For another year Oakland Raiders fans will be debating whether or not this will be the year that the greatest Raiders player of the 90’s gets into Canton as Tim Brown was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class. Brown joined 25 candidates, including new candidates in Kurt Warner, Junior Seau, Issac Bruce, Torry Holt and Orlando Pace, in a list of candidates for Canton that is as star studded as usual as there will be plenty of competition to be one of the few inducted this year into the Hall of Fame.
Brown will be joined by legendary Raiders head coach Tom Flores, the first Latino coach to win a Super Bowl and one of the most accomplished head coaches not in the Hall of Fame. Flores will be competing with former rival in legendary San Diego Chargers head coach Don Coryell, former Colts/Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy and former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson as head coaches who cracked the semifinal list.
Expect the likes of Seau, Warner and potentially Pace to be first ballot Hall of Famers this go around as all three will likely be easy candidates for induction in their first attempt at enshrinement. After that it is a tight competition, but Brown arguably deserves to go in ahead of the receivers eligible based on his longevity as well as his accomplishments without an elite quarterback or playing during the pass-heavy modern era that has been so good to wide receivers statistics.
The full list of 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame Semifinalists is as follows:
Morten Andersen, K – 1982-1994 New Orleans Saints, 1995-2000, 2006-07 Atlanta Falcons, 2001 New York Giants, 2002-03 Kansas City Chiefs, 2004 Minnesota Vikings
Steve Atwater, S – 1989-1998 Denver Broncos, 1999 New York Jets
Jerome Bettis, RB – 1993-95 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 1996-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
Tim Brown, WR/KR – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Isaac Bruce, WR – 1994-2007 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 2008-09 San Francisco 49ers
Don Coryell, Coach – 1973-77 St. Louis Cardinals, 1978-1986 San Diego Chargers
Roger Craig, RB – 1983-1990 San Francisco 49ers, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders, 1992-93 Minnesota Vikings
Terrell Davis, RB – 1995-2001 Denver Broncos
Tony Dungy, Coach – 1996-2001 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2002-08 Indianapolis Colts
Kevin Greene, LB/DE – 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers
Charles Haley, DE/LB – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys
Marvin Harrison, WR – 1996-2008 Indianapolis Colts
Torry Holt, WR – 1999-2008 St. Louis Rams, 2009 Jacksonville Jaguars
Joe Jacoby, T – 1981-1993 Washington Redskins
Edgerrin James, RB – 1999-2005 Indianapolis Colts, 2006-08 Arizona Cardinals, 2009 Seattle Seahawks
Jimmy Johnson, Coach – 1989-1993 Dallas Cowboys, 1996-99 Miami Dolphins
Mike Kenn, T – 1978-1994 Atlanta Falcons
Ty Law, CB – 1995-2004 New England Patriots, 2005, 2008 New York Jets, 2006-07 Kansas City Chiefs, 2009 Denver Broncos
John Lynch, FS – 1993-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004-07 Denver Broncos
Kevin Mawae, C/G – 1994-97 Seattle Seahawks, 1998-2005 New York Jets, 2006-2009 Tennessee Titans
Karl Mecklenburg, LB – 1983-1994 Denver Broncos
Orlando Pace, T – 1997-2008 St. Louis Rams, 2009 Chicago Bears
Junior Seau, LB – 1990-2002 San Diego Chargers, 2003-05 Miami Dolphins, 2006-09 New England Patriots
Will Shields, G – 1993-2006 Kansas City Chiefs
Kurt Warner, QB – 1998-2003 St. Louis Rams, 2004 New York Giants, 2005-09 Arizona Cardinals
Darren Woodson, S – 1992-2003 Dallas Cowboys