jack Kemp, Jim Plunkett.

RUNNING BACKS (7): Alan Ameche, Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Roger Craig, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul "Tank" Younger.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (10): Mark Clayton, Isaac Curtis, Boyd Dowler, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Sterling Sharpe, Otis Taylor.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (12): Ed Budde, Ox Emerson, Bill Fralic, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, George Kunz, Ralph Neely, Dick Schafrath, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (6): L.C. Greenwood, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Jim Marshall, Harvey Martin, Leslie O'Neal, Bill Stanfill.

LINEBACKERS (11): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Bill Bergey, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Tommy Nobis, Andy Russell, Pat Swilling, Phil Villapiano.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (8): Dick Anderson, Deron Cherry, Pat Fischer, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls.

SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker.

--Field Level Media