The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its list of modern-era nominees for the Class of 2020 and the San Francisco 49ers are represented by several players, including first-time nominees Patrick Willis and Justin Smith.
The other former 49ers players on the list are Jeff Garcia, Ricky Watters, Brent Jones, Bryant Young, Merton Hanks, Tim McDonald, Kevin Gogan, Isaac Bruce, Takeo Spikes, David Akers, and Gary Anderson. The 49ers' general manager, John Lynch, also once again finds his name on the list.
This year's list of 122 names is made up of 63 former offensive players, 43 former defensive players, and 16 special teams contributors. The list of nominees will be trimmed down to 15, then 10, and then five on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, in Miami, Florida, the sight of Super Bowl LIV. Ten seniors, three Contributors, and two coaches will join the five modern-era players.
Below is the complete list of modern-era nominees for the Class of 2020, as provided by the NFL.
QUARTERBACKS
Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Boomer Esiason, Jeff Garcia, Jeff Hostetler, Dave Krieg, Donovan McNabb
RUNNING BACKS
Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott, Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Larry Centers, Corey Dillon, Eddie George, Priest Holmes, Edgerrin James, Daryl Johnston, Thomas Jones, Maurice Jones-Drew, Eric Metcalf, Lorenzo Neal, Clinton Portis, Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker, Chris Warren, Ricky Watters
WIDE RECEIVERS
Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Donald Driver, Henry Ellard, Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne
TIGHT ENDS
Dallas Clark, Ben Coates, Keith Jackson, Brent Jones, Jeremy Shockey, Wesley Walls
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Willie Anderson, Matt Birk, Tony Boselli, Lomas Brown, Ray Donaldson, Alan Faneca, Kevin Gogan, Jordan Gross, Chris Hinton, Kent Hull, Steve Hutchinson, Lincoln Kennedy, Olin Kreutz, Chris Samuels, Jeff Saturday, Brian Waters, Richmond Webb, Erik Williams, Steve Wisniewski
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
John Abraham, La'Roi Glover, Casey Hampton, Chester McGlockton, Leslie O'Neal, Simeon Rice, Richard Seymour, Justin Smith, Neil Smith, Greg Townsend, Bryant Young
LINEBACKERS
Carl Banks, Cornelius Bennett, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, James Farrior, London Fletcher, Seth Joyner, Wilber Marshall, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest, Sam Mills, Chris Spielman, Takeo Spikes, Darryl Talley, Zach Thomas, Jessie Tuggle, Patrick Willis
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Eric Allen, Steve Atwater, Ronde Barber, LeRoy Butler, Nick Collins, Merton Hanks, Rodney Harrison, Albert Lewis, John Lynch, Terry McDaniel, Tim McDonald, Troy Polamalu, Bob Sanders, Troy Vincent, Darren Woodson
PUNTERS/KICKERS
K David Akers, K Gary Anderson, K Jason Elam, P Jeff Feagles, K Jason Hanson, P Sean Landeta, K Ryan Longwell, K Nick Lowery, P Reggie Roby, P Rohn Stark, P Matt Turk
SPECIAL TEAMS
Johnny Bailey, Josh Cribbs, Mel Gray, Brian Mitchell, Steve Tasker