With the Pro Football Hall of Fame requiring candidates to be retired for at least five years before being considered for enshrinement, Saturday’s announcement for the Class of 2021 starts the clock for the next batch of eligibles. This year’s class had several easy decisions for inclusion; names such as Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson. Those three will be enshrined along with Alan Faneca and John Lynch as the modern-era enshrinees as well as former Cowboys star Drew Pearson, Bill Nunn and Tom Flores from the senior, contributor and coach committees, respectively.
Next year though, it figures to be a harder decision on the first timers, though the Cowboys have two of the more familiar names. Defensive stud DeMarcus Ware and quarterback Tony Romo are both in their first years of eligibility after retiring following the 2016 season.
Ware is a four-time First-Team All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler, who left Dallas after nine seasons to finish his career with the Denver Broncos. The move worked as Ware was a member of the 2015 world champions.
Ware’s career stats closely resemble those of Jared Allen, a first-year finalist this year, but stunted by the star-studded class. Ware has 138.5 career sacks to Allen’s 136 and has a slightly higher Career AV of 128 to Allen’s 125.
Pro-Football-Reference’s Hall of Fame Monitor ranks Ware as the ninth-best OLB, with a score of 95.33. The average Hall of Fame OLB’s score is 106.19.
Romo will have a much less likely chance of inclusion in his first year or any year. His career was hampered by injuries and a lack of postseason wins is normally a death knell for the chances of most quarterbacks in the game. His role as the league’s best and brightest color commentator could lead to an eventual induction though as an overall contributor to the game.
Still, his career was impressive with over 34,000 passing yards and a lifetime 97.1 passer rating. Romo’s post-career ceiling is likely going to be the Cowboys Ring of Honor, an honor fans will likely see given to Ware this coming fall.
Owner Jerry Jones believes the honor is a prerequisite for Cowboys players making it to the Hall of Fame and it will be interesting to see if Ware is added along with long-time safety Darren Woodson, who reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame Semifinalist round for the second time in 2021.
Other first-year eligibles in 2022 include WR Andre Johnson, WR Anquan Boldin, WR Steve Smith and DL Vince Wilfork.
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