Florida currently only has two players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Jack Youngblood and Emmitt Smith. However, it’s possible that the school could get its third this year.
Offensive tackle Lomas Brown is one of 122 players (and 19 offensive linemen) to be nominated for the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class.
Brown played at Florida under coaches Charley Pell and Galen Hall from 1981-84, where he started 34 games at tackle. As a senior in 1984, he was named a consensus All-American while also earning First Team All-SEC honors and winning the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the best blocker in the conference.
The Detroit Lions selected Brown with the sixth pick in the 1985 NFL draft, and he played with the team for 11 seasons before playing stints with the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He made it to seven-straight Pro Bowls from 1990-96, and he was a First-Team All-Pro in 1995 (while earning Second-Team honors in 1991 and 1994). He retired from football after winning a Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2002.
Brown certainly faces some stiff competition, including tackle Tony Boselli, who was the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ first pick in franchise history and has been nominated to the preliminary HOF list every year since 2009 and was a finalist in 2021. There are also several first-time eligible offensive linemen in Jake Long and Nick Mangold.
The list of 122 nominees will be trimmed to 25 semifinalists in November and then 15 finalists in January. Voters will meet before the Super Bowl to cast their ballots for the class, and those picked will be enshrined next August.
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