Devin Hester and Julius Peppers have been named semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2024. This was a surprise. In the modern age, this is Hester’s third year of eligibility. In his first two years, he made it to the finals every year. The two played together on the Bears from 2010 to 2013. This is Peppers’s first year of eligibility.

It looks like Hester and Peppers will both fly to the finals.

From the original list of 173 players, the semifinalist class is the first group to be cut down. There are 15 people left in the final round, which is what Hester, Peppers, and the other 23 semifinalists will do next. This will be announced in January; the finalists from last year were announced on January 4.

The class of 2024 will be revealed at the NFL Honors in February 2024. As a formality, Steve McMichael will also be voted on as a senior candidate at this time.

As a modern-era candidate, a player has 20 years to compete before moving up to the senior pool. In order from oldest on the ticket to newest, here are the Class of 2024 semifinalists, with first-ballot candidates in caps (finishes before this year):

• Eric Allen, cornerback (18th year eligible, 2023 semifinalist)
• Ricky Watters, running back (18:00 qualified for his 18th year, semifinalist in 2023)
• Darren Woodson, safety (16th year qualified, finalist in the top 15 for 2023)
• Eddie George, running back (15th year qualified, finished in the top two in 2022)
• Tiki Barber, Running back Tiki Barber (13th year eligible, first visit to the semifinals)
• Willie Anderson, offensive tackle (qualified for 11th year, semifinalist in 2023);
• Rodney Harrison, safety (can play for an 11th year, semifinalist in 2023);
• Torry Holt, A wide receiver named Torry Holt is in the running for the top 10 spot in the 2023 draft.
• Fred Taylor, running back (age eligible in his ninth year, semifinalist in 2023)
• Hines Ward, Wide receiver Hines Ward (8th year of eligibility, semifinalist in 2023)
• Reggie Wayne, wide receiver (5th year qualified, finalist in the top 10 class of 2023);
• London Fletcher, defender (eligible for a sixth year, semifinalist in 2023);
• Patrick Willis, Linebacker Patrick Willis (can play for a fifth year, was a finalist for the top 15 in 2023)
• Jared Allen, defensive end (open for a fourth year, a finalist in the top 10 for 2023)
• Devin Hester, returning (3rd year players can play, 2023 top 15 finalist)
• Andre Johnson, Wide receiver Andre Johnson (may play for a third year, was a candidate for the 2023 top 10)
• Anquan Boldin, Wide receiver Anquan Boldin (may play in his third year, was a semifinalist in 2023).
• Steve Smith, wide receiver (third-year qualified, semifinalist in 2023);
• Robert Mathis, defensive end (third year free, semifinalist in 2023)
• Vince Wilfork, outside linebacker (third-year qualified, semifinalist in 2023);
• Dwight Freeney, defensive end (can play in his second year, won a spot in the top 15 in 2023).
• Jahri Evans, offensive guard (can play in his second year, was a semifinalist in 2023);
• James Harrison, defender (can play in his second year, semifinalist in 2023)
• Antonio Gates, tight end (can play in first year)
• JULIUS PEPPERS, defensive end (can play in first year)

WHAT SURPRISES YOU?

I thought a lot of players who have never been to a semifinal before had a chance when I made my list of likely semifinalists yesterday. Tiki Barber, running back for the Giants, is the one I missed. Since New York has two teams, there are two PFHOF votes. Gary Myers is officially the Jets man, but he pushes the Giants hard and has had some success in recent years moving both teams forward. He really likes Tiki and will fight very hard for him.

Barber joins Eddie George, who missed one year, Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters, and Eddie George, who was in the semifinals in 2023 and is now back. Barber, George, and Watters are all nearing the end of their eligibility periods. To have a chance at induction, one of them needs to make it to the finals soon. Taylor has the best chance of making it to the finals this year because he has been a semifinalist the most times and the quickest in his eligibility period. We’ll see.

ENOUGH WITH THIS NEW YORK STUFF. I want to know more about Hester and Peppers.

Hester made history in 2022, his first year on the ballot. He was the first straight returner to ever make it to the semifinals, let alone the finals, and he did it in his first year on the ballot. It’s also only Jan Stenerud and him who have made it to the finals in their first year of qualifying.

Since the semifinalist round began in 2004, Gary Zimmerman is the only player to have made it to the finals in back-to-back years and then not made it the next year. Zimmerman started his career with back-to-back finalist years, was a semifinalist in year 3, a finalist in years 4 and 5, and was elected in year 6.

Not having Hester in the semifinals this year would have been shocking, but the odds are very good that he’ll be there again.

After that, no one knows for sure if he’ll make it into Canton this year. (ONE SENTENCE ABOUT THE FINALISTS.)

Only three of the finalists for the class of 2023 got to argue for 30 minutes at the finalist meeting, which is the only official meeting of the voters and where they choose the class. These were Reggie Wayne at 33:48, Albert Lewis at 33:39, and Hester at 31:55. Last year, Hester host Dan Pompei talked about how the argument was mostly about snap counts.

I’m going to write a story about Hester’s amazing numbers, with a note on snap counts. That’s where the Hester train is right now, though. As for Peppers, the odds are in his favor to be chosen this year, but it’s not a sure thing. It looked like DeMarcus Ware would be in the Hall of Fame right away in 2022, but he had to wait a year. Terrell Owens, on the other hand, famously had to wait three years.