Pro Football Hall of Fame Reduces Selection Committee Size, Cuts 25 Members

Just before the NFL season started, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that its selection process would be undergoing some massive changes  this year and those changes are starting to take shape.

The HOF has totally revamped its selection process and one of the most notable changes was the Hall's decision to trim down the selection committee. For most of the HOF's existence, the committee has consisted of 50 members. Of that total, there was one representative from each NFL team/city (32), there were 17 at-large selectors and there was one member from the Pro Football Writers of America.

Starting this year, the number of members on the selection committee will be reduced from 50 voters down to 28. To make that happen, the HOF had to cut more than two dozen people from the committee and that process has been taking place over the past week.

Hall of Fame voter Paul Kuharsky (Tennessee) has been keeping close tabs on everyone who has been cut. Of the 25 cuts that have been made so far, two of the most notable ones are Tony Dungy and Bill Polian. Dungy and Polian are both IN the Hall of Fame, which means the Hall of Fame just fired two Hall of Famers. Dungy won a Super Bowl as the head coach of the Colts in 2006 and Polian, who was the general manager in Indy for 12 seasons, earned that Lombardi Trophy with him.

Here's Kuharsky's full list of members who have been cut , along with each person's city and the number of years they were on the committee

- Rick Gosselin (31, Dallas) - Frank Cooney (33, at large) - John McClain (33, Houston) - Tony Grossi (31, Cleveland) - Ron Borges (24, New England) - Kent Somers (21, Arizona) - Marc Craig (18, Minnesota) - Darin Gantt (16, Carolina) - D. Orlando Ledbetter, (16, Atlanta) - Clark Judge, (16, at large) - Alex Marvex (15, at large) - Barry Wilner (15, at large) - Jason Cole (14, at large) - Geoff Hobson, (13, Cincinnati) - Armando Salguero (12, Miami) - Mary Kay Cabot (11, at large) - Paul Kuharsky (11, Tennessee) - Matt Maiocco (10, San Francisco) - Tony Dungy, (6, Hall of Famer, at large) - Bill Polian (6, Hall of Famer, at large) - Lisa Salters (6, at large) - Joel Bussert (4, at large) - Gerry Dulac, (3, Pittsburgh) - Paul Gutierrez, (2, Las Vegas) - Rich Cimini, (1 N.Y. Jets )

The HOF will be keeping 28 voters on the committee (25 voting, three nonvoting participants) and that list of people will be determined annually. The Hall won't be announcing the new list until each current member has been notified of their status. Since 25 voters have been cut, that means that the Hall will be adding at least three new members (and possibly more) to the selection committee this year.

With Dungy and Polian off the selection committee, that leaves Dan Fouts and James Lofton as the only Pro Football Hall of Famers left,  according to Kuharsky .

Kuharsky has a tentative list of committee members that the Hall will be retaining and you can check out the full list on his website here .

One interesting note is that the HOF will be keeping Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star. Gregorian famously voted against Bill Belichick's induction last year and the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach didn't end up making the cut. After Belichick was snubbed  during his first year as an eligible candidate last February, there were questions about  whether the Hall needed to start thinking about changing its selection process , and that's exactly what has happened.

Overall, it doesn't feel like any of these changes are for the better. When it comes to the committee, it felt like 50 was a solid number. When you trim down to 25 voters -- and you don't even have one representing each NFL city -- one vote means even more, and that's not necessarily a a good thing. The Hall also got rid of the seniors category, which will now likely make it almost impossible for older players to get inducted.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/pro-football-hall-of-fame-selection-committee/)._