First, I would like to thank both Andy and Tony for this opportunity to contribute to the blog, plus all their efforts over the years in creating and maintaining this site. I think it has provided a great forum for discussions related to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and attracted a dedicated (if small) group of active participants.

As a regular, I certainly have appreciated the respectful – even though at times passionate – discussions and disagreements on the wide range of topics and related opinions that have been presented. My aim with these posts is only to keep the discussion fresh and moving forward by providing timely new stories that will follow the key news and events of the selection timeline and process from August to February. Then perhaps in the “offseason” introduce a variety of NFL related posts on topics also of interest to this forum.

Second, as a little background on me, I have been a fan of the NFL since 1977; the first game I watched on TV with my Dad was Super Bowl XII. Yes, you could say I was then hooked, both on professional football and the Dallas Cowboys. I have closely followed news and events on the league and team ever since, starting with newspapers, TV, magazine coverage, and later via ESPN and cable sports, the internet and now social media. Although I am probably now a little less obsessed than I was when younger – family and work are more of a focus these days – I still keep up on events and games, especially major news, watch occasional games (have attended about 20 games in-person lifetime) and fan of NFL Red Zone and social media coverage.

As to the PFHOF, I was certainly aware of the Canton “museum” as a young fan, and the election of new members, but really began to appreciate its role in housing the history of the game and honoring best players, coaches and contributors with my first visit in 1994 for the enshrinement of Tony Dorsett and Randy White. Starting in the early 2000 – also along with repeated visits over the years to the Hall and several other enshrinements over the last two decades – I started to follow the actual election and voting process, timelines and announcements closely.

At a time when coverage via the internet was just emerging, it was very hard to learn much in the way of public comments or insight on the process, so it was with stories by SI writer Paul Zimmerman (Dr. Z) and later, Peter King, that provided the first looks for me inside to the issues, debates and often controversies of the voting and final selections for election.

So, where does that leave us? Let’s start my guest columns here, as the process for selection of the Class of 2020 is underway. And what a process it is going to be with the modification of the election procedure revised for one year only in observation of the 100th anniversary of the NFL, which is to be recognized starting this season and highlighted with a week long series of special events and activities in Canton in September 2020 (in addition to the usual annual PFHOF enshrinement events early August next year).

I think we all know the new “rules” but here they are: election of the modern candidates follows same process as before with 25 semifinalists announced in late November. That group is decreased to 15 finalists in January. And then at the selection meeting the day before the Super Bowl, voters reduce the list from 15 to 10, and then from 10 to a final 5, each of whom is voted on independently. They need 80% of voters to say “yes” to be elected.

The huge change, and one many of us called for and hoped would occur, is a special selection in recognition of the 100th anniversary and role of the Hall: election of a special class of 15 to consist of 10 seniors, three contributors and two coaches. Our debates centered around the selection of senior candidates, and calls for an expanded election have been a major thread on here in recent years. These 15 will be nominated by a special blue-ribbon panel (membership yet to be announced) who will release a semi-final list of 30 in November, with 15 finalists in early January. These 15, as one group, will be voted on by the full Hall Selection Committee at the meeting day before Super Bowl (requiring 80% approval for their collective election to the Class of 2020).

So, in the coming months I will make an effort to create new posts as key news and announcements on both groups that will make up the Class of 2020. Seems appropriate at this point, even though some of this discussion has already occurred with posts on other discussion boards here, to start from the preliminary list of 122 nominees for the modern candidate election as released earlier this month by the Hall, and which can be found here:

How do we all feel about our predictions for the 25 semi-finalists to be selected by the voters from this pool of nominees for the modern candidates of the Class of 2020? Any thoughts to most deserving? Possible wildcards? Biggest potential surprises? Guaranteed locks?

Let the discussion and debates begin!