Pro Football Hall of Fame overhauls selection process ahead of Class of 2027 election

The 28-person selection committee will follow a similar process as in the past, reducing the initial list of nominees in the player category to 50 players, then 25 semifinalists and 13 finalists. There will also be one coaching candidate and one contributor picked as a finalist who will be added to that group and considered with the players.

Players are eligible for the Hall after five years of retirement, but there no longer will be a split between modern era candidates and senior candidates, who previously moved to a separate seniors category after they had been retired for 25 years. That will reduce the number of player finalists from 18 -- including three seniors -- to 13 among all players no matter when they retired. 

Under the new rules, modern era players Willie Anderson, Marshal Yanda and Terrell Suggs will no longer automatically advance to the finalist stage after reaching the final seven in the Class of 2026.

A person not on the committee will present the 15 finalists, instead of one voter assigned to each finalist, at the in-person meeting. The Hall had shifted to virtual meetings because of COVID but will go back to meeting in person with it being held closer to when the results are announced at NFL Honors during Super Bowl week to cut down on potential leaks.

The finalists will be reduced to 10 and then seven candidates with all 15 in the same category instead of one group for modern-era players and another with coaches, contributors and senior players. 

Voters will be able to vote for six people with 80% needed. The Hall said that would lead to a range of three to seven Hall of Famers each year with by far the most likely number to get the necessary support being either five or six people. There were nine people selected the past two years after the last round of rule changes, down from an average of eight the previous four years. The four-person class in 2025 was the smallest in 20 years. 

Under the system in place the past two years, voters could vote for five of the seven modern-era candidates, and three of the five from the coach, contributor and seniors. Previously, the committee had a final up-or-down vote on the final modern-era candidates, as well as seniors, coaches or contributors who were finalists. That led to most of those getting into the Hall but that has now gotten more difficult. 

The Hall also is changing the definition of the contributor category to allow consideration of a player and coaching career, along with contributions from off the field. That could help boost the candidacy of people like Bucko Kilroy, who played for 13 years before spending decades as a scout and executive, and Doug Williams, who was the first Black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl before working in the front office for Washington and Tampa Bay.