Success prompts Pro Football Hall of Fame to rethink voting tied to Super Bowl cities

A Pro Football Hall of Fame trend is turning into a tidal wave.

When Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson were introduced as part of the Hall's Class of 2021, it marked the third time in the last four years three first-ballot finalists got elected.

Veteran voter Clark Judge notes 10 of the last 20 modern-era players made it the first time they were eligible.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was former Browns linebacker Clay Matthews. In his 20th and final year of eligibility as a modern-era candidate, Matthews made the cut from 15 to 10 but didn't get all the way home.

Trends notwithstanding, it remains to be seen how future Hall of Fame elections will be conducted as the COVID-19 landscape rounds its next bend.

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The newly elected Class of 2021 appreciated the way this year's uniquely arranged election played out. 

This year's vote could not be conducted face to face, with 48 voters in the same room the day before the Super Bowl, in the Super Bowl city. Instead, ballots for the Class of 2021 were cast during in a teleconference last month. 

In a normal year, Hall of Fame President and CEO David Baker would have hustled out of the election meeting in the Super Bowl city and begun pounding on the hotel-room doors of newly elected Hall of Famers who were in town.

This year, Baker flew around the country to the homes of Class of 2021 members. Someone from the Hall would contact a family member with the secret, and a date for Baker to drop by would be arranged. 

Baker's arrival played out like a surprise party.

"I like it this way," Class of 2021 member John Lynch said, "although I know it had to be a lot of work for (the Hall of Fame)."

Rich Desrosiers, vice president of communications and public relations at the Hall, shared with The Canton Repository thoughts on planning for next year's election:

"We’re going to discuss what we learned this year and the advantages of each way of conducting the selection meeting (and subsequent 'knocks') over the next few weeks and decide what 2022 might look like."

Hall of Fame voters doubted everyone in the know could keep the Class of 2021 a secret until the announcement on Saturday night's "NFL Honors" TV show, but that was the goal.

The only name to leak was Peyton Manning, which hardly mattered since everyone knew he was getting in.

Woodson fielded Baker's "welcome-to-Canton" knock two weeks ago and, with his family, sat on the secret.

"I wanted to tell the world I was going into the Hall of Fame, but I didn't want to spoil it," Woodson said. "It was tough to hold that water, but I did the best that I could."

Before the new Hall of Famers were asked to keep their secret from the world, their families had to keep it from then.

Those close to "Megatron," Johnson, completely had him fooled. It was nighttime when Johnson spied someone coming toward his door in the suburbs outside Detroit.

"I see this figure through the glass and think, do I go get my shotgun," Johnson said.

It was Baker, who is built like an oversized right tackle. Johnson said they had a wonderful visit, at the end of which the Hall of Fame executive said he was off to knock on more doors.

Johnson replied, "Oh, you're going to go collect some more tears."

Class of 2021 member Alan Faneca said keeping the secret after Baker came calling two weeks ago was tricky.

"I had to ask, 'What lie did I tell this person today?,'" he said. "If they're smart maybe they can figure it out. It was a lot of tip-toeing."

Those who got "the knock" celebrated. Ten modern-era finalists got left out.

When voters met in the teleconference, they first had to eliminate five finalists and then vote on the remaining 10. The first five to be cut were linebacker Sam Mills, defensive end Jared Allen, cornerback Ronde Barber and wide receivers Reggie Wayne and Torry Holt.

In the vote on the remaining 10, five more were eliminated: Matthews, offensive tackle Tony Boselli, defensive back LeRoy Butler, defensive tackle Richard Seymour and linebacker Zach Thomas.

Manning, Lynch, Woodson, Johnson and Faneca got the good news.

All three candidates in special categories made it, too: Tom Flores (coach), Bill Nunn (contributor) and Drew Pearson (senior player).

Matthews now passes into the senior-player committee.

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP