Hall Of Fame List Pared To 25

First-ballot locks Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith lead the list of 25 men who are semi-finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

The Hall of Fame announced these names on Saturday. They were selected by the HOF Selection Committee from a preliminary ballot of 131 names.

No members of the Chiefs are part of this year’s semi-finalists.

There’s little doubt that first-time eligible Rice and Smith will be part of the Class of ‘10. They are the leading receiver and leading rusher in NFL history.

Other first-time eligible players are former Raiders WR Tim Brown and former Cardinals CB Aeneas Williams.

The rest of the 25 have been semi-finalists before. Here’s the complete list:

• Cliff Branch, WR – 1972-1985 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
• Tim Brown, WR/KR – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Cris Carter, WR – 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles, 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins
• Don Coryell, Coach – 1973-77 St. Louis Cardinals, 1978-1986 San Diego Chargers
• Roger Craig, RB – 1983-1990 San Francisco 49ers, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders, 1992-93 Minnesota Vikings
• Terrell Davis, RB – 1995-2001 Denver Broncos
• Dermontti Dawson, C – 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers
• Richard Dent, DE – 1983-1993, 1995 Chicago Bears, 1994 San Francisco 49ers, 1996 Indianapolis Colts, 1997 Philadelphia Eagles
• Chris Doleman, DE/LB – 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers
• Kevin Greene, LB/DE – 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers
• Russ Grimm, G – 1981-1991 Washington Redskins
• Ray Guy, P – 1973-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
• Charles Haley, DE/LB – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys
• Lester Hayes, CB – 1977-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
• Rickey Jackson, LB – 1981-1993 New Orleans Saints, 1994-95 San Francisco 49ers
• Cortez Kennedy, DT – 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks
• Art Modell, Owner – 1961-1995 Cleveland Browns, 1996-2003 Baltimore Ravens
• John Randle, DT – 1990-2000 Minnesota Vikings, 2001-03 Seattle Seahawks
• Andre Reed, WR – 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins
• Jerry Rice, WR – 1985-2000 San Francisco 49ers, 2001-04 Oakland Raiders, 2004 Seattle Seahawks
• Shannon Sharpe, TE – 1990-99, 2002-03 Denver Broncos, 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens
• Emmitt Smith, RB – 1990-2002 Dallas Cowboys, 2003-04 Arizona Cardinals
• Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner – 1989-2006 National Football League
• Steve Tasker, Special Teams/WR – 1985-86 Houston Oilers, 1986-1997 Buffalo Bills
• Aeneas Williams, CB/S – 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams

This list of 25 will be reduced to 15 finalists and that group will be announced on January 7. Those men along with senior nominees Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little will be discussed on February 6 in south Florida at a meeting of the selection committee the day before the Super Bowl. The class of 2010 will be announced at 4 p.m. CST on that Saturday.

NOTE: As a member of the selection committee, I will be voting on the cut to 15. Don’t hold me to this list, but at first glance this would be by vote to 15: Brown, Carter, Coryell, Craig, Davis, Dawson, Dent, Doleman, Grimm, Jackson, Kennedy, Rice, Sharpe, Smith and Williams. I’m on the fence about Greene, Randle and Reed.