GREEN BAY – Former Packers All-Pro receiver Sterling Sharpe and Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike Holmgren are among the semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2023 in the senior and coach/contributor categories.
The Hall of Fame announced 25 semifinalists for consideration by the senior committee and 29 for the coach/contributor committee. The groups will be narrowed to a dozen finalists each on July 27.
Ultimately, the senior committee will select up to three nominees to send to the full selection committee for a final vote, while one coach/contributor also will be voted upon for inclusion in the Class of 2023.
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.
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.
Other semifinalists in the seniors category with Packers ties include Cecil Isbell, Lavvie Dilweg, Mark Clayton and Clay Matthews Jr.
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. Dilweg (1927-34) was a two-way end, a consensus all-pro five straight years, and a member of the 1920s All-Decade Team.
Clayton, a receiver, played the last season of his 11-year career with the Packers after a standout decade with the Dolphins. Matthews is the father of former Packers All-Pro linebacker Clay Matthews III.
Other semifinalists in the coach/contributor category with Packers ties include Jack Vainisi, Lee Remmel, and Eddie Kotal.
Vainisi was an accomplished scout and talent evaluator for the Packers in the 1950s who was responsible for drafting many of the players who went on to win five NFL championships during the Vince Lombardi era in the 1960s.
Remmel had a relationship of more than 60 years with the franchise as a sportswriter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1945-74), publicity/public relations director (1974-2004) and team historian (2004-07). The press box at Lambeau Field is named after Remmel.
Kotal was a former Packers player (1925-29) and assistant coach/scout (1942) before beginning a long and distinguished career as a scout for the L.A. Rams in 1946.
