Former Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez is on the list of 102 modern-era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019, which was released Thursday.
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He is the group of four first-year eligible players along with linebacker London Fletcher, cornerback Champ Bailey, who played at Georgia, and safety Ed Reed.
The roster of nominees consists of 47 offensive players, 39 defensive players, five special teams players and 11 coaches. The modern-era nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November and to 15 finalists in January.
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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 the Super Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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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 Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 will be formally enshrined Aug. 3 in Canton, Ohio.
Here are the modern-era nominees (Players in bold have Georgia connections; players underlines are first-time eligible players and player with asterisks (*) were finalists last season):
QUARTERBACKS
(5) — Randall Cunningham, Dave Krieg, Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair.
RUNNING BACKS
(14) — Shaun Alexander, Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Larry Centers, Corey Dillon, Eddie George, *Edgerrin James, Darryl Johnston, Eric Metcalf (WR/KR/PR), Clinton Portis, Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker (also KR), Chris Warren, Ricky Watters.
WIDE RECEIVERS
(9) — *Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard (also PR), Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Sterling Sharpe, Rod Smith, Hines Ward.
TIGHT ENDS
(4) — Mark Bavaro, Tony Gonzalez, Brent Jones, Jay Novacek.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
(15) — Willie Anderson (T), *Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ray Donaldson (C), *Alan Faneca (G), Chris Hinton (G/T), Kent Hull (C), *Steve Hutchinson (G), Mike Kenn (T), Olin Kreutz (C), *Kevin Mawae (C/G), Tom Nalen (C), Chris Samuels (T), Richmond Webb (T), Steve Wisniewski (G).
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
(7) — La'Roi Glover (DT/NT), Russell Maryland (DT), Leslie O'Neal (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Richard Seymour (DT), Neil Smith (DE), Bryant Young (DT).
LINEBACKERS
(14) — Carl Banks, Cornelius Bennett, Tedy Bruschi, London Fletcher, Seth Joyner, Wilber Marshall, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest (also DE), Karl Mecklenburg, Sam Mills, Chris Spielman, Takeo Spikes, Darryl Talley, Zach Thomas.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
(18) — Eric Allen (CB), Steve Atwater (S), Champ Bailey (CB), Ronde Barber (CB/S), Bill Bates (S), LeRoy Butler (S), Nick Collins (S), Thomas Everett (S), Rodney Harrison (S), *Ty Law (CB), Albert Lewis (CB), *John Lynch (S), Tim McDonald (S), Ed Reed (FS), Dennis Smith (S), Troy Vincent (CB), Adrian Wilson (S), Darren Woodson (S).
PUNTERS/KICKER
(3) — Jason Elam (K), Jeff Feagles (P), Sean Landeta (P)
SPECIAL TEAMS
(2) — Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (ST also WR).
COACHES
(11) — Don Coryell, Bill Cowher, Tom Flores, Jim Hanifan, Mike Holmgren, Jimmy Johnson, Richie Petitbon, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, Clark Shaughnessy, Dick Vermeil.
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