Previous Raiders head coach Tom Flores and previous Dallas Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson have been selected as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
Pearson was nominated through the senior committee and Flores was nominated through the coach committee, the two of which have nine individuals, on Tuesday. The senior committee considers applicants whose careers finished at least 25 seasons back and the coach committee considers candidates at least five years expelled from their careers.
“Thank you for the call,” Pearson told Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker upon receiving the news, according to a press release. “You made my day, and you made my life.
“How can I thank you? I’m crying, and I haven’t cried in a long time. Happy tears. I’ve been waiting for this call for so long.”
This brings every one significant step nearer toward being enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Presently, both Pearson and Flores must get 80% of the votes from the 48-member panel of the selection committee during the selection procedure, which will happen Feb. 6, 2021, in Tampa, Florida, to correspond with Super Bowl LV.
“I know there is one more hurdle to get over, but this is the closest I’ve been,” Pearson told Baker. “This is a dream come true.”
Pearson, an undrafted free agent who played all 11 of his seasons in Dallas, got 489 goes for 7,822 yards and 48 touchdowns. A three-time all-pro selection, Pearson likewise showed up in three Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1970s.
At the point when he was not selected in January as a feature of the Hall of Fame’s Centennial Slate, he stated, “They broke my heart.”
Flores was the first Hispanic coach in the NFL and first win a Super Bowl. He recorded a 105-90 record with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders and the Seatttle Seahawks, helping the Raiders win Super Bowls XV and XVIII. In 1983, he was named the AFC Coach of the Year.
