On Thursday night, during the NFL Honors awards show, we found out which players, coaches, and executives would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the 2022 class.
Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler, Art McNally, Richard Seymour, Dick Vermeil, and Bryant Young learned of their election when a Hall of Famer knocked on their door in late January. Those encounters can be seen Saturday when NFL Network airs a one-hour special, beginning at 9 p.m. ET. The families of the late Cliff Branch and Sam Mills received the news in a phone call from Hall of Fame President Jim Porter.
“Each member of this great class represents the values of the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Porter said. “We look forward to honoring them in August.”
The annual selection meeting capped a year-round selection process. The newly elected Hall of Famers were chosen from a list of 18 Finalists who had been determined earlier by the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee. Representatives of the accounting firm EY tabulated all votes during the virtual meeting.
The Coach, Contributor and Senior Finalists were voted “yes” or “no” for election at the annual selection meeting and needed at least 80% support from the Committee to be elected. The Modern-Era Finalists were trimmed during the meeting from 15 to 10, then from 10 to five. They, too, had to receive the same 80% positive vote as the Coach, Contributor and Senior Finalists when they were voted “yes” or “no” to earn election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame’s membership, including the newly elected Class of 2022, now stands at 362.
The Class of 2022 will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, Aug. 6 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
(Bios courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame)
