When will Falcons great Warrick Dunn get the call from Canton?

There’s only one thing missing on Warrick Dunn’s long and spectacular football resume.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its initial list of candidates for the Class of 2026, and Dunn was among the 128 players. He advanced, through the work of the screening committee, to the cutdown to 50 players nominee for the first time.

Dunn started his career in Tampa as part of the Thunder & Lightning duo with fullback Mike Alstott. They helped to revive the Bucs. He was later traded to the Falcons.

The Bucs selected Dunn with the 12th overall pick in the 1997 draft, and he went on to capture The Associated Press honors for offensive rookie of the year. Dunn played six seasons in Tampa (1997-2001, ’08), with six years in between with the Falcons.

He is the only player in NFL history to amass 7,500 yards from scrimmage with two different franchises. For the Buccaneers, he had 4,986 rushing yards and 2,704 receiving yards. He also scored 28 total touchdowns and went to two Pro Bowls.

With the Falcons, Dunn rushed for 5,981 yards and 30 rushing touchdowns. He also had 1,635 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

Dunn was also a fearless pass protector, who used to cut block linebackers who were much taller and heavier on a weekly basis.

Dunn knew if he was going to be more than a third-down back, he had to block. Dunn used to work out three times a day.

“I understood all of the fundamentals,” Dunn said.

Dunn, a Falcons limited partner and founder of Warrick Dunn Charities, received the Atlanta Sports Council’s lifetime-achievement award during the 2021 Atlanta Sports Awards.

“Known for his excellent professional football career in Atlanta, Warrick’s dedication to his philanthropic initiatives have had a profound impact on the city’s community and continued his legacy as a leader in Atlanta and beyond,” Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council, said in a news release. “His dedication and involvement in the community as well as his charitable giving efforts make Dunn the embodiment of the Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Dunn amassed more than 1,600 yards from scrimmage (1,416 rushing, 220 receiving) to help the Falcons reach the NFC Championship game after the 2005 season.

In 2008, Dunn returned to the Bucs for his final season.

Upon his retirement in 2009, he became a limited partner in the Falcons’ ownership group. In 2013, Dunn graduated with his Executive MBA from Emory University, and he also became the 10th member of the Falcons’ Ring of Honor.

His work with his charitable foundation began as a tribute to his mother, Betty Smothers, a Baton Rouge police officer who was a single mother of six. She wanted to own her own home. While working a second job as a security guard, Smothers was killed in the line of duty and never realized that dream.

“Losing my mom and having to be a father figure early in college, it was a journey,” Dunn said during his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024. “I took my frustrations out on the field.”

Since 1997, Warrick Dunn Charities has worked with affordable housing providers in 24 markets across the country to provide assistance for more than 200 single-parent families who are actively working to support themselves and purchase their first home. The organization surprises single-parent families by completely furnishing each home and providing down-payment assistance totaling more than $1 million, to date.

Also, Warrick Dunn Charities offers a financial-literacy program called Count on Your Future and SCULPT, a health and wellness program, and more than 500 families have participated in the programs since 2015.

In February 2020, Dunn launched his second nonprofit, WD Communities, which will help families with the purchase of affordable or transitional housing.

“If winning this award helps bring attention to the plight many families suffer because of the lack of affordable housing, then I am honored to accept it,” Dunn said in a news release. “The Lifetime Achievement Award, bestowed by the Atlanta Sports Council is helping shine a light on the issues that (affect) many of those who live in and around Atlanta, and that is important work, so I’d like to recognize their help as well.”

Dunn was the first player in Florida State history to rush for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.

Dunn, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, helped the Seminoles to a 43-5-1 record and a national title from 1993-96. He was recruited as a defensive back, but he pleaded with head coach Bobby Bowden to let him play running back. The coach agreed under the condition that if it didn’t work out, he’d move to defensive back.