The 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class has been announced and as expected former Green Bay Quarterback Brett Favre was a lock to make the class. The rest of the class so far include Tony Dungy, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, and Kevin Greene. Eddie DeBartolo, Kenny Stabler and Dick Stanfel have also been selected.
So that’s it here is your 2016 Hall of Fame Class.
As well as the other selections
Eddie Debartolo
Kenny Stabler
Dick Stanfel https://t.co/EHT9KRmR2e— SharonaSpaceDiva (@SportsbySharona) February 7, 2016
The longest discussion of the HOF meeting was Eddie DeBartolo Jr. at 50 minutes, 33 seconds. The shortest? Brett Favre at six seconds.
— Rick Gosselin (@RickGosselinDMN) February 6, 2016
You can find a link here to the full statement from the Pro Football Hall of Fame on today’s process.
The finalists included Morten Andersen, Steve Atwater, Don Coryell, Terrell Davis, Tony Dungy, Alan Faneca, Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Joe Jacoby, Edgerrin James, John Lynch, Terrell Owens, Orlando Pace and Kurt Warner. Seniors Committee finalists were Kenny Stabler and Dick Stanfel while Eddie DeBartolo was the contributor finalist. You can see the full nominations here at the Pro Football Hall of Fame website. The process took a while and almost smashed the record set back in 2014 when the election committee debated the Class of 2014.
Entire Hall of Fame meeting was 8 hours, 49 minutes. It was 10 minutes short of the record set two years ago for the Class of 2014. — Charean Williams (@NFLCharean) February 7, 2016
What made the debate take so long? A perusal of the names might give you a clue. Indeed, the debate over Terrell Owens was predictably long.
Other lengthy discussions at HOF meeting: Terrell Owens 43:12, Kevin Greene 27:28, Kurt Warner 27:14, Orlando Pace 26:45 & Tony Dungy 25:57
— Rick Gosselin (@RickGosselinDMN) February 6, 2016
As is typical, leaks soon emerged and it was clear Eddie DeBartola, the former owner of the San Francisco Forty Niners, was voted in.
Source: Former #49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. — Mindi Bach (@MBachCSN) February 7, 2016
His election was the longest debate of the night per Rick Gosselin.
The longest discussion of the HOF meeting was Eddie DeBartolo Jr. at 50 minutes, 33 seconds. The shortest? Brett Favre at six seconds.
— Rick Gosselin (@RickGosselinDMN) February 6, 2016
Terrell Owens in typical TO fashion chose to announce his own exclusion early.
Unfortunately I did not make it. CONGRATS to the 2016 HOF CLASS. Thanks to ALL MY FANS for ur unwavering love & support. #ONLYGODCANJUDGEME — Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) February 7, 2016
Other early announcements included Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison.
Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters Tony Dungy & Marvin Harrison have been selected to the Hall of Fame. https://t.co/bTvEhGH7pG
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 7, 2016
Former Redskins tackle Joe Jacoby says via text that he did not get into the Hall of Fame. “Not this year,”… https://t.co/HCNZCFJCk5 — John Keim (@john_keim) February 7, 2016
Breaking News: Ken Stabler will be announced as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2016 Class https://t.co/Hh9eueoPWu has confirmed
— A.P. Steadham (@APSteadham) February 7, 2016
Former #Rams Kevin Greene and Orlando Pace have been elected to the 2016 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) February 7, 2016
Post announcements, players and teams began releasing official statements and we have compiled them below starting with the Packers statement on Favre’s selections.
Here is the release on Favre’s selection by the Green Bay Packers. You can find the full release in print here.
The San Francisco Forty Niners released a 12 page statement detailing DeBartolo’s contributions to the sports. You can find it here.
Congratulations to all the selections and to all the finalists for their contributions to the sports we all love. Stay tuned for more coverage of the NFL Honors awards as well as our Super Bowl 50 coverage. You can follow Sharona Sports on twitter at @sportsbysharona and on Instagram at @sharonasports.
