So Sad: Steelers great Hines Ward and James Harrison not Among Hall of Fame finalists
The NFL announced it’s list of finalists for the 2024 pro football hall of Fame class. WR Hines Ward and OLB James Harrison were both named to the semifinals list in late November. But neither will be moving into the final list ballot, unable to crack the top 15.
The top 15 were announced tonight in NFL network, with the PPG’s Gerry Dulac confirming that neither Ward nor Harrison were part of the list.
They were three Wides Receivers who made the final list: Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne, and Andrew Johnson. Devin Hester also made it as a receiver/returner. It’s the same final four last year, with Ward at the back of the group and it’ll be extremely tough for him for him to crack through this list
Ward was selected in the third round of the 1998 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played his entire 14th – season career in Pittsburgh and is currently a member of the Steelers Hall of honor. His Career stat line and accolades have been enough for him to receive 8 straight semi finalist bids, but he has never moved pass that stage. In his career, he had 1000 receptions for 12083 yards and 85 touchdowns.
He won MVP of Super Bowl XL, in which theSteelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks to bring home a fifth Lombardi Trophy. He was also a part of the Super Bowl XLIII-winning Steelers team. He retired in 2012 following theSteelers’ stunning loss to the Denver Broncos in an AFC Wild-Card Playoff game. He was apart of one of the game-changing plays in Super Bowl XL. It was a trick play with WR Antwaan Randle El passing to Ward for a 43-yardtouchdown.
He was named to the Master Bowl multiple times from2001-2004 and made the second-group All-Prolist multiple times from 2002-2004. His bestsingle season came in 2002 when he caught112 passes for 1,329 yards and 12 scores. That was the second-most gatherings that yearbehind Randy Greenery and the fourth-most yardsbehind Marvin Harrison, Greenery, and Amani Toomer.
As of late, Jerome Bettis examined how Ward’spath to the Lobby of Acclaim is made harderbecause he played in two distinct periods offootball. At the point when he began his profession, it was stilla running association, the Steelers a run-heavyteam. Ward is additionally notable for his punishingblocks he would toss in the running match-up, somuch with the goal that the NFL changed rules oncrackback blocks.
Harrison entered the association as an undraftedfree specialist out of Kent State College. Hebounced on and off the training crew of theSteelers and the Baltimore Ravens before hefinally caught in Pittsburgh as an extraordinary teamer in 2004.
It wasn’t in until 2007 that he turned into a full time starter bu6he quickly had huge effect making the master bowl and the subsequent group all expert rundown that season. The accompanying season he was named the NFL Cautious Player
that year. For his profession he had 811 all out handles 583 performance handles, 84.5 sacks, 34 constrained bumbles and 8 block attempts.
Similar to Ward, he was a part of one of the best plays in Super Bowl history. In Super Bowl XLIII, he intercepted QB Kurt Warner and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. He is also a member of the Steelers Hall of Honor.
Notwithstanding the Cautious Player of the Yearaward in 2008, his vocation awards incorporate fivestraight Expert Bowl appearances from 2007-11,two first-group Every single Ace determination, and twosecond-group Every Genius honor. He likewise got afew MVP votes in 2008, which is an uncommon accomplishment fora cautious player. This was his second straighttime being named a semifinalist.
We will update this post with the full rundown of finalists as the night progressed
Most recent Updates: Per the rundown here are the last 15. The 2024 class will be declared during the NFL function in February.
CB Eric Allen
DE Jared Allen
OT Willie Anderson
OG Jahri Evans
DE Dwight Freeney
DE Julius Peppers
TE Antonio Gates
S Rodney Harrison
WR/KR Devin Hester
WR Torry Holt
WR Reggie Wayne
WR Andre Johnson
RB Fred Taylor
LB Patrick Willis
S Darren Woodson
