Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Three Rams Hall of Fame semifinalists

The annual Pro Football Hall of Fame induction process has reached the semifinals. 25 modern-day players were named as semifinalists tonight. The list includes former Rams Aeneas Williams, Kevin Greene and Jerome Bettis, along with former St. Louis Cardinals head coach Don Coryell. Williams and Bettis finished in the final 10 last year, just short of induction. Greene made the top 15.

The three Rams will probably have tough sledding getting into the Hall in 2014, with first-time nominees Walter Jones, Derrick Brooks, Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy likely to take three or four of the five slots available to modern-day players. They're likely competing with Charles Haley and Michael Strahan for one or two slots.

The list was cut down to 25 players from an original list of 126. Former Rams on that list included Trent Green (first-time nominee), Stephen Davis, Henry Ellard, Sean Landeta, Chuck Knox and Dick Vermeil. Ellard used to make the final 25 but now seems to have fallen off the HoF radar, which is pretty criminal when they're still considering criminal dirtbags like Eddie DeBartolo or pencil-pushing lightweight Paul Tagliabue, who actively sought to keep the NFL out of St. Louis.

Kurt Warner, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce AND Torry Holt will be first-time eligibles for the 2015 class.

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