PITTSBURGH — Two Steelers and two former Pitt Panthers are among those making the Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot in their first year of eligibility. They are among 13 first-ballot nominees and 128 Modern-Era Players announced Wednesday by the Pro Hall of Fame.
David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey are the two Steelers who made the ballot on the first year of eligibility. Larry Fitzgerald and LeSean McCoy are the two Pitt players. They join Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Alex Smith, Greg Olsen, Jason Witten, Frank Gore, Geno Atkins, Jurrell Casey and Thomas Davis.
The overall roster of nominees contains 77 offensive players, 42 defensive players and nine special teams players.
The other former Steelers nominated include Hines Ward, James Harrison, Carnell Lake, Allen Rossum and Gary Anderson.
In the next step, a Screening Committee will cut the list from 128 to 50, with that announcement coming in mid-October. That list will go to 25 semifinalists by later in the fall. The committee will settle on the 15 who will be inducted at the annual selection meeting ahead of Super Bowl LX in February. The final 15 will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in August of 2026.
MODERN-ERA NOMINEES
FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2026
*-Finalist (final 15) for the Class of 2025. Underline indicates the first year of eligibility. (Players must have last played at least five full seasons ago to be eligible for nomination. Therefore, any individual who last played in 2020 is eligible for the first time in 2026.)
QUARTERBACKS (10): Drew Brees, Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Rich Gannon, Jeff Garcia, *-Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair, Philip Rivers, Alex Smith.
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RUNNING BACKS (21): Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Larry Centers (FB),
Jamaal Charles, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn, Arian Foster, Eddie George, Frank Gore, Priest Holmes, Steven Jackson, Chris Johnson, Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, Eric Metcalf (also WR/PR/KR), Lorenzo Neal (FB), *-Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters.
WIDE RECEIVERS (18): Anquan Boldin, Donald Driver, Larry Fitzgerald, *-Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Marshall, Derrick Mason, Herman Moore, Muhsin Muhammad, Jordy Nelson, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, *-Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, *-Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, Roddy White.
TIGHT ENDS (6): Vernon Davis, Zach Miller, Greg Olsen, Wesley Walls, Delanie Walker, Jason Witten.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (22): *-Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), Ryan Clady (T), David DeCastro (G), *-Jahri Evans (G), Jordan Gross (T), Ryan Kalil (C), Olin Kreutz (C), Nick Mangold (C), Logan Mankins (G), Tom Nalen (C), Maurkice Pouncey (C), Jeff Saturday (C), Josh Sitton (G), Joe Staley (T), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G), *-Marshal Yanda (G).
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (13): John Abraham (DE also LB), Geno Atkins (DT), Jurrell Casey (DT), Elvis Dumervil (DE), La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Robert Mathis (DE), Haloti Ngata (DT), Jay Ratliff (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Justin Smith (DE), Ted Washington (NT/DT), Vince Wilfork (DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT).
LINEBACKERS (14): NaVorro Bowman, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, Thomas Davis, James Farrior, London Fletcher, James Harrison, A.J. Hawk, *-Luke Kuechly, Clay Matthews III, Dat Nguyen, Takeo Spikes, *-Terrell Suggs, Lee Woodall.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (15): Eric Berry (S), Kam Chancellor (S), Nick Collins (S), DeAngelo Hall (DB), Rodney Harrison (S), James Hasty (CB), Carnell Lake (DB), Allen Rossum (DB), Asante Samuel (CB), Patrick Surtain (CB), Earl Thomas (S), Charles Tillman (CB), Troy Vincent (CB), Adrian Wilson (S), *-Darren Woodson (S).
PUNTERS/KICKERS (7): David Akers (K), Gary Anderson (K), Jason Hanson (K), John Kasay (K), Sean Landeta (P), Shane Lechler (P), *-Adam Vinatieri (K).
SPECIAL TEAMS (2): Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB).
In addition to 15 Modern-Era Player Finalists, the 50-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee will discuss three Seniors Finalists, a Coach Finalist and a Contributor Finalist as potential members of the Class of 2026. While there is no set number for any class, the selection process bylaws provide that between four and eight new members will be elected.
Finalists must receive at least 80% support from the Selection Committee to join the Class of 2026. The Modern-Era Player Finalists will be trimmed during the annual selection meeting from 15 to 10, then to seven. Committee members will then vote for five of the seven Finalists.
Because they reached the final seven for the Class of 2025, nominees Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri automatically advance to the final 15 for the Class of 2026.
This year’s reduction voting will be completed with oversight from the firm Ernst & Young LLP, a Hall partner since 2019. EY’s Agreed-Upon Procedures include validating the completeness of the ballots and tabulating the ballots in accordance with the bylaws established by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors.
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