Which NFL team has the most Hall of Famers?

A dream for any NFL player is to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame thus becoming immortalized in Canton, Ohio.

More than 26,000 players have suited up for an NFL game, but there are only 346 members of the Hall of Fame as of the Class of 2020. Members are referred to as “Gold Jackets” because they receive one when they are inducted.

Most Hall of Famers of any NFL franchise

Which NFL team has the most jackets and the biggest number of busts sitting in the Hall in Canton, Ohio?

That distinction lies with the Chicago Bears, one of the most historic and longest-running franchises in the history of the NFL.

The team, which also went by the names Decatur Staleys and Chicago Staleys, has 30 inductees who made their primary contribution to the sport with the Bears. Other honorees contributed only a minor part of their career with the team.

The Bears’ most recent Hall of Famers were Ed Sprinkle and Jim Covert, who were inducted last year.

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The Hall of Fame selection process

How does one join the ranks of the hall of famers?

An important qualification of a hall of famer is that the player must be retired for at least five years, and this number resets if they come out of retirement.

The process is a bit democratic in that anyone can make the nomination- the person just has to write a letter to the committee. Nominees must have made first-team all pro or all-conference, or made a pro bowl at some point in their career.

The selection committee is composed of active members of the media, who are viewed as experts on the NFL.

The Chicago Bears, one of two remaining charter members of the NFL, have the longest roster of people who made it through this stringent selection process.

Here is the Bears’ list of their Hall of Famers.

• Bill George (1952-1965)

• Bill Hewitt (1932-1936)

• Brian Urlacher (2000-2012)

• Bronko Nagurski (1930-1937, 1943)

• Clyde Turner (1940-1952)

• Dan Fortmann (1936-1943)

• Dan Hampton (1979-1990)

• Dick Butkus (1965-1973)

• Doug Atkins (1955-1966)

• Ed Healey (1922-1927)

• Ed Sprinkle (1944-1955)

• Gale Sayers (1965-1971)

• George Blanda (1949, 1950-58)

• George Connor (1948-1955)

• George Halas (1920-1983)

• George McAfee (1940-1941, 1945-1950)

• George Musso (1933-1944)

• George Trafton (1920-1921, 1923-1932)

• Harold 'Red' Grange (1925, 1929-1934)

• Jimbo Covert (1983-1990)

• Jim Finks (1974-1982)

• Joe Stydahar (1936-1942, 1945-46)

• John Driscoll (1920, 1926-1929)

• Mike Ditka (1961-1966)

• Mike Singletary (1981-1992)

• Richard Dent (1983-1993, 1995)

• Sid Luckman (1939-1950)

• Stan Jones (1954-1965)

• Walter Payton (1975-1987)

• William Roy 'Link' Lyman (1926-1928, 1930-1931, 1933-1934)