Expanded 2020 Hall of Fame Class Gives Hope for Greenwood/Shell Induction

The NFL has some very big plans for the league’s 100th anniversary. On Monday, Hall of Fame CEO David Baker released information detailing the league’s plan to include a plethora of inductions for the upcoming Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

It’s the Hall of Fame, and so it should be difficult to make it,” Baker said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “But there’s a lot of guys through the years (who have slipped through the cracks). We have several guys who are on all-decade teams who aren’t in the Hall of Fame, so this is an opportunity with the Centennial coming up. What we’ve looked at potentially and has been approved, at least in concept, by our operating board … is that potentially we would have 20 Hall of Famers enshrined for the year 2020.

While the plan still needs to be officially approved in a meeting currently scheduled for August 2, the upcoming Hall of Fame class would look something like this: five modern-era candidates, ten senior candidates, three contributors and two coaches.

The expanded Hall of Fame class would give players who have seemingly fell through the cracks of the process another opportunity of securing their deserved fate. Players such as L.C. Greenwood and Donnie Shell, which Steelers fans would absolutely agree with both slipping through the cracks, could be favorites to be inducted next year with the potential expansion. With both Shell and Greenwood possessing incredible resumes, it’s likely we will see one, if not both, elected.

The Steelers already have a wealth of black and gold embedded in Canton, Ohio, and the total number of Steelers from that era inducted could have hurt Greenwood and Shell’s chances. Should the Hall of Fame vote to keep the 20-man class, it will give voters another chance to turn their wrongs into right by opening the door for two Steelers legends.

With Troy Polamalu also becoming eligible for the first time in 2020, next year’s class possesses phenomenal chances we’ll see another member of the Steelers enshrined.