On Saturday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the five modern-era enshrinees in the Class of 2020, and two former Seattle Seahawks — guard Steve Hutchinson and running back Edgerrin James — were among those selected.
Hutchinson becomes the fifth Seahawks draft pick to join the Hall, and he and James are the 11th and 12th players who suited up for the Seahawks to get inducted.
James and Hutchinson were the only two former Seahawks to appear on the 15-man final ballot for the modern-era committee, which makes it harder to predict who will be the team’s next representative in the Hall.
Seattle had six other representatives among the 122 nominees for the Class of 2020: quarterback Dave Krieg; center Ray Donaldson; punter Jeff Feagles; and running backs Shaun Alexander, Ricky Watters and Chris Warren.
However, only Watters advanced to the round of 25 semifinalists, and he was not among the 15 finalists.
Without any former Seahawks expected to join the ballot as newcomers next year, it looks like Watters is the team’s best chance at having a new modern-era Hall of Famer in 2021.
Of course, with Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson locks to get in on their first ballot and Calvin Johnson also up for consideration, it will be an extremely difficult year for Watters or any of the other former Seahawks to get enshrined.
That doesn’t mean they’ll be without a representative, however — both Mike Holmgren and Tom Flores, two former Seattle coaches, will be up for consideration again. It seems far more likely the Seahawks will have a former coach inducted in 2021 rather than a former player.
