Former Washington stars Larry Brown, Joe Jacoby are Hall of Fame semifinalists

Could this be the year for Joe Jacoby and Larry Brown?

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Joe Jacoby has again made the semifinalist list for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On Wednesday, the Hall announced 60 candidates in the seniors and coaches/contributors categories for the class of 2024, and Jacoby and Larry Brown are the headliners for the Washington Commanders franchise.

Each of those categories has a committee of 12 members. They will now vote to select 12 seniors and 12 coaches/contributors for the next round of the process. On July 27, the committee will reveal those 24 names.

One of the original “Hogs,” Jacoby (1981-93) was voted to the 1980s All-Decade team and was an All-Pro twice. He was selected for four Pro Bowls and started for Washington’s three Super Bowl championship teams. The counter trey or counter gap was a tremendously effective play when left tackle Jacoby and left guard Russ Grimm would pull to the right side of the line and the running back would follow behind the powerful duo.

Brown (1969-76) was one of the tougher runners of his era. He rushed for more than 5,000 yards in his first five seasons. He was a four-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro and the 1972 AP Most Valuable Player, leading the Redskins to Super Bowl VII.

Others with Washington ties who made the semifinalist lists are Henry Ellard, Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Shanahan, Carl Banks and Clark Shaughnessy. However, each of these players and coaches made their most significant contributions as part of other NFL franchises.

  • Ellard spent his first 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams before coming to Washington for his next five seasons.
  • Schottenheimer coached the Browns to two consecutive AFC championship games and the Chiefs to a 101-58-1 record in 10 seasons before coming to Washington for an 8-8 season in 2001.
  • Shanahan was 138-86 in his 14 seasons with the Broncos, which included two Super Bowl championships. He went 24-40 in his four seasons as Washington head coach.
  • Banks, in his nine seasons with the New York Giants, was a starter on two Super Bowl championship teams. He was also voted to the 1980s All-Decade team, and was a Pro Bowler once and All-Pro once. He played for Washington during the 1993 season.
  • Shaughnessy was with Washington as an offensive consultant in 1947. He then was the Rams head coach for two seasons and spent 12 seasons (1951-62) on the Bears defensive staff.