Finally! The NFL has released the 15 modern era finalists for the 2020 Hall of Fame class — and the committee has finally put some respect on the name of one former Miami Dolphin. Former linebacker Zach Thomas has seen his name passed over time and time again — even though fellow middle linebacker Brian Urlacher boasted similar career statistics and also never won the Super Bowl (a superficial qualifier for Canton, in many instances).
But for the first time in Thomas’ life after football, he’s now a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists:
🏈Troy Polamalu
🏈Reggie Wayne
🏈Torry Holt
🏈John Lynch
🏈Edgerrin James
🏈Richard Seymour
🏈Steve Atwater
🏈Zach Thomas
🏈Isaac Bruce
🏈Leroy Butler
🏈Tony Boselli
🏈Alan Faneca
🏈Steve Hutchinson
🏈Bryant Young
🏈Sam Mills— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 3, 2020
Of the fifteen names included here, the 2020 class will feature5 modern era finalists — a one-time expansion of the induction field in order to celebrate 100 years of football in the NFL did not feature any added room for modern era finalists. So now Thomas will have to wait to see if he’s in the top-3 of ths list of fifteen finalists. We know he’s certainly on our ballot — and former teammate Sage Rosenfels is ready to vouch for his candidacy as well.
If any Hall of Fame voters want to know about Zach Thomas as a teammate, please get ahold of me.
I’ve played with multiple current and future Hall of Famers and there’s zero reason Zach isn’t in already. https://t.co/0CujPXDBy3
— Sage Rosenfels (@SageRosenfels18) January 2, 2020
The Hall of Fame Committee will meet on Saturday, February 1st to finalize the class of 2020. We’d like to urge them to do the right thing: Zach Thomas 2020!