The Pro Football Hall of Fame has whittled down their initial list of contenders, and things are once again interesting in Cowboys Nation. After releasing a list of 123 nominees being considered for induction into their 2022 class back in September, the esteemed group has narrowed their focus to just 26 players.
Dallas had several players under consideration who did not make it to the next round. DT La’Roi Glover failed to make the cut, as did RB Herschel Walker and more notably quarterback and current CBS analyst Tony Romo. Two noteworthy Cowboys did make the cut, and they are safety Darren Woodson and edge rusher DeMarcus Ware.
Woodson has now reached the semifinal round six times in his career. He was a semifinalist for 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and now once again for the 2022 class.
Drafted in the second round of the 1992 NFL draft, Woodson was a part of three championships with the Cowboys. The safety was known for his ability to also play man-to-man coverage, often dropping into the slot to defend opponents receivers. His coverage ability, play diagnosis and hard-hitting nature earned him three All-Pro nominations and five Pro Bowl appearances.
For his career Woodson totaled 23 interceptions, 12 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, 11 sacks and 967 total tackles. He started in 162 of 178 career games, and each of them was in a Cowboys uniform.
Ware has a much more likely chance of making it to the final group as well as being inducted overall.
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.
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