Two former Seahawks, C Kevin Mawae and G Steve Hutchinson, are among 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018. The class will be chosen by the Board of Selectors at a meeting Feb. 3 in Minneapolis, the day before Super Bowl LII. At that meeting, the list of 15 finalists will be trimmed to 10 and then to five.
The five finalists will be chosen on a yes-or-no basis, and those who receive 80 percent approval will be enshrined in August in Canton, OH.
In addition to Mawae and Hutchinson, 2018 finalists include LB Ray Lewis, WR Randy Moss, LB Brian Urlacher, T Tony Boselli, WR Isaac Bruce, S Brian Dawkins, G Alan Faneca, T Joe Jacoby, RB Edgerrin James, CB Ty Law, S John Lynch, WR Terrell Owens and CB Everson Walls.
The Seahawks selected Mawae in the second round (36th overall) of the 1994 draft out of Louisiana State. He played four seasons in Seattle, appearing in 62 games with 59 starts, after which he signed with the New York Jets as an unrestricted free agent. Mawae made eight Pro Bowl teams with the Jets and Tennessee Titans after departing Seattle. Mawae was a Hall of Fame finalist in 2017.
The Seahawks drafted Hutchinson 17th in the first round in 2001 out of Michigan. He represented Seattle in three Pro Bowls through 2005, its first Super Bowl year, before signing a “poison pill” free agent contract with the Minnesota Vikings in 2006.
The Seahawks used the transition tag to try to keep Hutchinson, but he could receive offers from other teams. The Vikings included a provision that Hutchinson’s year-to-year salaries would be guaranteed if he was not the highest-paid offensive lineman on his team. The Seahawks could not realistically match the deal, given they had just signed future Hall of Famer Walter Jones to an extension that was more than the Vikings’ offer to Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, in his first year of HOF eligibility, went on to make four more Pro Bowls in a career that ran through 2012. With Seattle, Hutchinson appeared in 68 games, all starts.
None of the coaches on the list of 25 modern-era semifinalists made the cut to 15, including Seattle native Don Coryell, former coach of the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers, who was a finalist in 2017.
Four players who spent nearly all of their careers with the Seahawks are enshrined in Canton. WR Steve Largent became the first in 1995. He was followed by DT Cortez Kennedy (2012), T Walter Jones (2014) and S Kenny Easley (2017).
1 Comment
I think Hutchinson gets in eventually, but not first ballot. If I were on the committee, my picks would be Lewis, Boselli, Bruce, Jacoby, and one of Moss or Owens. I hate choosing Lewis given his off-field controversies, but the HOF rule is to only consider what the player does on the field, and he was the dominant linebacker of his era. Boselli was Walter Jones before Walter Jones, Bruce and Jacoby were key contributors to championship offenses, and Moss and Owens have the stats.