Who are the eight new 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees?
Not a lot of players will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, but their names and contributions to the game deserve a look.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony will take place on Saturday, with these players set to be the ones honored for their careers this year:
Tony Boselli, OT
Picked by the Jackonsville Jaguars at No.2 in the 1995 Draft, he played with the Florida team until he was chosen by the Houston Oilers in the 2002 expansion draft, but he never got to play with the Texans. Boselli earned three First Team All-Pro nods along with five Pro-Bowl appearances in his 91 career games. He will become the first Jaguar to enter the Hall of Fame.
Cliff Branch, WR
Branch played his entire career with the Oakland Raiders, from 1972 to 1986. He was a critical part of their golden era as they won three Super Bowls (XI, XV, XVIII) with Branch getting to be an All-Pro first teamer three times in the seventies, reaching a total of 67 TD receptions and 8,685 receiving yards.
LeRoy Butler, SS
Another one-team man, Butler won Super Bowl XXXI with the Green Bay Packers in his seventh year with the team, which drafted him in the second round in 1990 and saw him retire in green in 2001. His 38 interceptions and 13 forced fumbles as a safety got him to four First Team All-Pro selections.
Art McNally, official
McNally had as great an impact as any of the other inductees, but he did so during his tenure as the Supervisor of Officials from 1968 to 1987, after he retired from being an on-field official himself. A World War II veteran, McNally will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame at age 97.
Sam Mills, LB
Mills bounced around a lot during his 12-year career, but he made an impact in every team he played for. He played in 181 games and made five Pro Bowls, and is most known for his nine years with the Saints and for being one of the first good players of then-expansion-team Carolina Panthers.
Richard Seymour, DL
An integral part of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s three first Super Bowl wins with the Patriots, that feels so far removed now. Seymour anchored those incredible defensive teams, reaching seven Pro Bowls and five total All-Pro teams, a couple of them after bolting to the Oakland Raiders in 2009.
Dick Vermeil, coach
Vermeil had a very long career, as he spent a decade in high school and college football before reaching the NFL as a special teams coach for the Rams in 1969. He kept going up the ranks until he was named head coach of the Eagles in 1976 (until 1982), the first of three head coaching jobs, going to the Rams (1997-1999) and winning Super Bowl XXXIV there, before finishing his head coaching career with the Chiefs (2001-2005).
Bryant Young, DL
Young played for the San Francisco Giants from 1994 to 2007, appearing in an impressive 208 games, recording 89.5 sacks and making four Pro Bowls. He also won Super Bowl XXIX.