On Thursday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the list of candidates for the Class of 2013, and two Broncos are among the first-year eligible modern-era candidates.
Center Tom Nalen and safety John Lynch are nominees in their first year of eligibility.
Lynch, a nine-time Pro Bowler, spent the first 11 years of his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before joining the Broncos as a free agent in 2004. He spent four seasons with Denver, capping off a career that featured 1,277 tackles, 13 sacks, 26 interceptions, 100 passes defensed, 16 forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries.
Nalen started 188 of 194 games played in his career, and never committed more than six penalties in a season. He earned five Pro Bowl nominations — the most by an offensive lineman in Broncos history, and won back-to-back Super Bowls with the team.
The two first-year candidates join five fellow former Broncos — running back Terrell Davis, wide receiver Rod Smith, linebacker Karl Mecklenburg and safeties Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith — and a former Broncos coach, Dan Reeves, as nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2013.
In total, there are 127 candidates for the class. From that list, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee will choose 25 candidates that advance as semifinalists. Those players are typically announced in late November.
Last year, Atwater, Davis and Mecklenburg all three reached the semifinal round.
From there, the list of semifinalists will be reduced to 15 modern-era finalists, announced in early January.
The Class of 2013 will be selected from the list of the 15 modern-era finalists plus the two senior nominees (former Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Oilers nose tackle Curley Culp and former Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins linebacker Dave Robinson), who were chosen in August by the selection committee.
The final class will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 2 — the day before Super Bowl XLVII.
Tags: Class of 2013, Dan Reeves, Dennis Smith, John Lynch, Karl Mecklenburg, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Rod Smith, Steve Atwater, Terrell Davis, Tom Nalen
Congrats to Nalen and Lynch for even being named in the 125 list, cool stuff.
I’m hoping that atleast 2 Broncos get in this year. How about TD and Rod Smith. Or Meck and Atwater. Or Dennis Smith and last but not least RANDY GRADISHAR for God sakes. Gradishar should have been in the HOF 20 years ago.
Mecklinberg and Gradishar!!!!! They need to get there first!
Joe Mays appeal was denied.
Keep your head up sir.
The commish – even if he wants to be generous cannot be in the position of saying “this is a nice LB, and that is a mean one.” He does have to go based on video evidence. It was a helmet to helmet ‘stick’ and Shaub was injured with the potential of being much more injured. As much as I hate the decision – If I were the Commish, I’d have fined him too.
Now the other side of that is whether or not the NFL is supposed to be punishing based on hits. If I were the commish – Not on my watch!!! Of course – Roger Goodell is acting on behalf of the owners – just doing what he is told.
Gradishaw,Meck and Atwater should already be there. Come on man.
Lynch and Nalen, I’ll take both of those guys on my team. Congrats on being recognized.
That is a great list of players, Atwater probably being my favorite. That guy could hit! He would be fined every week in todays NFL just for hitting too hard. LOL They were all great players, splitting hairs picking any one over the other.
I think we have a good chance of one Bronco going in. I hate how they keep snubbing TD!
Strand: Randy can’t be elected to the HOF. His 25 years of elegibilty were up many years ago. His only hope is to follow in Flloyds footsteps ands make it via vets nomination. Sadest part about Randy is that, except for SB appearancers, hs statistics top LBs of his era in HOF. The Eastcoast bias against the Broncos will probably never be overcome.
Out of Nalen, TD, Rod, et al, the only ones who stand a chance are Rod and TD. OL making it on first year on the HOF ballot is extremely Rare . Hopefully, within 5-7 years Nalen will get his due.
Tom Nalen was one hell of a Beast. Had his more knee surgerys then I can remember. Not all invasive but he had his right knee scoped for some clean up on a Thursday before a faders game and started and ended that game. Was a leader of the OL that never talked to the press. If one of them did they had to take all the other O linemen to dinner–and they can eat!! LOL. Maybe not first ballot but should make it sometime!!
ILMSDB
FTR
OSS, thanks. I knew that there was only one way for the much older vets to get in and Floyd Little is a prime example. I remember seeing Randy Gradishars numbers and they are much better (higher) than Dick Butkus’s numbers. So yes, the bias in the east is unjust. We know the truth about gradishar and that’s fine by me.