FAYETTEVILLE — Three Arkansas football players have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Two more could join them this year.
Former Razorbacks Steve Atwater and Jimmy Johnson are finalists for the 2020 class for the Canton, Ohio-based hall of fame. Atwater is a finalist for the third time and Johnson for the first time through an initiative meant to induct a larger-than-normal class this year to commemorate the NFL’s 100th season.
Twenty individuals will be inducted this year - five modern-era players, 10 senior players, three contributors and two coaches. Atwater is one of 15 finalists in the modern era category and Johnson is one of eight finalists in the coaches category.
Atwater, who was also a finalist last year and in 2016 and who has been a semifinalist the past nine years, played 11 NFL seasons as a safety, including 10 with the Denver Broncos. With the Broncos, Atwater won two Super Bowls, was an eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time First-Team All Pro.
Atwater was selected by the Broncos 20th overall in the first round of the 1989 draft. He started 166 games in his career - he only missed five games as a Bronco - and recorded 1,180 tackles and 24 interceptions.
Johnson won two Super Bowls in five seasons as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He also coached four seasons for the Miami Dolphins.
Hired away from a prolific tenure as head coach at the University of Miami, Johnson turned around the Cowboys from a one-win team in his first season to Super Bowl champions in his final two years. Johnson’s record in Dallas was 44-36 and the team made the playoffs three times.
Johnson previously was a modern-day semifinalist for the hall of fame from 2016-18.
Johnson was the first head coach hired in Dallas by Jerry Jones, his college teammate at Arkansas from 1962-64. Jones was inducted into the hall of fame as a contributor in 2017. Other former Razorbacks previously inducted are Lance Alworth in 1978 and Dan Hampton in 2002.
This year’s hall of fame class will be announced the week of the Super Bowl week in February and inducted in August.
2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame Finalists
Modern-Day
Steve Atwater
Tony Boselli
Isaac Bruce
LeRoy Butler
Alan Faneca
Torry Holt
Steve Hutchinson
Edgerrin James
John Lynch
Sam Mills
Troy Polamalu
Richard Seymour
Zach Thomas
Bryant Young
Reggie Wayne
Coaches
Don Coryell
Bill Cowher
Tom Flores
Mike Holmgren
Jimmy Johnson
Buddy Parker
Dan Reeves
Dick Vermeil
Contributors
Bud Adams
Ralph Hay
Frank “Bucko” Kilroy
Art McNally
Art Modell
Clint Murchison
Steve Sabol
Seymor Siwoff
Paul Tagliabue
George Young
Seniors
Cliff Branch
Harold Carmichael
Jim Covert
Roger Craig
Bobby Dillon
LaVern Dilweg
Ox Emerson
Randy Gradishar
Cliff Harris
Winston Hill
Cecil Isbell
Alex Karras
Tommy Nobis
Drew Pearson
Donnie Shell
Duke Slater
Mac Speedie
Ed Sprinkle
Al Wistert