3 Former NC State Players Among Modern-Era Nominees for 2019 Hall of Fame Class

The 102 Modern-Era Nominees for the 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class were released today, and 3 former NC State football players made the cut:

Wide Receiver Torry Holt (1 of 9 Wide Receivers Nominated)
Head Coach Bill Cowher (1 of 11 Coaches Nominated)
Safety Adrian Wilson (1 of 12 Safeties Nominated)

We will breakdown why all three of these former NC State players deserve to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, but for now, here’s a breakdown of the process.

A 48-member selection committee is in charge selecting the nominees, and ultimately trimming down the list to each years annual Hall of Fame Class. The class is made up of a media member from each city that is home to an NFL team (New York gets 2 with 2 football teams), 16 at-large active media members (1 from the Pro Football Writers of America), and 2 members of the Hall of Fame. Here’s a look at the current makeup of the selection committee.

The Modern-Era nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November and, from there, to 15 finalists in January. Holt has been nominated 4 years in a row (was nominated the first year he was eligible), and has been a semi-finalist each time. Cowher has now been nominated 5 times. This is Wilson’s first year being nominated.

Eighteen finalists will be presented to the full 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee during its annual meeting on “Selection Saturday,” the day before Super Bowl LIII. The finalists will consist of 15 Modern-Era finalists, the recently named Senior Finalist, Johnny Robinson, and the Contributor Finalists, Pat Bowlen and Gil Brandt.

The Selection Committee will meet on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Ga. to elect the Class of 2019. While there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the selection process by-laws provide that between four and eight new members will be selected.

The Senior Finalist and Contributor Finalists are voted “yes” or “no” for election at the annual selection meeting and must receive at least 80 percent support from the Committee to be elected. The Modern-Era Finalists will be trimmed during the meeting from 15 to 10 and then from 10 to 5. The remaining five finalists will be voted on individually, “yes” or “no” and must receive the same 80 percent positive vote as the Senior and Contributors Finalists to earn election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Class of 2019 will be announced during the “NFL Honors” nationally broadcast award show that evening.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 will be formally enshrined on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019 in Canton. The enshrinement is one of three marquee events, along with the Hall of Fame Game and the Concert for Legends, that are held in the spectacular Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium during Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls. (Link)