Pro Football Hall Of Fame Trims List Of Modern-Era Candidates To 26

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Tuesday that they’ve cut the list of modern-era candidates for the Class of 2026 down to 26 candidates.

Any of the following eligible players have played no later than the 2020 season. Eventually, the list will continue to be cut down until the 2026 class is announced at the NFL Honors ceremony in New Orleans this February.

The list of 26 modern-era finalists includes:

QUARTERBACKS (3): Drew Brees, *Eli Manning, Philip Rivers

RUNNING BACKS (2): Frank Gore, *Fred Taylor

WIDE RECEIVERS (5): Larry Fitzgerald, *Torry Holt, *Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, *Reggie Wayne

TIGHT ENDS (1): Jason Witten

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (6): Willie Anderson (T), Lomas Brown (T), Jahri Evans (G), Richmond Webb (T), Steve Wisniewski (G), *Marshal Yanda (G)

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (3): Robert Mathis (DE), Vince Wilfork (DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT)

LINEBACKERS (2): *Luke Kuechly, *Terrell Suggs

DEFENSIVE BACKS (3): Rodney Harrison (S), Earl Thomas (S), *Darren Woodson (S)

PUNTERS/KICKERS (1): *Adam Vinatieri (K)

“*” indicates Finalist (final 15) for the Class of 2025

The committee will reduce this list down to 15 in the next month or so before later cutting it down to the final inductees.