The Pro Football Hall of Fame includes players, coaches, and contributors (e.g., owners and team or league officials) who have "made outstanding contributions to professional football". The charter class of seventeen was selected in 1963. As of 2017, 310 individuals have been elected.
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Enshrinees are selected by a 46-person selection committee which meets each year at the time and location of the Super Bowl. Current rules of the committee stipulate that between four and eight individuals are selected each year. Any person may nominate an individual to the hall, provided the nominee has not played or coached for at least five seasons prior to the nomination. Not including the charter class, 73 players have been inducted in their first year of eligibility.
In addition to the regular selection committee, which primarily focuses on contributions made over the past approximately thirty seasons, a nine-member seniors committee (which is a subset of the larger committee) submits two nominees each year whose contributions came prior to 1985. These nominees are referred as "seniors nominees" (formerly "old-timer" nominees).
Inductees
Some Hall of Fame members were selected for their skills as coaches. Others were enshrined for their skills as players. This list names only the position for which the man was considered for induction. Many excellent coaches were not selected for their playing career. Many Hall of Fame caliber players were also coaches, but it was their playing for which they received their yellow jacket during the enshrinement ceremony. Only the accomplishments highlighted on the Hall of Fame web site are noted on this list.
As of 2014, two current NFL teams are not represented by an enshrinee — the Houston Texans (began play in 2002), and the Jacksonville Jaguars (began play in 1995). The teams which most recently gained representation are the Carolina Panthers (Reggie White, class of 2006) and the Baltimore Ravens (Rod Woodson, class of 2009). Ray Guy was the first full-time punter inducted (Class of 2014).
The hall is not officially affiliated with the National Football League (NFL), although as of 2014 all but one enshrinee participated in the NFL for at least a portion of his career; the single exception being Billy Shaw. There are 38 inductees into the hall who spent all or part of their careers in the American Football League that merged with the NFL. Three players, Red Grange, Ray Flaherty, Mike Michalske, played a portion of their career in the first American Football League from 1926. The second American Football League from 1936 only has one Hall of Fame member who has played in this league, Ken Strong. The third American Football League from 1940 currently has no participants in the Hall of Fame. Fifteen inductees spent some of their playing career in the All-America Football Conference during the late 1940s. Five players played some at least one year in the Ohio League, the predecessor to the NFL. Six players or coaches who spent part of their careers in the short-lived United States Football League (USFL) have been inducted. Two coaches (Marv Levy, Bud Grant), one administrator (Jim Finks), and five players (Warren Moon, Fred Biletnikoff, John Henry Johnson, Don Maynard, Arnie Weinmeister) who spent part of their careers in the Canadian Football League (CFL) have been inducted; two of which have been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame: Warren Moon and Bud Grant. Four players, Larry Csonka, Leroy Kelly, Don Maynard, and Paul Warfield, played a portion of their career in the short-lived World Football League. Fritz Pollard is the only player to play in the Anthracite League's only season. Only one player, Kurt Warner, played a substantial portion of his career in the Arena Football League. Bill Walsh and Ken Stabler are the only members of the Hall of Fame to be involved with the Continental Football LeagueNine inductees have played on a team that existed independently; there are three instances of an independent team being a pre-NFL team and one incident of a team being post-NFL, the rest of the teams existed independently for the entirety of their existence.
A few other professional leagues have more tangential connections to the Hall of Fame:
Each entry includes the year of induction (i.e., "class"), position(s) played, team(s) each was associated with, and tenures with each team. The Pro Football Hall Of Fame website does not include CFL, USFL, WFL, indoor football leagues, and other lesser known league teams. The Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League both have their own halls of fame. NFL, American Football League, AAFC, and Ohio League (listed as pre-NFL) teams are recognized in the Hall of Fame. The list is complete up to date 2016 Hall of Fame class.
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Notes:
1 Selected in first year of eligibility 2 Charter member 3 Senior nominee 4 Heisman Trophy Winner 5 As head coach of the Akron Pros in 1921, Fritz Pollard became the first African American coach in NFL history.