Oakland Raiders legends Tim Brown and Ray Guy, 2014 Hall of Fame Finalists

Dec 27, 2013; Alameda, CA, USA; General view of an Oakland Raiders helmet at press conference at Oakland Raiders Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Raiders franchise has boasted many legendary players, more so in the past than presently, but due to the deep pool of great players who have donned the Silver and Black there are many that have been snubbed by the Hall of Fame voters and are waiting to receive proper recognition and enshrinement into Canton.

On Thursday night, two of those Raiders were named as finalists for the 2014 Hall of Fame Class.

Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown was named a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the fifth time on Thursday, and will be considered yet again for election by a 46-person selection committee that meets on Feb. 1. As was punter Ray Guy, who was selected as one of the senior selection hopefuls earlier in the year.

Guy, the greatest punter of all time and a pioneer of the punting game as we know it, has the best chance of being selected. Senior selection committee nominees are almost always confirmed and Guy would be the first punter inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After years of debate on whether Guy deserves enshrinement due to being a special teams player, it feels that now is the time where the selection committee has came to its senses.

Brown will once again be one of the players who may have to plead his case to the Hall of Fame voters despite having an all time great career while playing with mediocre at best passers for the majority of his career. Brown finished with 1,094 catches for 14,934 receiving yards and has 105 total touchdowns. Brown has been a finalist each year since 2010, but due to the induction of Vikings Cris Carter last season he narrowly missed the cut. He was a nine-time Pro Bowler after becoming the No. 6 overall pick in 1988 to the Raiders where he spent nearly his entire storied career before a career ending stint in Tampa Bay. Brown also won the 1987 Heisman Trophy while with Notre Dame.

It would be great to see Brown, a player who seems to really care about the Hall of Fame and his legacy, hopping on our podcast to talk about his career last summer and mentioning how he has almost given up on the process make the Hall of Fame. With Cris Carter already in, it is easy to say that now guys like Brown with good numbers and no Super Bowls will receive similar and deserved recognition. However it is impossible to guess how the Hall of Fame voters will pick and great players get snubbed all the time, hopefully the selection committee will give both Brown and Guy their due this year.