List of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
The Pro Football Hall of Fame includes players, coaches, and contributors who have "made outstanding contributions to professional football". The charter class of seventeen was selected in 1963. As of 2019, 326 individuals have been elected.
Enshrinees are selected by a 48-person selection committee which meets each year at the time and location of the Super Bowl. Current rules of the committee stipulate that between four and eight individuals are selected each year. Any person may nominate an individual to the hall, provided the nominee has not played or coached for at least five seasons prior to the nomination. Not including the charter class, 76 players have been inducted in their first year of eligibility.
In addition to the regular selection committee, which primarily focuses on contributions made over the past approximately thirty seasons, a nine-member seniors committee submits two nominees each year whose contributions came prior to 1985. These nominees are referred as "seniors nominees".
In 2020, a special Blue-Ribbon Panel selected an additional 15 new members, known as the "Centennial Slate", to be inducted into the Hall of Fame to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Football League.
Inductees
As of 2020, one NFL team is not represented by an enshrinee — the Jacksonville Jaguars. The teams which most recently gained representation are the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans. Ray Guy was the first full-time punter inducted.The hall is not officially affiliated with the National Football League, although as of 2018 all but one enshrinee participated in the NFL for at least a portion of his career; the single exception being Billy Shaw.Along with Shaw, there are 37 other inductees into the hall who spent all or part of their careers in the American Football League that merged with the NFL. Shaw was the only player not to make the formal transition to the NFL, as he had retired the year before the merger. Three players, Red Grange, Ray Flaherty, Mike Michalske, played a portion of their career in the first American Football League from 1926. The second American Football League from 1936 only has one Hall of Fame member who has played in this league, Ken Strong; Strong is also one of two Hall of Famers to play in the American Association. Fifteen inductees spent some of their playing career in the All-America Football Conference during the late 1940s. Five players played some at least one year in the Ohio League, the predecessor to the NFL. Six players or coaches who spent part of their careers in the short-lived United States Football League have been inducted. Two coaches, one administrator, and five players who spent part of their careers in the Canadian Football League have been inducted; two of which have been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame: Warren Moon and Bud Grant. Four players, Larry Csonka, Leroy Kelly, Don Maynard, and Paul Warfield, played a portion of their career in the short-lived World Football League. Fritz Pollard is the only player to play in the Anthracite League's only season. One player and one owner made significant contributions in the Arena Football League; Warner is also the only NFL Europe alumnus in the Hall. Terrell Owens played his last season of professional football in the Indoor Football League. Bill Walsh and Ken Stabler each had one season of experience in the Continental Football League.
Each entry includes the year of induction, position played, team each was associated with, and tenures with each team. As some inductees were both players and coaches, the position indicated here is the position indicated on the Hall of Fame website. The Pro Football Hall of Fame website does not include CFL, USFL, WFL, indoor football leagues, and other lesser known league teams. The Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League both have their own halls of fame. NFL, American Football League, AAFC, and Ohio League teams are recognized in the Hall of Fame. The list is complete through the first half of the 2021 Hall of Fame class.
Sorting tips:
- Sorting by position also groups all similar positions together
- *Running backs, halfbacks, fullbacks are grouped together
- *Linebackers, middle linebackers, outside linebackers are grouped together
- *Ends and flankers are grouped with wide receivers
- *General managers and team administrators are grouped together
- Sorting by teams groups all names of a franchise together, i.e., all Cardinal teams listed under Arizona Cardinals
- When sorting, a person has a row for every team he has been with
| Elected in 1st year of eligibility** | Elected 1st year as a finalist ^ but not first year of eligibility | Seventeen charter members § | Fifteen Centennial Slate members † |
Notes:
Teams With No Inductees
The following are NFL teams with no Hall of Fame Inductees :- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets
- Rochester Jeffersons
- Buffalo All-Americans/Bisons/Rangers
- St. Louis All-Stars
- Tonawanda Kardex
- Racine Legion / Tornadoes
- Evansville Crimson Giants
- Kenosha Maroons
- Los Angeles Buccaneers
- Louisville Breckenridges / Colonels
- Muncie Flyers
- New York Giants
- Orange/Newark Tornadoes
- Chicago Tigers
- Cincinnati Celts
- Cincinnati Reds
- Brooklyn Lions / Lions-Horsemen
- Detroit Heralds
- Detroit Tigers
- Phoenix Cardinals, currently known as the Arizona Cardinals
- Boston Bulldogs, formerly known as Pottsville Maroons.
- Brooklyn Tigers, formerly known as Brooklyn Dodgers
- Cleveland Tigers, later known as Cleveland Indians
- Columbus Tigers, formerly known as Columbus Panhandles
- Duluth Kelleys, later known as Duluth Eskimos
- Kansas City Blues, later known as Kansas City Cowboys
Inductees Who Have Played for Non-NFL Teams
Through 2020, Billy Shaw is the only player in the Hall of Fame who has never played in the NFL; he played the entirety of his career with the Buffalo Bills in the AFL. While the hall recognizes NFL teams which had previously been in the AFL, AAFC, or been independent/Ohio League, other professional football league's franchises are not considered primary teams to the individuals who have contributed to them. Here is a list of individuals who have played for alternate professional leagues at some point in their career. As of 2020, four players have contributed to AFL I, one to AFL II, one to AFL III, two to the American Association, three to the Arena Football League, one to the Indoor Football League, eleven to the Canadian Football League, four to the World Football League, seven to the United States Football League, two to the Continental Football League, one for NFL Europe, one for the 1960s United Football League, and ten played for independent teams"*" indicates that a team had at one point in their existence participated in the NFL.
The following are current and defunct professional football leagues which as of 2020 have had no Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductees play for:
- XFL, nor its short lived predecessor
- Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional
- United Football League
- Alliance of American Football
- Legends Football League
- American Arena League
- American West Football Conference
- Champions Indoor Football
- National Arena League