What Is The Criteria For The Nfl Hall Of Fame?

The National Football League Hall of Fame is the highest honor that a professional football player can receive. election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is considered the greatest individual achievement in professional football.

Introduction

In order to be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a player must have played professional football for five seasons. Players who retired before they turned 50 years old are also eligible if they played for at least three seasons and are nominated by a special senior committee.

History of the NFL Hall of Fame

The National Football League Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located at canton, Ohio. It includes brief histories of each of the inductees and a display of many of their most important artifacts. The Hall of Fame’s mission is to “Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values & Celebrate Excellence EVERYWHERE.”

The Hall of Fame was founded in 1963 by the NFL’s then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle and Ohio’s then-Governor Jim Rhodes. The first class was inducted in 1963, Canton’s Lou Groza, Chicago Bears founder George Halas, Green Bay Packers founder Curly Lambeau, New York Giants end Mel Hein, San Francisco 49ers end Gordie Drillon, and Washington Redskins end Sammy Baugh.

The Criteria

To be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a player must have been retired for at least five years. Players must have played their last professional game within the last 25 years. The Hall of Fame Selection Committee considers several factors when choosing which players to induct into the Hall of Fame. These factors include:

Playing Career

lengthened to accommodate the Profootball Hall of Fame’s 50th anniversary in 1996. To be eligible, a player or coach must have been retired for at least five years before he can be nominated. He must have played or coached in a professional football league for at least ten seasons, and must have been “a major contributor to the success of his team(s)”. If a candidate does not meet both the length-of-career and contributions requirements, he may still qualify if he is “recognized as a pioneer in his profession” or is considered “one of the greatest figures” of the sport. A player becomes eligible for election twenty-one years after he has retired as a player; a coach becomes eligible when he retires or dies.

Coaching Career

The length of a coach’s career, as well as his success, are important elements in determining whether he’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame. A coach must have been retired for five years before he can be considered for induction, which means that actively coaching coaches are not eligible.

Additionally, a coach must have been head coach for a minimum of 10 years to be eligible. There are some coaches who have been head coaches for fewer seasons but have had great success and are thus eligible for induction based on the “contributor” category (explained below).

Finally, a candidate’s body of work will be judged against others in his era. For example, a coach who retires today and has had great success over his career will likely be compared against other active coaches and those who have recently retired.

Contributing to the Game

In order to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, a player must have made significant contributions to the game of football. This can be in the form of on-field performance, coaching, or other contributions to the game. Players who have made significant off-field contributions may also be eligible for induction.

The Selection Process

The National Football League Hall of Fame is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a football player.

The Selection Committee

The Selection Committee is made up of former NFL players, coaches, and executives. The selection process begins with a nomination form that is sent to the Selection Committee in the fall. A select group of media members are also allowed to submit nominations. The nominees are then narrowed down to a list of 25 semifinalists in November. In January, the Selection Committee meets to discuss the merits of each semifinalist and vote on who they think should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. A minimum of 80% of the committee must vote for a nominee in order for them to be inducted.

The Voting Process

The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection process is an annual event that takes place each February. A 26-member Selection Committee meets in a hotel meeting room in Canton, Ohio, during which they select between four and eight newly eligible members of the Hall of Fame. The Selection Committee is composed of one media member from each NFL market, 16 Pro Football Hall of Famers, and six at-large members. The six at-large members are all active or retired general managers or head coaches. This group meets for approximately seven hours to discuss the merits of the eligible candidates and ultimately selects the inductees for that year.

Conclusion

In order to be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a player must have been retired for at least five years. Once a player is eligible, he can be nominated by anyone – fans, media members, former players, coaches, or anyone else associated with the game. There is no formal list of nominees; instead, anyone can submit a nomination form to the Hall of Fame.

A nominating committee then reviews the nominations and creates a list of 25 semifinalists in September. This list is then whittled down to 15 finalists in January. From there, a selection committee vote on which of the 15 finalists will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. A minimum of 80% is needed for induction.