A special Blue-Ribbon Panel comprised of many members of the overall Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, Hall of Famers, coaches, football executives, and several leading historians has scrutinized the merits of nearly 300 candidates nominated for consideration as part of the Hall's special Centennial Class of 2020. The group of nominees has been reduced to a list of finalists that will be debated in a meeting in early January and voted on by the Blue-Ribbon Panel to elect the 15-member "Centennial Slate" to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Those new enshrinees will be revealed in the days following the vote.
The finalists will be deliberated by the Blue-Ribbon Panel in January from which 10 seniors, three contributors, and two coaches will be elected to the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020.
The Eagles have three representatives in the running for this special centennial class. Former head coach Dick Vermeil (1976-1982), wide receiver Harold Carmichael (1971-1983), and tackle Al Wistert (1944-1951) are being considered for this honor. Learn more about their contributions to the Eagles and the NFL below.
Harold Carmichael
A four-time Pro Bowl selection, the 6-8 Harold Carmichael was not only one of the tallest receivers ever to play the game, he was one of the best. A seventh-round pick out of Southern in 1971, he played 13 seasons with the Eagles before finishing his career with Dallas in 1984. He finished his career ranked sixth on the NFL's all-time receptions list with 590 and remains the Eagles' career leader in terms of receptions (589), yards (8,978), and touchdowns (79). The Jacksonville, Florida native was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1987.
Dick Vermeil
The Eagles' head coach from 1976-82, Dick Vermeil will long be remembered as a workaholic, a perfectionist, and as a winner. A success at every level of coaching, from his first high school head coaching job in 1960, to a stint at UCLA in 1974-75, and with the Eagles, Vermeil attacked his profession with a degree of passion rarely seen. A native of Calistoga, California, Vermeil coached the Eagles into the playoffs four consecutive times from 1978-81, including a trip to Super Bowl XV as NFC Champions in January of 1981. He was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1994.
Al Wistert
During his nine-year career in Philadelphia, Al Wistert earned NFL All-Pro honors an amazing eight times as a dominant force on the Eagles' offensive line. Wistert was a member of the Eagles' back-to-back NFL Championship teams in 1948-49 and played in the first-ever Pro Bowl in 1951. He played in 95 games with the Eagles as a two-way player. His jersey number 70 was retired by the team in 1952. Wistert was a fifth-round draft pick from Michigan in 1943. He was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2009. Wistert passed away in 2016.
Enshrinement for Class of 2020
The entire 20-person Class of 2020 will be on hand for the 2020 Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls. The group of Modern-Era players along with contributors and coaches will be formally enshrined on Saturday, Aug. 8. The 10 seniors will take center stage in the once-in-every-other-lifetime Centennial Celebration in Canton on Sept. 16-19, 2020 when they are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
The Centennial Celebration will feature a multi-day schedule of events celebrating the NFL's 100th Birthday party including the dedication of the new Centennial Plaza in downtown Canton near the site where the NFL was founded; and a black-tie Centennial Spectacular to kick off the league's next century in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium showcasing thousands of NFL Legends who built the game in attendance along with world-class performances from a variety of music icons.
Specific details and ticket information will be announced shortly after the unveiling of the "Centennial Slate." For more information, visit www.profootballhof.com/enshrinement/.
