1987 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project Class.

Here we are!  Again!!

If you have been following our Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, you know we have asked the question: What if the PFHOF had begun in January 1946?

After soliciting and obtaining a passionate group of football fans and historians, we sent out a ballot for a Preliminary Vote, in which each voter selected 25 names as their semi-finalists and 5 names for the Senior Pool. We then asked the group to vote for their 15 Finalists in the Modern Era and 3 in the Senior Category. The final stage was to vote for their five Modern Era inductee and one Senior inductee.

This is the result of the 42nd official class. 

Below are the final results of this project based on 35 votes.

Remember that we have reverted back to the top five candidates entering the Hall in the Modern Era

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1987:

This is for the “Senior Era”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1987.

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1987.

About the 1987 Inductees:

Joe Greene, DT, PIT 1969-81: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1987 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Playing his college ball at North Texas, the Steelers drafted Joe Greene with the number 4 pick, and he was the player around whom the Steel Curtain was built.  You can take it a step further and say that everything changed when Greene and Head Coach Chuck Noll arrived in 1969, as, despite the Steelers' longevity, they had never won a Championship. 

The Steelers had no winning culture, and Greene had said in past interviews that he was not happy to have been drafted by Pittsburgh.  The wins did not come in his rookie year, as Pittsburgh had only one "W," but Greene was a bright spot, named to the Pro Bowl and the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The Steelers acquired more talent through the draft, and by 1972, they assembled one of the most dominating defensive lines ever.  The Steel Curtain had arrived, and they were now Super Bowl contenders.  Greene won the 1972 Defensive Player of the Year Award, and two years later, he did so again, but it was a far more special year for Mean Joe.

The Steelers lived up to their promise by winning the Super Bowl that year, and they did so again the season after.  The Steelers' defense remained the most vaunted unit in football, and with Greene as their leader, they won two more Super Bowls before the decade closed out.  

Injuries compiled on the Defensive Tackle, and he retired after the 1981 season with 78.5 "unofficial tackles" and 10 Pro Bowl Selections.  Greene led by example, often without saying a word, and it is not without merit to say that, if it were not for Greene, the Steelers wouldn't be the Steelers. 

Greene entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, and 30 years later was named to the Steelers Hall of Honor.  Greene is also one of two legendary Steelers whose numbers have been retired.

Alan Page, DT, MIN 1967-78 & CHI 1978-81: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1987 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

Alan Page was a National Champion and Consensus All-American at Notre Dame and achieved a level of collegiate success that places him in the top 1%.  He breached the same level as an NFL Player.

The Minnesota Vikings chose Page with the 15^th Overall Pick in 1967, and the Defensive Tackle began a nine-year run of Pro Bowls as a sophomore.  Page became the heart of the Vikings’ “Purple People Eaters” Defense and their top pass rusher.  Leading his team to four Super Bowl appearances, Page was a six-time First Team All-Pro, and in 1971, he made history as the first defensive player to win the MVP.  He also led the NFL in Approximate Value three years in a row (1969-71).

Page would close his career with three-and-a-half seasons with the Chicago Bears.

Mick Tingelhoff, C, MIN 1962-78.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1987 on his 4th Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

Undrafted in 1962 from Nebraska, Tingelhoff took over as the Vikings' starting center and never missed a game in 240 contests, starting every one.  The former Cornhusker began a six-year streak of Pro Bowls in 1964, with five of them earning him a First Team All-Pro Selection.  With Tingelhoff anchoring the Vikings' line, Minnesota won ten Division Titles and made it to four Super Bowls

Minnesota retired his number 53 and named him to their Ring of Honor.

Gene Upshaw, G, OAK, 1967-81.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1987 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

One of the greatest Offensive Guards in Football history, Gene Upshaw, was the first player in football history to appear in Super Bowls in three different decades.

A First Round Pick from Texas A&M in 1967, Upshaw immediately became the Raiders' starting Left Guard, and he remained so until he retired after the 1981 Season.  Upshaw was a dominating presence in the Raiders’ Offensive Line, starting a whopping 207 Games, and for a decade-plus in the conversation for the NFL’s best blocker.  The Raiders went to three Super Bowls with Upshaw, winning two (XI & XV), and the lineman won five First Team All-Pro honors.

Nick Buoniconti, TE, DET 1968-77.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1987 on his 6th Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Very few Linebackers owned Nick Buoniconti’s combination of intensity, instinct, and football I-Q, and it was all completed in an undersized 5-foot-11, 220 Pound package.

Drafted by the Boston Patriots in the 13th round of the 1962 AFL draft. During his seven seasons with the Patriots, he quickly became a star, earning six AFL All-Star selections and recording 24 interceptions. He was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 1969, where he became the captain and emotional leader of the legendary "No-Name Defense." Buoniconti anchored the Dolphins' defense during their dominant run, which included three consecutive Super Bowl appearances and the NFL's only perfect 17-0 season in 1972. He retired in 1976 as an eight-time Pro Bowler and a two-time Super Bowl champion.

George Allen, Coach, RAM 1966-70 & WAS 1971-77.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1987 on his 8th Coach/Contributor Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

George Allen was a transformative NFL head coach best known for his ability to immediately turn struggling franchises into contenders through his "The Future Is Now" philosophy, which prioritized trading draft picks for experienced veterans. Over a 12-season head coaching career with the Los Angeles Rams (1966–1970) and Washington Redskins (1971–1977), Allen never suffered a losing season, compiling a formidable regular-season record of 116–47–5. His intense, detail-oriented approach—which included a defensive background and pioneering emphasis on special teams—led Washington to an appearance in Super Bowl VI.

Nick Buoniconti was lightly regarded by pro scouts despite being the captain of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They viewed him too small, and nobody in the NFL selected him in the 1962 Draft.  The Boston Patriots did, with their 13^thRound Pick, but little was expected of him.  As we know, this wasn’t the case.

After a spectacular seven-year run with the Boston Patriots where he was a four-time First Team All-Pro, Nick Buoniconti was traded to the Miami Dolphins after the 1968 season.

It is a sad day in the world of the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins as it was announced that former Linebacker, Nick Buoniconti, passed away today at the age of 78.

The undersized Linebacker was drafted in the 13^thRound out of Notre Dame by the Boston Patriots in 1962, where he would be a five-time AFL All-Star for the Pats.  He would be traded to the Miami Dolphins in 1969 where he would anchor their “No-Name Defense” and help them win Super Bowl VII and VIII.  He would be named to two Pro Bowls as a Dolphin.

Buoniconti would be chosen for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Nick Buoniconti.