Dolphins' Bob Kuechenberg, Bengals' Ken Riley Senior finalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame
Former Dolphins guard Bob Kuechenberg and Ken Riley, a standout at Florida A&M University and a Bartow native, are among the 12 finalists for the Class of 2023 in the newly expanded Seniors category for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Seniors Committee and its Coach/Contributor Committee each announced their finalists on Wednesday.
Besides Kuechenberg and Riley, who died in 2019 and 2020, respectively, the other finalists in the Seniors category are Ken Anderson, Maxie Baughan, Randy Gradishar, Chuck Howley, Cecil Isbell, Joe Klecko, Eddie Meador, Tommy Nobis,Sterling Sharpe and Everson Walls.
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Each Senior Finalist played his last game in professional football no later than the 1996 season.
Kuechenberg, a member of the Dolphins Hall of Fame and a six-time Pro Bowler, spent his entire 14-year career in Miami and was a member of the 1972 Super Bowl champions, who went 17-0.
Riley played his entire career with the Cincinnati Bengals and recorded 65 career interceptions, more than any other player not already in the Hall of Fame and the most by a player who saw action exclusively at cornerback. He was named first-team All-Pro in his final season.
The 12-person Seniors Committee will meet Aug. 16, and each committee member will discuss one Finalist in detail. The committee’s final vote will send three Seniors to the full 49-person Selection Committee for consideration at its annual meeting in early 2023; each of those three could be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at that meeting.
Expansion of the Seniors pool to three for possible election to the Hall was approved earlier this year for the Classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025.
In the Coach/Contributor category, the Finalists are: Roone Arledge, Don Coryell, Mike Holmgren, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Robert Kraft, Art Modell, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Art Rooney Jr., Mike Shanahan, Clark Shaughnessy and John Wooten.
The Classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025 could be as large as nine: up to five Modern-Era Players, up to three Seniors and one Coach/Contributor.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Kuechenberg, Riley among finalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame
