Former Chiefs On Preliminary Hall List

Albert Lewis, Rich Gannon, Leslie O’Neal and Nick Lowery are on the preliminary list of modern-era nominees for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame that was announced on Saturday.

It’s the first step in the voting process that will lead to the Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

Lewis (right) played cornerback with the Chiefs for 11 seasons (1983-93), appearing in 150 games and finishing his Chiefs career with 38 interceptions and 555 tackles. A third-round draft choice in 1983 out of Grambling, Lewis also blocked 10 punts in his time wearing the red and gold. He finished his career with the Raiders.

Gannon joined the Chiefs in 1995 after spending a year out of the league because of shoulder surgery. At the time, he was the team’s No. 3 quarterback. Over four seasons with the Chiefs (1995-98), he played in 27 games with 19 starts. He left after the ‘98 season and signed as a free agent with Oakland, where he won NFL MVP honors and led the Raiders to the Super Bowl after the 2002 season.

O’Neal spent two years with the Chiefs (1998-99) at the end of his 14-year career, also playing with the Chargers and Rams. He finished with 132.5 sacks off the defensive end position, most of those during 10 seasons in San Diego.

Lowery joined the Chiefs in 1980 and was chosen by then head coach Marv Levy over veteran Jan Stenerud as the team’s kicker. He played for the next 14 seasons with the club (19980-93), appearing in 212 games and scoring 1,466 points.

There are 131 names on the preliminary ballot. The Hall of Fame Board of Selectors will choose 25 candidates that will advance to the semi-final list. That will be announced on November 27.

That group will be reduced again by voting to 15. Those finalists will be announced on January 7.

The final list of 15 nominees will join senior nominees Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little as the 17 names that will be considered at the selection committee’s annual meeting, set for Saturday, February 6 in Miami, the day before Super Bowl XLIV. 

From that voting will come the Hall’s Class of 2010.

Here’s the complete preliminary list:

FIRST-YEAR ELIGIBLE NOMINEES

Quarterback – Rich Gannon. 

Running Back – Eddie George, Emmitt Smith. 

Wide Receiver – Tim Brown, Jerry Rice. 

Defensive Back – Aeneas Williams (CB/S). 

Kicker – Gary Anderson.   

ADDITIONAL NOMINEES  

Quarterbacks – Ken Anderson, Randall Cunningham, Boomer Esiason, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, 

Joe Theismann, Danny White, Doug Williams. 

Running Backs – Ottis Anderson, Larry Centers, Roger Craig, Terrell Davis, Leroy Hoard, Eric Metcalf (also 

WR), Brian Mitchell (also KR/PR), Mike Pruitt, Gerald Riggs, George Rogers, Herschel Walker, Ricky Watters 

Wide Receivers – Cliff Branch, *Cris Carter, Gary Clark, Henry Ellard, Irving Fryar, Roy Green, Herman 

Moore, Stanley Morgan, *Andre Reed, Sterling Sharpe. 

Tight Ends – Mark Bavaro, Todd Christensen, Ben Coates, Russ Francis, *Shannon Sharpe, Frank Wycheck. 

 Offensive Linemen – Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Jim Covert (T), *Dermontti Dawson (C),  

*Russ Grimm (G), Jay Hilgenberg (C), Chris Hinton (G/T), Kent Hull (C), Joe Jacoby (T), Mike Kenn (T), Jim 

Lachey (T), Max Montoya (G), Korey Stringer (T), Steve Wisniewski (G).

Defensive Linemen – Al ”Bubba” Baker (DE), Ray Childress (DT/DE), *Richard Dent (DE), Chris Doleman 

(DE/LB), Charles Haley (DE/LB), Ed ”Too Tall” Jones (DE), *Cortez Kennedy (DT), Joe Klecko (DE/DT/NT), 

Dexter Manley (DE), Charles Mann (DE), Steve McMichael (DT/NT), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Michael Dean Perry 

(DT/DE), *John Randle (DE/DT), Clyde Simmons (DE), Fred Smerlas (NT). 

Linebackers – Cornelius Bennett, Matt Blair, Kevin Greene (also DE), Ken Harvey, Rickey Jackson, Rod 

Martin, Clay Matthews, Karl Mecklenburg, Sam Mills, Hardy Nickerson, Chris Spielman, Pat Swilling, Darryl 

Talley.

Defensive Backs – Eric Allen (CB), Steve Atwater (S), Joey Browner (S), LeRoy Butler (S), Raymond Clayborn 

(CB), Kenny Easley (S), Lester Hayes (CB), Carnell Lake (S/CB), Albert Lewis (CB), Frank Minnifield (CB), 

Donnie Shell (S), Darren Woodson (S), Louis Wright (CB).

Kickers/Punters – Ray Guy (P), Nick Lowery (K), Reggie Roby (P). 

Special Teams – Steve Tasker (ST/WR)/

Coaches – Bill Arnsparger, Don Coryell, Tom Flores, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, A.O. ”Bum” 

Phillips, Dan Reeves, Buddy Ryan, Clark Shaughnessy.  

Contributors – K.S. ”Bud” Adams, Jr., Bobby Beathard, Gil Brandt, Leo Carlin, Jack Kent Cooke, Otho Davis, Ed 

DeBartolo, Jr., Ole Haugsrud, Frank ”Bucko” Kilroy, Art Modell, Art Rooney, Jr., Carroll Rosenbloom, Ed Sabol, 

Steve Sabol, *Paul Tagliabue, Jim Tunney, Ron Wolf, George Young. 

*On 2009 17 finalists list