The NFL announced its 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2016.
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Also among the semifinalists are former Steelers and Cardinals offensive lineman Alan Faneca and former Colts and Cardinals running back Edgerrin James.
Both Lynch and Dungy have been semifinalists for the Hall of Fame before; this marks Dungy’s third nomination in a row while Lynch has been a semifinalist for the past four years.
The semifinalists will be reduced to 15 finalists in early January.
Two others are semifinalists for the first time: tackle Tony Boselli and linebacker Sam Mills.
Worth noting: Eleven men have won Super Bowl and NFL MVP awards.
Although there is no set number of enshrinees for any Hall of Fame Class, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s current bylaws stipulate that between four and eight new members will be selected each year.
Former Vikings defensive coordinator and Gophers quarterback Tony Dungy also is on the list.
Davis’ problem is a short career span, even though he had a stretch where he was clearly the best at what he did. For his accomplishments, Coryell was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1994 before being named one of the 50 Greatest Chargers of All-Time in 2010. He was a finalist past year and was reportedly among the final 10, but didn’t quite make the final cut. He was a Pro Bowler for nine straight seasons and a six-time 1st Team All Pro. Atwater, like Davis, has seen his case hurt by a relatively short career span, but played at a Pro Bowl level in 72.7 percent of his seasons and started in three Super Bowls.
Lynch played 11 of his 15 National Football League season with the Bucs, from 1993 to 2003. That was in part due to the steep learning curve the former Stanford quarterback and then-Florida Marlins farm-system pitcher faced in moving to defense.
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Andersen, 55, played 25 years in the NFL-13 with Atlanta. For Bruce, Holt, Pace and Warner, this is their second year on the ballot.
