Giants legends among Senior player nominees for Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026

The Pro Football Hall of Fame recently announced the 162 Senior player nominees for its Class of 2026.

Among the players featured on the list are numerous Giants legends, including:

• LB Carl Banks was one of the premier run-stoppers of his era, a standout on the teams that won Super Bowls XXI and XXV, a Pro Bowler in 1987, and a member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team and the Giants Ring of Honor. Banks played in 126 regular-season games and had 36.0 sacks, three interceptions, and approximately 500 tackles.
• RB Ottis Anderson was one of only four running backs in NFL history to score rushing touchdowns in two Super Bowls and win Super Bowl MVP. In 83 regular-season games with the Giants, Anderson had 704 rushing attempts for 2,274 yards and 35 touchdowns (the sixth-highest total in franchise history). He added 77 receptions for 567 yards. After rushing for a total of 214 yards in his first two Giants seasons, Anderson became the team's primary back in 1989. He was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year after scoring a career-high 14 touchdowns while running for 1,023 yards on 325 carries.
• QB Charlie Conerly played his entire career with the Giants from 1948-1961. He was a member of the Giants inaugural Ring of Honor class in 2010. His No. 42 jersey was retired by the Giants in 1962. Conerly was a vital member of the 1956 NFL championship team and led the Giants to the title game in 1958 and 1959. He was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1948, the league's Most Valuable Player in 1959 (when he received the Jim Thorpe Trophy), and a Pro Bowler in 1950 and 1956. In his debut season in 1948, Conerly set Giants rookie records for pass attempts (299) completions (162), passing yards (2,175), and touchdown passes (22) that stood for 71 years until 2019.
• DB Jimmy Patton played on the 1956 championship team and on teams that advanced to the title game in 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, and 1963. He was a five-time first-team All-Pro (1958–62), a second-team All-Pro in 1963, and a five-time Pro Bowler (1958–62). His 52 interceptions are second in Giants history, 11 more than No. 3 Spider Lockhart. Patton led the NFL with 11 interceptions in 1958, which tied Otto Schelbacher (1951) for the franchise single-season record. His 712 yards on interception returns are second in Giants history to Emlen Tunnell's 1,240. Patton also recovered 15 fumbles and returned 37 punts and 28 kickoffs, scoring once on each.
• WR Del Shofner was a five-time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL's all-decade team for the 1960s, as selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played the last seven seasons of his 11-year NFL career for the Giants after joining the team in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. Shofner retired after the 1967 season with 349 career receptions, including 239 with the Giants. Shofner gained 4,315 yards on those 239 catches, an 18.1-yard average that ranks second in Giants history to Homer Jones' 22.6- yard average (among those with a minimum of 200 receptions).
• DE Leonard Marshall played in 149 regular-season games and 11 postseason games for the Giants. He played on the Giants' Super Bowl XXI and XXV title teams and was a Pro Bowler in 1985–86, when he totaled 27.5 sacks. Marshall was credited with 660 tackles (388 solo). His 79.5 career regular-season sacks place him third in franchise history, behind two Pro Football Hall of Famers: Michael Strahan (141.5) and Lawrence Taylor (132.5, not counting Taylor's 9.5 sacks as a rookie in 1981, the year before they became an official stat). In 11 postseason games, Marshall recorded 7.0 sacks, which is second in Giants history after Strahan's 9.5. Taylor had 6.5 postseason sacks. Marshall collected 3.0 sacks in both the 1986 and 1990 postseasons, when the Giants won the Super Bowl.
• WR Homer Jones caught 214 passes for 4,835 yards and 35 touchdowns in six seasons with the Giants. Jones' finest season was in 1967, when he finished with career-high totals of 49 receptions, 1,209 yards (a 24.7-yard average), and a league-leading 13 touchdowns and made the first of two consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. Jones played a final season with the Cleveland Browns in 1970 and finished his career with a 22.26-yard average, which remains the highest in NFL history for receivers with at least 200 catches.
• OL Bart Oates helped the Giants claim their first Super Bowl title in franchise history in 1986 and then again in 1990. Oates played in 151 games as a Giant, including 11 postseason contests. He earned three of his five career Pro Bowl nods with Big Blue.
• OL Ray Wietecha never missed a game in his 10 seasons with the Giants while anchoring an elite offensive line during the team's glory years of the 1950s and early 1960s. Wietecha helped pave the way for five Eastern Conference titles and one NFL championship in 1956. Garnering a reputation not only for his blocking but also for snapping for field goals and punts, he was named to the Pro Bowl in 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1962. He also earned All-Pro honors in 1958. He appeared in 124 consecutive regular season games and six postseason games at center.

Other players that spent time with the Giants and appear on the list include QB Earl Morrall and RB Herschel Walker.

A total of 162 players have been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2026 in the Seniors category. To be considered in this group, each former player last could have appeared in a professional football game in the 2000 season.

The roster of nominees consists of 90 offensive players, 67 defensive players and five special teamers. The Seniors Screening Committee, an entity created in 2025 to add additional input around the overall selection process, will reduce the list to 50 players (plus ties, if any, for the 50th spot) over the next few weeks.

Once the Seniors Screening Committee has completed its work, the separate Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will make additional reductions in several increments. In late fall, the Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will select three Seniors as Finalists for possible election with the Class of 2026. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2026 will be enshrined next August.

Here are all of the Senior player nominees for Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Note: Players must have last played at least 25 full seasons ago — no more recently than the 2000 season — to be eligible for nomination in this category. Qualifications for candidacy include five years of service and at least one recognized postseason honor.

QUARTERBACKS (9): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, John Hadl, Jack Kemp, Don Meredith, Earl Morrall, Jim Plunkett, Doug Williams.

BACKS/RUNNING BACKS (16): Alan Ameche, Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Earnest Byner, Roger Craig, John David Crow, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Verne Lewellen, Jack Manders, Mercury Morris, Don Perkins, Billy Sims, Herschel Walker, Byron "Whizzer" White, Paul "Tank" Younger.

ENDS/WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (30): Fred Arbanas, Todd Christensen, Mark Clayton, Ben Coates, Gary Collins, Isaac Curtis, Carroll Dale, Lavvie Dilweg, Boyd Dowler, Mark Duper, Henry Ellard, Jimmie Giles, Charley Hennigan, Billy Howton, Harold Jackson, Keith Jackson, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Brent Jones, Homer Jones, Steve Jordan, Eric Martin, Stanley Morgan, Jay Novacek, Art Powell, Del Shofner, Lionel Taylor, Otis Taylor, Rick Upchurch, Bobby Walston, Billy Wilson.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (35): Heartley "Hunk" Anderson, Bruce Armstrong, Stew Barber, Dick Barwegen, Ed Budde, Ox Emerson, Gale Gillingham, Charles "Buckets" Goldenberg, Ken Gray, Dennis Harrah, Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, George Kunz, Riley Matheson, Max Montoya, Jon Morris, Ralph Neely, John Niland, Bart Oates, Marvin Powell, Duane Putnam, Dick Schafrath, Jerry Sisemore, Doug Smith, Walt Sweeney, Bob Talamini, Fuzzy Thurston, Jim Tyrer, Bob Vogel, Ed White, Ray Wietecha, Al Wistert.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (15): Houston Antwine, Gene Brito, Roger Brown, Earl Faison, Mark Gastineau, L.C. Greenwood, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Jim Marshall, Leonard Marshall, Harvey Martin, Jerry Mays, Tom Sestak, Fred Smerlas, Neil Smith, Bill Stanfill.

LINEBACKERS (25): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Cornelius Bennett, Bill Bergey, Matt Blair, Mike Curtis, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Tim Harris, E.J. Holub (also OL), Vaughan Johnson, Lee Roy Jordan, Seth Joyner, Greg Lloyd, Wilber Marshall, Rod Martin, Clay Matthews Jr., Bud McFadin, Karl Mecklenburg, Matt Millen, Tommy Nobis, Isiah Robertson, Pat Swilling, Darryl Talley, Keena Turner.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (27): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Dave Brown, Joey Browner, Butch Byrd, Don Doll, Pat Fischer, Goose Gonsoulin, Dave Grayson, Cornell Green, Merton Hanks, Lester Hayes, Warren Lahr, Albert Lewis, Tim McDonald, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Jimmy Patton, Eugene Robinson, George Saimes, Jake Scott, Dennis Smith, Jack Tatum, Everson Walls, Charlie Waters, Abe Woodson, Louis Wright.

KICKERS/PUNTERS (3): Jim Bakken, Jim Breech, Nick Lowery.

SPECIAL TEAMS (2): Mel Gray, Steve Tasker.

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