Joe Thomas, James Harrison among 129 modern era Pro Football Hall of Fame nominees

Joe Thomas added a prestigious brown jacket to his wardrobe this past Sunday afternoon as a Cleveland Browns Legends inductee.

Could the much more famous gold jacket be next for Thomas?

The perennial All-Pro left tackle, in his first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is among 129 modern era nominees for the Hall's Class of 2023. So is Akron native James Harrison, who starred at Kent State before becoming a standout linebacker with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Thomas and Harrison are two of the nine former NFL stars nominated in their first year of eligibility. The others include running back Chris Johnson, offensive lineman Jahri Evans, defensive lineman Dwight Freeney, linebacker NaVorro Bowman, defensive backs Kam Chancellor and Darrelle Revis, and punter Shane Lechler.

Torry Holt, Zach Thomas, Reggie Wayne among returning Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists

Other nominees include 10 finalists from a year ago who did not make the Hall's Class of 2022 — receivers Torry Holt, Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne, return specialist/receiver Devin Hester, offensive lineman Willie Anderson, defensive end Jared Allen, linebackers Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware and Patrick Willis, and defensive back Ronde Barber.

Also nominated are special teams standout Josh Cribbs from Kent State (who played alongside Thomas in Cleveland) and Eric Metcalf (a star running back for the Browns in the 1980s and '90s).

Players must have last played at least five full seasons ago to be eligible for nomination. Therefore, any individual who last played in 2017 is eligible for the first time in 2023.

Browns left tackle Joe Thomas became ultimate NFL ironman

Strong cases for inclusion in the Hall can be made for several of the first-year eligible nominees. But none likely can present a stronger case than Thomas, the third overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft who wasted no time becoming one of the league's premier players at a premium position — left tackle.

Thomas became an instant starter and force up front, never missing a snap until a career-ending injury (ruptured left triceps tendon) in the seventh game of his 11th season. His 10,363 consecutive snaps is the longest streak since such counts began being recorded in 1999. It is believed to be the longest such streak in league history.

"I tried to be consistent, and I tried to be always there for the guys around me and to help them do their jobs as well as they possibly could," Thomas told the USA Today Network recently. "That was what drove me to play through pain and play through injuries and show up every Sunday."

Thomas retired following the 2017 season having started all 167 games of his career. He made the Pro Bowl each of his first 10 seasons and earned first-team All-Pro honors six times. He is a member of the league's All-Decade Team for the 2010s.

James Harrison went from Kent State to Defensive Player of the Year with the Steelers

Harrison brings strong credentials for inclusion in the Hall of Fame, too, but had an unlikely path to stardom. Undrafted out of Kent State, he made the Steelers roster as a free agent, played just one game his rookie year in 2002 and didn't become a full-time starter until his fifth season.

Then he became a dominant force at linebacker for the Steelers and was the 2008 Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He made five Pro Bowls, was a two-time first-team All-Pro and helped Pittsburgh win two Super Bowls.

Harrison made one of the defining plays in Super Bowl XLIII, returning an interception 100 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half in the 27-23 win over the Cardinals on Feb. 1, 2009. Harrison intercepted Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner on the play.

Harrison played 193 regular-season games during his 15-year career, 177 of those in a Steelers uniform. He spent one season with the Bengals and played one regular-season game with the Patriots.

Overall, the roster of nominees for the Class of 2023 consists of 67 offensive players, 50 defensive players and 12 special teams players.

What's next in the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection process?

The list of modern era nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November and, from there, to 15 finalists whose names will be announced in early January.

Those 15 modern-era finalists will join finalists recently named in the other two categories — seniors (Joe Klecko, Chuck Howley and Ken Riley) and coach/contributor (Don Coryell). Those 19 finalists will be presented to the full 49-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee during its annual meeting to choose the Class of 2023. The date of the meeting has yet to be determined, but it will be in advance of Super Bowl 57.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023 will be enshrined in August 2023.

The full list of nominees, by position, follows below:

Modern era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023

QUARTERBACKS (6): Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Jeff Garcia, Dave Krieg, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair.

RUNNING BACKS (17): Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Larry Centers (FB), Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn, Eddie George, Priest Holmes, Steven Jackson, Chris Johnson, Vonta Leach (FB), Jamal Lewis, Lorenzo Neal (FB), Eric Metcalf (also WR/PR/KR), Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters, Brian Westbrook.

WIDE RECEIVERS (20): Anquan Boldin, Troy Brown (also PR/KR), Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), Irving Fryar, *Devin Hester (also PR/KR), *Torry Holt, Joe Horn, *Andre Johnson, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, Andre Rison, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, *Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, Roddy White.

TIGHT ENDS (3): Dallas Clark, Ben Coates, Wesley Walls.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (21): *Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), Jahri Evans (G), D’Brickashaw Ferguson (T), Kevin Glover (C/G), Jordan Gross (T), Olin Kreutz (C), Nick Mangold (C), Logan Mankins (G), Tom Nalen (C), Nate Newton (G/T), Jeff Saturday (C), Mark Schlereth (G/C), Chris Snee (G), Joe Thomas (T), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G).

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (14): John Abraham (DE, also LB), *Jared Allen (DE), Dwight Freeney (DE), La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Casey Hampton (DT/NT), Robert Mathis (DE), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Clyde Simmons (DE/DT), Justin Smith (DE), Neil Smith (DE), Justin Tuck (DE), Vince Wilfork (DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT/DE).

LINEBACKERS (17): Jessie Armstead, Cornelius Bennett, NaVorro Bowman, Lance Briggs, Chad Brown, Tedy Bruschi, James Farrior, London Fletcher, James Harrison, Seth Joyner, Willie McGinest (also DE), Takeo Spikes, Pat Swilling (also DE), *Zach Thomas, *DeMarcus Ware, *Patrick Willis, Al Wilson.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (19): Eric Allen (CB), *Ronde Barber (CB/S), Dre’ Bly (CB), Kam Chancellor (S), Nick Collins (S), Antonio Cromartie (CB), Merton Hanks (S), Rodney Harrison (S), Albert Lewis (CB), Terry McDaniel (CB), Tim McDonald (S), Darrelle Revis (CB), Allen Rossum (CB), Asante Samuel (CB), Bob Sanders (S), Charles Tillman (CB), Troy Vincent (CB), Adrian Wilson (S), Darren Woodson (S).

PUNTERS/KICKERS (10): Gary Anderson (K), Jason Elam (K), Jeff Feagles (P), Jason Hanson (K), John Kasay, (K), Sean Landeta (P), Shane Lechler (P), Ryan Longwell (K), Pat McAfee (P), Matt Turk (P).

SPECIAL TEAMS (2): Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB)

* - Denotes a finalist in 2022.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Joe Thomas, James Harrison among Pro Football Hall of Fame nominees