Results are in for Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the news isn’t good for Carolinas
Saturday was a fine day for the new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but it was a disappointment to the families of the four men with strong Carolina connections who failed to make the hall.
Sam Mills, Torry Holt, Jared Allen and Richard Seymour all had made the list of 15 modern-day finalists, which was culled from an original list of 130 possibilities. But none of those four made the final “modern-era player” cut from 15 to five.
Instead, quarterback Peyton Manning, defensive back Charles Woodson, guard Alan Faneca, wide receiver Calvin Johnson and safety John Lynch will comprise the new group of Hall of Famers from the modern era. They will be joined by coach Tom Flores, wide receiver Drew Pearson and contributor Bill Nunn for a total class of eight new members to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
Exact voting results aren’t released, so there’s no way to know how close linebacker Mills, wide receiver Holt and defensive linemen Allen and Seymour came in the voting among the Hall’s 48 electors. Each player will have another shot to make the Class of 2022.
Next year will be Mills’ 20th attempt and his last as a modern-day player. If he doesn’t make it then, he will be moved into the group of older veteran players in 2023, where only one player is nominated per year in the “Senior” category but that player is practically assured a berth in the Hall of Fame (that’s how Pearson, who caught the original “Hail Mary” pass from Roger Staubach in 1975, earned his spot this year).
Mills, who died of cancer in 2005, starred at linebacker for both Carolina and New Orleans and also created the Panthers’ motto, “Keep Pounding,” during an inspirational speech in early 2004 before a playoff game against Dallas.
Holt was a star wide receiver at N.C. State who became a standout for the St. Louis Rams during their “Greatest Show on Turf” days, playing alongside Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner and winning a Super Bowl as a rookie. Holt still holds a number of N.C. State receiving records and once scored five touchdowns in a single game against Florida State in 1998. With the Rams, Holt had eight consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 2000-07.
Seymour, who is from Gadsden, S.C., and played high school football in South Carolina, starred at defensive end for three Super Bowl-winning New England Patriot teams and was a seven-time Pro Bowler.
Allen played the majority of his career in Minnesota and Kansas City. But he started for the Panthers in his 12th and final season in 2015, when Carolina made it to the Super Bowl but lost. He had 136 sacks in his career, with just the final two coming with the Panthers.
The only former Panther currently in the Hall of Fame who played more than one season with the team is the late Kevin Greene, who played three of his 15 NFL seasons in Charlotte and died in December at age 58.
Besides Mills, Holt, Seymour and Allen, there were six other modern-day finalists who found out Saturday they didn’t make the cut this year: Zach Thomas, Ronde Barber, Clay Matthews, Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler and Reggie Wayne.
It is conceivable that the Panthers could get two players into the Hall of Fame in 2022. There might be a groundswell of support for Mills due to it being his final chance as a modern-day nominee, and 2022 will also be the first year that former Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith is eligible for the Hall. Julius Peppers becomes eligible in 2023. Both Smith and Peppers are considered to be first-ballot Hall possibilities.
Mills has now been eligible for 19 years, but this was only his second time in the final 15. It was Holt’s seventh year of Hall of Fame eligibility and Allen’s first.
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 10:33 PM.
