Bengals Franchise Right Tackle Break another Record Making Pro Football Hall of Fame Finals For Third Straight Year
For the third straight year, Bengals Ring of Honor member Willie Anderson has reached the finals of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Modern Era balloting for the 2024 class.
Anderson, the first right tackle to be named to three straight All-Pro first teams in 30 years during his dozen seasons in Cincinnati, is one of 15 names revealed Wednesday night.
In the Pro Football Focus total grades, Anderson rates ahead of recent Hall of Fame linemen Orlando Pace, Steve Hutchinson, Alan Faneca, Will Shields, and Kevin Mawae. Anderson also compares favorably to the two most recent Hall tackles, Tony Boselli in 2022 and Joe Thomas last year.
“His blue (best) years, his position ranks, his longevity, he’s a Hall-of-Famer. The answer is Willie Anderson is a Hall-of-Famer. His numbers match up to everybody else who is in,” says Mike Giddings, head of the long-time NFL scouting service Pioneering Pro Scout, Inc. “Boselli’s first five years are a dominant blue. Joe Thomas was a consistent player, but not as blue as Willie.”
The 50-member selection committee, where Bengals.com holds the Cincinnati vote, meets next month to select the 2024 class, which usually consists of five Modern Era candidates, three Senior candidates, and a Contributor. The class is announced the week of the Super Bowl at NFL Honors. Induction is at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio during early August.
The NFL Pro Bowl got a bit of a shake-up last year when it stopped being a regular game of football played between the best players from the AFC and NFC. Last year was the first time that a game of flag football was held between the two teams instead.
In 2017, the Pro Bowl added a variety of skills competitions and that has continued to this day. Some of the skills competitions include passing contests and even dodgeball games.
The Pro Bowl skills competition will kick off on February 1st and consist of events such as precision passing, dodgeball, and Kick Tac Toe. On February 4th, there will be a game of Madden, Tug of War, and then the flag football game itself.
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The Pro Bowl has jumped around to different locations over the years but this year it will return to Orlando, Florida. Camping World Stadium will host the flag football game on February 4th.
Fans vote on who they think the best players in the NFL are, which has always given the Pro Bowl a bad reputation since it’s mostly viewed as a popularity contest. Players tend to opt out of the Pro Bowl frequently and it ends up being a lot of alternates participating instead.
It’s also worth noting that players whose teams make the Super Bowl are not eligible to partake in the Pro Bowl since it’s held the week before the Super Bowl.
