The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced their semifinalists for the class of 2024 Thursday. Among them are Raiders greats WR Art Powell and DB Albert Lewis.
To be eligible for the senior committee, a player must have played their last game in 1998 or earlier. That was Lewis’s final season in the NFL, which was his fifth as a member of the Raiders.
Lewis played 16 years in the NFL, his first 11 with the Chiefs. He collected 42 interceptions, heading to four Pro Bowls and once an All Pro. He also appeared in six playoff games, all with the Chiefs.
Powell is one of the greatest receivers in Raiders history. He spent just four seasons with the Raiders, but made the Pro Bowl in every season and was an All AFL performer in 1963 when he caught 73 passes for a league-leading 1304 yards and 16 touchdowns.
His 16 receiving touchdowns in a season is still the most in Raiders franchise history — and he did in in 14 games.
Powell played a total ten NFL seasons with the Eagles, New York Titans, Raiders, Bills, and Vikings.
Roger Craig is also among the semifinalists. He played one season with the Raiders in 1991 as his career was winding down.
The rest of the semifinalists are Ken Anderson, Maxie Baughan, Randy Gradisher, Joe Jacoby, Steve McMichael, Eddie Meador, Sterling Sharpe, Otis Taylor, and Al Wistert.
Former Raiders head coach Mike Shanahan was among the coaches/contributor semifinalists.
Shanahan coached the Raiders for just 20 games before butting heads with Al Davis and being fired. He then went on to have a very successful career as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, including winning two Super Bowls.
Other coach/contributor semifinalists are Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Robert Kraft, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Art Rooney Jr, Marty Schottenheimer, Clark Shaughnessy, Lloyd Wells, and John Wooten.
