The Pro Football Hall of Fame will announce the 2017 induction class on Saturday evening at the annual NFL Honors program. The event is taped from 5-7 p.m. PT, and will air from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. They will announce all the annual awards, but at some point they will introduce the new class. Information will likely leak out before then, but the formal announcement will air during the awards program.
The voters' meeting takes place during the day on Saturday. Last year, Eddie DeBartolo was inducted in the relatively new contributor category. Jerry Jones and Paul Tagliabue are the two contributor options this year. After that, they will consider the 15 regular finalists, cut down to ten, and then cut down to the five players/coaches that will be inducted this coming August.
Terrell Owens is the notable ex-San Francisco 49ers player on the ballot. I suppose we can needle Rams fans and claim Isaac Bruce, but TO is the guy to watch. He did not make it, and was pretty pissed off. We don’t get to see the final vote totals, so we won’t know how best to compare it to this year.
The other notable name is John Lynch. The safety is now the 49ers general manager, which makes him just a little more interesting once again. This is the fourth time he has been a finalist in his five years of eligibility. His profile is a little higher this year following the 49ers decision to hire him. Will that impact any voters?
Speaking of voters, Matt Maiocco is a voter this year for the first time. Congrats to Matt on a pretty cool honor!