The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022 doesn’t feature any first-ballot members like last year’s group, but it’s a collection of former players, a coach and a pioneering official that all contributed to the NFL in significant ways.
Headlined by Tony Boselli and Richard Seymour, all eight members of the class were in at least their fifth year of eligibility, and many will forever be remembered as Super Bowl champions.
With the Class of 2022 being enshrined on Aug. 6, we’re looking back on the careers of each member, from Boselli to legendary official Art McNally.
Tony Boselli
Boselli finally got the call to Canton in his 16th year of eligibility, making him the crown jewel of the Jaguars as a franchise. He’s the first Jaguars player to make the Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honor for the former offensive tackle and No. 2 overall pick. Despite only playing seven seasons in the NFL, he certainly made them count. From 1996-2000, he made the Pro Bowl all five years and was a first-team All-Pro three times in that span.
He started a total of 90 games, and that number would’ve climbed much higher if not for a shoulder injury that ultimately ended his career in 2001. He still planned to play in 2002 and was the Texans’ first pick in the expansion draft that year, but he never played a snap for Houston.
Boselli was a cog on Jacksonville’s offensive line during the team’s best years, helping lead the Jaguars to 45 wins from 1996-1999, including two AFC championship game appearances and two division titles.
Richard Seymour
Seymour was a finalist four times, so he came close to being inducted before, but he deservingly got the call in 2022. Seymour was a five-time Pro Bowler with the Patriots and a three-time first-team All-Pro, playing his best football during New England’s dynasty from 2001-2006 – a stretch with five Pro Bowl nods in six years. He was the sixth overall pick in 2001.
Seymour won three Super Bowls with the Patriots as a key member of the defensive line, racking up 39 sacks and 64 tackles for a loss in 111 games in New England. He went on to join the Raiders in 2009 where he would finish his career, playing four seasons with Oakland and still proving to be productive.
With the Raiders, he made the Pro Bowl twice, had 18.5 sacks in 53 games and was voted a second-team All-Pro in 2011 – the second-to-last season of his career.
LeRoy Butler
Butler is another former player who waited 16 years to get inducted into the Hall of Fame. He spent his entire career with the Packers, playing 12 years in the NFL after being the 48th overall pick in 1990. Though he played some cornerback early in his career, Butler made his mark as a safety in Green Bay.
He made the Pro Bowl four times, and in each of those seasons he was voted a first-team All-Pro, as well. His best season came in 1998 when he finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and had 89 tackles with three interceptions.
He did it all in the Packers secondary, too, from picking off passes (38) to stuffing the run to blitzing the quarterback (20.5 sacks). He won Super Bowl XXXI with the Packers, one of two Super Bowls he started.
Perhaps what he’s best remembered for is the Lambeau Leap, which he created in 1993 by jumping into the bleachers after a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Sam Mills
Mills took a unique path to the NFL, having stints in the CFL and USFL before taking a snap in the NFL. He went undrafted in 1981 out of Montclair State but was signed by the Browns after the draft. Cleveland cut him, leading him to join the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.
He eventually landed with the Stars in the USFL, where he played three seasons. He won two league championships and was an All-USFL selection three times, being hailed as one of the best players in the history of the league.
After gaining attention in the USFL, Mills got a shot with the Saints in 1986 and he took full advantage. He started 13 games as a 27-year-old rookie in 1986, going on to play nine years with the Saints and making 173 starts in that span with four Pro Bowl selections.
In 1995, he signed with the Panthers and finished his career by playing three years in Carolina. Mills was a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro in 1996 when he had 122 tackles, one interception, 5.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries. He coached the Panthers’ linebackers from 1998-2004, too, before passing away due to intestinal cancer in 2005.
Bryant Young
Young lived up to expectations as the seventh overall pick in 1994, spending his entire 14-year career with the 49ers. An immediate starter as a rookie, Young started all 208 games he played during his career, only missing 16 games over the course of his 14 seasons. Among the accolades he received, Young was the Comeback Player of the Year in 1999 after suffering a season-ending broken leg the year prior, an injury that required a metal rod to be inserted into his leg.
Young won one Super Bowl with the 49ers, helping take down the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. He also started two NFC title games and was voted to the Pro Bowl four times, earning first-team All-Pro honors once in 1996 – a year in which he finished fourth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Young had at least 11 sacks twice (1996, 1999), a remarkable feat as a defensive tackle. He finished his career with 89.5 total sacks and 627 tackles, dominating for the 49ers throughout his career.
Cliff Branch
Branch was selected as a member of the Class of 2022 as a Senior candidate after 32 years of eligibility, and three years after he passed away in 2019. Branch had a slow start to his career as a fourth-round pick, only starting one game in his first two seasons before becoming a full-time starter – and one of the best receivers in franchise history.
In 1974, his first season as a starter, he led the league with 1,092 yards and 13 touchdowns, making the Pro Bowl and being voted a first-team All-Pro. He wound up making the Pro Bowl four times and was a three-time All-Pro, all of which came between 1974 and 1977.
His most productive season came in 1976 when he caught 46 passes for a career-best 1,111 yards, again leading the NFL with 12 touchdowns and a long reception of 88 yards.
Branch won three Super Bowls in 14 seasons with the Raiders and ranks third in franchise history with 8,685 yards and 67 touchdown receptions.
Dick Vermeil
Vermeil coached three different franchises, finishing his 15 seasons as a head coach with a 120-109 record. Starting out with the Eagles, Vermeil helped lift Philadelphia to prominence by steadily improving each year. The Eagles won four games in 1976, but by 1980, they were NFC champions and one of the better teams in football.
After the 1982 season, Vermeil retired and took 15 years off from coaching before returning in 1997 to take over the St. Louis Rams. His first year back was rough, going 5-11, followed by an even more disappointing 4-12 season. But in 1999, everything changed when he led the Rams to a Super Bowl win and a 13-3 record, beginning what became the Greatest Show on Turf.
Vermeil left coaching again after the Super Bowl win, but he returned in 2001 as the head coach of the Chiefs. With Kansas City, he reached the playoffs once but never won a postseason game.
In NFL history, only six other coaches have led two different teams to the Super Bowl like Vermeil did. It was a winding path to Canton, one that included two breaks from coaching – including a 15-year hiatus – but the job he did to win Super Bowl XXXIV with that Rams team was remarkable.
Art McNally
McNally was an NFL official for nine years, but his best work was as the league’s Supervisor of Officials for 24 years beginning in 1968. He’s considered the “Father of Modern Officiating,” helping create the first formal training program for officials. Most notably, though, he introduced instant replay in 1986, something the league couldn’t function without now.
McNally has an award named after him, the Art McNally Award, which is handed out to the official that best displays professionalism, sportsmanship and leadership on and off the field. The award was established in 2002 and has been given out each year ever since.
McNally, 97, only retired following the 2015 season after working in an observer role in the NFL for eight seasons.
