Pro Football Hall of Fame announces 128 modern-era players nominated for 2026 class: Drew Brees leads way

Philip Rivers, Larry Fitzgerald and Jason Witten are also eligible for the first time

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Wednesday the 128 modern-era players nominated for consideration for the Class of 2026.

The list includes 13 players eligible for the first time: quarterbacks Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Alex Smith; running backs Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy; wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald; tight ends Greg Olsen and Jason Witten; offensive linemen David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey; defensive linemen Geno Atkins and Jurrell Casey; and linebacker Thomas Davis.

Brees is the first name that jumps out: The 2010 Super Bowl MVP when he led the Saints over the Colts, Brees ranks second all-time in career passing yards and career passing touchdowns.

Rivers presents a more interesting case. He ranks seventh in career passing yards and sixth in career passing touchdowns. However, he never won or appeared in a Super Bowl, and he had just a 5-7 record in the playoffs. Pro Football Reference's "Hall of Fame Monitor" has Rivers with a score of 98, slightly below the average Hall of Fame score for the position of 108. Of course, several players below Rivers in the metric, including his contemporary Kurt Warner, whose career overlapped with Rivers', made it to Canton.

Fitzgerald and Witten rank second and fourth all-time in career receptions. Fitzgerald is also second in career receiving yards and sixth in career receiving touchdowns; Witten is second among tight ends in receiving yards and sixth among tight ends in receiving touchdowns.

The next step of the process cuts the list from 128 to 50 in mid-October, and that list will then be cut to 25 later this fall, according to the Pro Football hall of Fame's release.

A third vote will cut the list down to 15 players to be discussed at the annual selection meeting ahead of the Super Bowl. The Class of 2026 will have three, four or five modern-era players, per the Hall of Fame's bylaws.

Here is the full list. Class of 2025 finalists are have an asterisk next to their name, and players in their first year of eligibility are italicized.

QUARTERBACKS (10): Drew Brees, Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Rich Gannon, Jeff Garcia, *-Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair, Philip Rivers, Alex Smith.

RUNNING BACKS (21): Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Larry Centers (FB), Jamaal Charles, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn, Arian Foster, Eddie George, Frank Gore, Priest Holmes, Steven Jackson, Chris Johnson, Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, Eric Metcalf (also WR/PR/KR), Lorenzo Neal (FB), *-Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters.

WIDE RECEIVERS (18): 

Anquan Boldin, Donald Driver, Larry Fitzgerald, *-Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Marshall, Derrick Mason, Herman Moore, Muhsin Muhammad, Jordy Nelson, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, *-Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, *-Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, Roddy White.

TIGHT ENDS (6): 

Vernon Davis, Zach Miller, Greg Olsen, Wesley Walls, Delanie Walker, Jason Witten.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (22): 

*-Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), Ryan Clady (T), David DeCastro (G), *-Jahri Evans (G), Jordan Gross (T), Ryan Kalil (C), Olin Kreutz (C), Nick Mangold (C), Logan Mankins (G), Tom Nalen (C), Maurkice Pouncey (C), Jeff Saturday (C), Josh Sitton (G), Joe Staley (T), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G), *-Marshal Yanda (G).

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (13): 

John Abraham (DE also LB), Geno Atkins (DT), Jurrell Casey (DT), Elvis Dumervil (DE), La'Roi Glover (DT/NT), Robert Mathis (DE), Haloti Ngata (DT), Jay Ratliff (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Justin Smith (DE), Ted Washington (NT/DT), Vince Wilfork (DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT).

LINEBACKERS (14): 

NaVorro Bowman, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, Thomas Davis, James Farrior, London Fletcher, James Harrison, A.J. Hawk, *-Luke Kuechly, Clay Matthews III, Dat Nguyen, Takeo Spikes, *-Terrell Suggs, Lee Woodall. 

DEFENSIVE BACKS (15): 

Eric Berry (S), Kam Chancellor (S), Nick Collins (S), DeAngelo Hall (DB), Rodney Harrison (S), James Hasty (CB), Carnell Lake (DB), Allen Rossum (DB), Asante Samuel (CB), Patrick Surtain (CB), Earl Thomas (S), Charles Tillman (CB), Troy Vincent (CB), Adrian Wilson (S), *-Darren Woodson (S).

PUNTERS/KICKERS (7):

David Akers (K), Gary Anderson (K), Jason Hanson (K), John Kasay (K), Sean Landeta (P), Shane Lechler (P), *-Adam Vinatieri (K).

SPECIAL TEAMS (2):

Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB).