Six-time Super Bowl-winning owner Robert Kraft and Bud Adams, who founded the Houston Oilers and was a key part of the formation of the AFL, are among the nine contributors who advanced to the semifinal stage for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.
A blue-ribbon committee reduced the candidates from an initial list of 21 nominees in voting released Thursday. The committee will meet next Tuesday to select one finalist who will advance to voting conducted by the full selection committee early next year.
There also will be 15 modern-era finalists, three seniors and one coach for the Class of 2026. Between four and eight new members will be elected in the second year of this current format.
The semifinalists also included Ralph Hay, who owned the Canton Bulldogs from 1918-22 and hosted the meeting that led to the formation of the NFL. Hay was the finalist in the contributor group last year but didn’t get enough votes for induction.
Kraft bought the New England Patriots in 1994 and quickly turned them into one of the most successful franchises in the NFL. He hired Bill Belichick as coach in 2000 and oversaw the franchise winning six Super Bowl titles from the 2001-2018 seasons.
Adams founded the Oilers when the AFL started in 1960 and owned the team for 54 years, moving the franchise to Tennessee in 1997.
Among the other candidates are Art Rooney Jr., a member of the family that owns the Pittsburgh Steelers; former league executive Buddy Young, who was the first Black executive in any major U.S. sports league when he was hired in 1964; Roone Arledge, the ABC executive who started and produced the first “Monday Night Football” games that helped broaden the NFL’s popularity in the 1970s; longtime team executive Frank “Bucko” Kilroy; and Seymour Siwoff, former owner and president of the Elias Sports Bureau.
One of the more innovative people in NFL history also advanced. Clark Shaughnessy was considered the “father of the T formation” and three-receiver set during his long career that included a stint as an adviser to Bears coach George Halas for a 73-0 title-game win over Washington in 1940, two years as head coach of the Rams and a stint as defensive coordinator for Halas in Chicago.
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