It is Super Bowl weekend, but one special announcement that should not be overlooked is the annual reveal of the honorees of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to be feted (that means “honored”) on August 3 there in Canton, Ohio.
It was actually announced on the “NFL Honors” program, where the year-end awards, such as the most valuable player and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award were announced.
And here we go. In alphabetical order, without further adieu…
- Defensive end/outside linebacker Dwight Freeney
- Linebacker Randy Gradishar
- Return specialist/wide receiver Devin Hester
- Wide receiver Andre Johnson
- Defensive tackle/nose tackle Steve McMichael
- Defensive end/linebacker Julius Peppers
- Linebacker Patrick Willis
Now, for some background on each: Pro Football Hall of Fame to enshrine seven in Class of 2024.
And without clicking on the link, necessarily, a little bit about each one…
- Grandishar was a linebacker for the Denver Broncos from 1974-83, playing on that “Orange Crush” defense that reached Super Bowl XII. He led Denver in tackles in nine straight seasons and is a member of the Broncos Ring of Fame.
- McMichael, in spite of being remembered by many as the co-host of “WCW Monday Nitro” in the 1990s, is more famous for being the terror out of Texas – he was picked by the New England Patriots, but spent only a year there before spending 12 with the Chicago Bears, where he was a huge part of the Monsters of the Midway defense, winning, of course, the Super Bowl (XX) in the 1985 season, arguably the most dominant single-season defense ever; he led the Bears in sacks in two seasons and finished his career with the most tackles and most sacks in Bears history at the time.
- Freeney is noted for his time with the Indianapolis Colts, where he played 11 seasons. He won Super Bowl XLI there and also played in Super Bowls XLIV and LI. He played in 217 regular season games in 16 seasons.
- Hester, mainly in a Chicago Bears uniform, surpassed “Prime Time” Deion Sanders as the most prolific kick/punt returner in the history of the league. And he had a 92-yard kick return in Super Bowl XLI, the only kick return in Super Bowl history.
- Johnson spent the 2003-14 seasons with the Houston Texans, was one of just three players – Jerry Rice and Calvin Johnson being the other two – to lead the league in receiving yards in back-to-back seasons, and was the first player in franchise history to be elected to the Texans’ Ring of Honor.
- Willis was a first-round draft pick out of Ole Miss and won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2007, so he was a firework from the get-go. He had 10 tackles in the Super Bowl loss to the Ravens in XLVII, and was named to the All-Decade team of the 2010s.
- Peppers spent two stints with the Carolina Panthers after being a North Carolina star in college; he finished his career fourth all-time in sacks (159 1/2) and was a member of the All-Decade Team in BOTH the 2000s AND the 2010s.
