The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the semifinalists for the Class of 2023 in the senior and coach/contributor categories, and a total of four former Rams were among them.
In the senior category, which is any player who did not play later than 1996, linebacker Maxie Baughan and Eddie Meador were voted semifinalists. Baughan played five years with the Rams from 1966-1970. He was named a Pro Bowler in four of those seasons and a total of nine times in his career, picking off 18 passes in 12 NFL seasons.
Meador played his entire 12-year career with the Rams, making the Pro Bowl six times and being named a first-team All-Pro twice. He had at least one interception in each season and finished his career with 46 interceptions – including a total of 24 from 1966-1968.
In the coach/contributor category, former Rams scout Eddie Kotal and former head coach Clark Shaughnessy were selected as semifinalists. Kotal was a scout in Los Angeles from 1947-1961 and was one of the first to scout HBCUs.
Shaughnessy was only the Rams’ head coach from 1948-1949, going 14-7-3 in those two seasons and making the playoffs once.
Up to three seniors will be selected from this group for consideration for the Class of 2023, and only one coach/contributor will be selected in the next round of voting in August.