Who Votes On The Pro Football Hall Of Fame?

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Professional football returns in the first weekend of August with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. One night before the Hall of Fame game, a new class will be inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame. This year's class includes Ed DeBartolo Jr, Tony Dungy, Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, Ken Stabler and Dick Stanfel. The process for selecting a Hall of Fame class begins many months before each year's official ceremony in August.

In the fall of each football season, an initial list of more than one hundred players are nomineed for consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Players and coaches need to have been retired for five years to be eligible while owners and contributors can be nomineed at any time. In November, the NFL announces a semi-finalist list for the Hall of Fame which dwindles the list of players down to twenty five. By January of that same season, the NFL brings that list to down to fifteen finalists.In a meeting held on the day before the Super Day, the forty six member sized selection committee meets to determine that year's class. The committee consists of one media representative from each pro football city with two from New York City. The New York media members include Vic Carucci (Buffalo), Bob Glauber (Giants), Gary Myers (Jets) . A 33rd member is a representative of the Pro Football Writers of America and there are thirteen at-large delegates. During the yearly Saturday session, which can last up to eight hours, each candidate’s case is presented by one of the selection committee members. Often, the presenter is the writer from the NFL city where the player spent most of his career.The committee will select any where between four to seven inductees, and each candidate must receive at least 80 percent approval from the selection committee. This year's induction ceremony will air on both ESPN and NFL Network.