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Why Colts WR Reggie Wayne will continue to wait to make Hall of Fame
Colts legends Reggie Wayne and Frank Gore were among the 11 Pro Football Hall of Fame modern-day player finalists on this year’s ballot who won’t be sporting gold jackets at this summer’s induction ceremony. And from the looks of next year’s potential first-time ballot members, the pair may very well remain on the outside of the Hall for a bit longer.
Longtime Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri – arguably the best kicker in NFL history – was among the five members voted to make up the Class of 2026, unveiled Thursday night during the NFL Honors ceremony. The Class’s other modern-day players included Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly. Vinatieri and Kuechly were voted in on their second years of eligibility, with Brees and Fitzgerald joining the esteemed list of first-ballot Hall of Famers.
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Gore, along with Brees, Fitzgerald and longtime Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, was in his first year of eligibility for the Hall. Wayne, on the other hand, was tied this year with fellow star wideout Torry Holt for being a finalist the most times (7) without being voted into the Hall. Wayne has been a finalist in each of his seven years of eligibility.
But he continues to struggle to break the threshold – particularly with the Hall’s new more exclusive voting process. Under the new Pro Football Hall of Fame voting rules, each year a group of 25 (and ties) of semifinalists is whittled down to 15 finalists, and that group then shrinks through subsequent rounds of voting to 10 and then seven. The Hall’s pool of 50 voters have five picks among that pool of seven modern-day players, and the top-three vote-getters will be inducted into the Hall of Fame with as many as two more players able to join the group if they garner 80% of the vote.
Longtime Colts beat writer Mike Chappell, who is on the Hall’s voting committee as the Indianapolis-area representative, lifted the curtain a bit on X Thursday night regarding how the voting process went this time around. Wayne, he said, did not make the first cut-down from 15 to 10, meaning, at best, he remains the seventh-highest returning vote-getter for next year with Vinatieri, Brees, Fitzgerald and Kuechly off the list.
Gore, according to Chappell, made the cut-down to 10, but was not among the seven ‘final’ finalists who were among the Hall-deciding vote. The three ex-players from that final seven who weren’t voted into this year’s class – Bengals tackle Willie Anderson, Ravens edge rusher Terrell Suggs and Ravens offensive lineman Marshal Yanda – will automatically advance to become finalists for the Class of 2027.
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Those who made the initial cut from 15 finalists down to 10, according to Chappell, included the aforementioned seven plus Gore, Witten and Cowboys safety Darren Woodson.
Along with Wayne, the other Hall of Fame finalists who were cut from the initial vote from 15 down to 10 were Saints guard Jahri Evans, Giants quarterback Eli Manning, Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams and Holt.
Wayne continues to wait, despite sitting 10th on the NFL’s all-time receiving yards list (14,435 yards). Only longtime Panthers great Steve Smith Sr. (8th all-time, 14,731 yards) ranks above him and hasn’t yet been voted into the Hall. Five other receivers (Andre Johnson, James Lofton, Cris Carter, Andre Reed and Steve Largent) all rank within the top-20 all-time in receiving yards and, too, have been voted into the Hall.
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The Colts receiving great also ranks 11th all-time in catches, with seven of the nine retired players ahead of him on the list now voted into the Hall, along with three others inside the top-20 (Johnson, Isaac Bruce and Randy Moss). Wayne also ranks tied-for-31st all-time in receiving touchdowns.
After an iron man-like run for a running back of 16 years in the league – 15 of which where he appeared in at least 14 games – with nine 1,000-rushing yard campaigns and 12 consecutive seasons with at least 800 yards (2006-2017), Gore finished his career in 2020 third all-time on the NFL’s career rushing yards list with 16,000. Only Derrick Hendry (13,018 yards) and Saquon Barkley (8,356) have even 8,000 rushing yards among active running backs.
Those resumes next year will run up against a strong contingent of potential first-time ballot members – most notably running back Adrian Peterson, tight end Rob Gronkowski, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, cornerback Richard Sherman and tackle Andrew Whitworth.
Peterson ranks fifth all-time in all-time rushing yards as well as rushing touchdowns. Emmitt Smith, who tops both categories, is the only other player in the top-5 on both lists.
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Gronkowski ranks sixth all-time among tight ends in career receiving yards (9,286) – with three of the five players ahead of him already voted into the Hall, the other two being Witten and certain future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce. Gronkowski also sits 10th all-time in receptions among tight ends (621) and third in touchdowns (92) to go with his four Super Bowl victories (tied for second-most among tight ends) and four first-team All-Pro selections (tied for second-most).
Roethlisberger enters his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility seventh all-time in career passing yards (64,088) and ninth in passing touchdowns (418). Of the nine others who also sit in the top-10 of both those categories, four (Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Dan Marino) have been voted into the Hall, with Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford seemingly locks to be voted in when their time comes.
Players remain eligible for the ‘modern era’ Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot for 20 years after having been retired for five seasons, meaning Wayne has 13 more shots to make it before he would be voted upon among a pool of those with ‘senior’ eligibility who go through an entirely different voting process. He now ranks second-most in career receiving yards (behind Smith) and catches (behind Anquan Boldin) among Hall of Fame-eligible receivers who’ve not yet been voted in.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Colts WR Reggie Wayne will continue to wait to make Hall of Fame