GREEN BAY – Former Packers receiver Sterling Sharpe, back Cecil Isbell and coach Mike Holmgren have been named finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2023.
Sharpe and Isbell are two of the senior committee's dozen finalists, and three of the 12 will eventually be pushed forward for a final vote from the full selection panel.
Holmgren is a finalist in the coach/contributor category, and one of those 12 will be voted either up or down in the last stage of the selection process.
Sharpe was a three-time, first-team All-Pro selection and five-time Pro Bowler in his seven-year career that was cut short by a neck injury. He led the NFL in receptions three times, setting a (then) single-season league record with 108 in 1992 and then breaking it the following year with 112.
Isbell played halfback for Green Bay from 1938-42 but also succeeded Arnie Herber as the Packers' primary passer, getting named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1930s.
Holmgren coached the Packers to back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1996-97 seasons, winning Super Bowl XXXI. He later coached the Seahawks to an appearance in Super Bowl XL.
The senior committee will choose its top three candidates on Aug. 16, while the single coach/contributor selection will take place on Aug. 23.
Here are the full lists of finalists, in alphabetical order.
Senior category (last game in pro football played no later than 1996): Ken Anderson, Maxie Baughan, Randy Gradishaw, Chuck Howley, Cecil Isbell, Joe Klecko, Bob Kuechenberg, Eddie Meador, Tommy Nobis, Ken Riley, Sterling Sharpe, Everson Walls.
Coach/contributor category: Roone Arledge, Don Coryell, Mike Holmgren, Frank "Bucko" Kolroy, Robert Kraft, Art Modell, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Art Rooney Jr., Mike Shanahan, Clark Shaughnessy, John Wooten.
