MIAMI — Last year’s NFL Honors event in Atlanta was highlighted from a Broncos perspective by the election of owner and cornerback Champ Bailey for enshrinement to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
There was little drama: Bowlen was nominated as a contributor, which means he was a near-lock, and Bailey was viewed as a first-ballot player.
The intrigue for the Broncos will be heightened Saturday when the 48-member selection committee will gather in Miami Beach to elect a class of modern-era players. Safeties and John Lynch are two of 15 finalists.
During the meeting, the list will be pared to 10 players and then to five. At that point, a candidate must receive at least 80% of the vote to win induction. A maximum of five players can make up the Class of 2020.
Atwater is a finalist for the third time and Lynch the seventh time.
Lynch has had the luxury of focusing on his job as the San Francisco 49ers’ general manager this week. The 49ers face Kansas City in Sunday’s .
“In past (years), thatap the only thing I’ve been thinking about,” Lynch said after a Senior Bowl practice last week in Mobile, Ala. “I think my mind will, for the most part, be elsewhere and will be on my current team.
“This is my seventh time being there as a finalist and you really just enjoy it and humbled that you’re being mentioned with guys like Steve Atwater, Tony Boselli and all these great players (like) Isaac Bruce and LeRoy Butler.”
Boselli, the former offensive tackle who grew up in Boulder, is a finalist for the fourth time.
A straw poll of Hall voters this week revealed Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu as the most likely to be elected. Boselli has many supporters, but so do guards Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchinson.
Last year, Bailey, cornerback Ty Law and safety Ed Reed were all selected. Could there be room for two safeties? Atwater, Lynch, Polamalu and Butler are safeties.
Safeties haven’t gotten much recognition in the Hall. Of the 30 modern-era defensive backs enshrined, only 10 are listed as strictly safeties.
“I don’t know why that is,” Atwater said. “You do see a ton of receivers (27) and a ton of quarterbacks (26) in there and some of the corners played some safety as well. Itap certainly a position over the years that has been taken for granted. We play a part in winning games and setting the tone in games.”
