With a rare tendency towards defence, the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame class features two of the best full-backs in league history, one of the all-time sacked leaders and a defender. wing has let some of the game’s best midfielders down on his way to promotion 100 seasons.
Wingers Ronde Barber and Darrelle Revis, outside full-back DeMarcus Ware and full-back Zach Thomas were all selected to honor, as was saver Joe Thomas, who was selected 10 times in the Pro Bowl with Cleveland Browns.
It marked the first time since the AFL-NFL fusion in 1970 that four of the top five positions in a modern-day class have been defensive players. In 2021, three of the modern-day honorees, defensive players (LeRoy Butler, Richard Seymour and Bryant Young) and fourth defensive player in the class — Sam Mills — have made it through. to the final round of the high-level committee.
Also chosen to honor this year were coach Don Coryell, defensive/finisher Joe Klecko, full-back Chuck Howley and full-back Ken Riley. Klecko, Howley and Riley were the finalists of the high committee and Coryell was a finalist of the coach/contributor committee.
The nine-member class will officially be held in early August in Canton, Ohio.
The hall, which includes more than 64% of the protected a little bit on offense before this class, is a tough road for defensive players at times, especially for those who don’t play for the players. Super Bowl wins or championship teams in the pre-Super Bowl era.
Joe Thomas is The most decorated player among this year’s finalists despite playing for the Browns ended up winning just once in his 11 seasons – his five rookies – and never played in a post-season game. His 10 Pro Bowl picks are the eighth most for an offensive lead.
“It’s really special to me because the franchise has been through some really tough times,” Thomas said. “But those fans are so loyal and passionate, they still show up and they are still Browns fans. It’s great for all of the Browns Nation.”
Joe Thomas and Revis are in their first year of qualifying, each last playing in 2017. Revis, who coined the phrase “Revis Island” for his willingness to go head to head with the league’s best collectors in Over the course of his career, seven times became a Bowling Expert and a four-time First Team All-Pro.
Revis played his eight seasons in two periods with New York Jets and be part of New England Patriots‘ Super Bowl XLIX Champion Team.
His best time came during his first time in New York, where he was the All-Pro of the first team from 2009 to 2011 and came second in the Defensive Player of the Year poll in 2009 when he repeatedly turned off top receivers by sending them to “Revis Island.”
“I was probably the most nervous of anyone on the pitch,” said Revis. “You look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself, ‘It’s either me or him.’ I had to stand up to the challenge. I took that responsibility to take on that mission and shut them down.”
Gathered for the first time, it’s the 2023 Class of the Professional Football Hall of Fame! pic.twitter.com/Fs6inPrOpo
– Professional Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) February 10, 2023
Barber was one of the league’s most productive and enduring players of his career. He hasn’t missed a game in his past 15 years and has been selected in the Pro Bowl five times with 47 interceptions and five seasons with 90 tackles.
“I don’t aim to be a Hall of Famer,” Barber said. “I am trying to form a team. I have been trying to get on this field. All you can do is take your chance and run for it. And we all took our chance and ran for it.”
Zach Thomas has been named an All-Pro of the first team five times, has 10 seasons with 100 tackles and throughout his career has been hailed by opposing midfielders, including Peyton Manning, as being one of the most difficult players to fool and leave position.
Thomas said he was “broken down” when his coach with the Dolphins, Jimmy Johnson, informed him that he had been elected to the Hall of Fame.
“I’ll remember that for the rest of my life,” he said. “And my family was there too, because my kids couldn’t watch me play unless it was an old tape. But for them there at the time, it was special.”
Jimmy Johnson informs Zach Thomas that he will be participating @ProFootballHOF pic.twitter.com/hVLCSdOQDM
– DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) February 10, 2023
Ware is ninth all-time in bag count (138.5), leading the league in that category twice and won a Super Bowl with Dancer broncos to end the 2015 season.
Howley, who has been named an All-Pro of the first team five times, remains the only player on the losing team to be named the MVP of the Super Bowl. He had two interceptions in dalas cowboy‘ lost in Super Bowl V.
Klecko was inducted into the Pro Bowl in three different positions and was credited with a league-leading 20.5 sacks in 1981, a year before sacks became an official statistic.
Riley, the dead in 2020, had one of the most productive and underrated careers in the group. He’s fifth in interceptions – only Hall of Famer Dick “Night Train” Lane has more as a player who spent his entire career at full-back – but never is now inducted into the Pro Bowl.
cartoon, who died in 2010, considered a central figure in the development of the modern passing game with a long list of improvements including his route concepts, his call numbering system is still used to this day throughout the tournament and his use of tight endings in much more impactful ways. “Air Coryell” offenses have made the league pass seven of his eight seasons with San Diego charger.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
