2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Semifinalists: Full List, Comments and Reaction

The Pro Football Hall of Fame released a list of 108 nominees in September, but that esteemed list was narrowed down to 25 select semifinalists Tuesday evening as the official selection process draws closer.The list was officially revealed on the Hall of Fame's website, and first-time nominees Brett Favre and Terrell Owens headline the list alongside fellow legends seeking to break through into the hallowed halls of Canton, Ohio.A complete list of semifinalists can be viewed below:While Owens, Favre and Alan Faneca all broke through the barrier as first-time semifinalists, several of their celebrated peers failed to do so.Chief among them were relatively recent retirees and fan favorites such as Brian Westbrook, Clinton Portis, Keith Bulluck, Lawyer Milloy, Troy Vincent, Shawn Springs, Shaun Alexander, Eddie George and many more. The entire list of 108 modern-era nominees can be viewed here, courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.Pro Football Focus' Nathan Jahnke took note of two exceptional defensive players who failed to make the semifinal cut:Focus will appropriately be thrust toward Favre and Owens since they look like sure things to ultimately don gold jackets, but semifinalists who have made it this far before and fallen short of the coveted honor will be the most compelling cases worth examining in the coming months.For instance, Terrell Davis has now been a semifinalist 10 timesevery year since 2007but has failed to crack the HOF threshold. Then there are relative newcomers to the process like Torry Holt and Marvin Harrison, both of whom came up short last year.Come January, the field will shrink to 15 finalists. Voters will then deliberate until Feb. 6, when the selection meeting takes place in Santa Clara, California, which also serves as the site of this year's Super Bowl. At that point, between four and eight finalists will be selected to comprise the 2016 class in Canton.
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