NFL: Former Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders punter Ray Guy and former long-time Atlanta Falcon Claude Humphrey have been selected as this year's senior nominees for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They are automatically finalists for the class of 2014 and must each appear on 80% of the voters' ballots to be inducted.
Humphrey was selected third overall in the 1968 AFL/NFL Common Draft by the Atlanta Falcons and was a six time Pro Bowler (1970-1974, 1977) and two time 1st Team All-Pro selection (1972-1973). He played ten seasons for the Falcons from 1968-1978 (he didn't play in 1975) and three more with the Eagles from 1979-1981. Humphrey was a hall of fame finalist three times in 2003, 2005 and 2006. If elected, he would be the second long-time Falcon to be inducted (Deion Sanders was the first in 2011) and would also be the first member of the 1980 Philadelphia Eagles team that went to Super Bowl XV to be inducted.
I profiled Ray Guy in this article thinking this was his last year as a modern candidate. One factoid I didn't mention about him in the profile was that Guy was selected 23rd overall in the 1973 Draft. Which means he was taken in the first round. 419 players were taken after him. That's how highly Al Davis thought of him. And this was before Al Davis completely lost his mind. If Guy is elected, he would be 14th long-time Raider to be inducted and the first since John Madden went in in 2006. He would also be the 9th, 5th and 6th Raider from the Super Bowl XI, XV and XVIII winning teams to be inducted, respectively.
Being on the senior ticket doesn't guarantee their inductions (just ask Dick Stanfel from a couple of years ago), but their chances are greatly helped. In the last ten classes, 17 people have been inducted through the senior committee. 2008, 2009 and 2012 were the only classes in the last decade that didn't induct both nominees. So they've got a good chance, but it won't be official until the day before Super Bowl XLVIII (February 1st, 2014).
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