Pat Bowlen (Denver Post file)
A nine-member Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee will discuss on Wednesday candidates for the newly extricated contributor category. The committee will select two contributor candidates who will be brought forward to a final vote by the full, 46-member Hall of Fame committee on Super Bowl Eve, Jan. 31, in Arizona.
Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is expected to receive serious consideration by the contributor committee but he will also have formidable competition. Contributors who have reached the 15 modern-era finalists group in recent years, but have not been elected, are former commissioner Paul Tagliabue and former owners Edward DeBartolo Jr. and Art Modell. Longtime Dallas Cowboys scout Gil Brandt also figures to receive consideration.
But DeBartolo left the game in disgrace and the people of Cleveland may torch Canton’s hallowed halls if Modell is elected. Bowlen not only has Hall of Fame credentials for his work with the Broncos — six Super Bowl appearances, the only owner in history to reach 300 wins within his first 30 years of ownership — he was instrumental in growing the league through his leadership in broadcast and labor committees, the new stadium boom and promoting the game internationally.
Bowlen, 70, reliquished control of the Broncos this year so he can focus on his health. He announced on July 23 that he has Alzheimer’s disease.
Contributors were separated from the players and coaches on the modern-era Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year. The reason was too often contributors were bypassed for deserving players. Only nine contributors had been elected since 1968 and only two of them are alive — NFL Films creator Ed Sabol, 98, and Steelers’ owner Dan Rooney, 82.
There will be two contributors picked for election this year, one in 2015 and two in 2016.
