It is a sad day in Raider Nation as Cliff Branch has passed away at the age of 71.  He was found dead in his hotel room and is believed to have died of natural causes.

Branch played his college ball at the University of Colorado where he was also a track star.  The Oakland Raiders would select him in the fourth round of the 1972 Draft and that was the team he would play his entire 14-year career. Branch had his best seasons from 1974 to 1974 where he was named to the Pro Bowl each year with First Team All-Pro Selections in the first three.  He would lead the NFL in Receiving Yards in 1974 and Touchdown Receptions in 1974 and 1976.  Branch would also be a member of three Super Bowl Championship Teams (XI, XV and XVIII) and before it was broken by Jerry Rice, he was the all-time playoff leader in Receptions and Receiving yards.  He would overall catch 501 passes for 8,685 Yards and 67 Touchdowns.

While Branch had not been chosen for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was a two-time Semi-Finalist (2004 & 2010).  He is ranked #13 on our latest Notinhalloffame.com list for those to consider for Canton.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Cliff Branch at this time.

We have seen a lot lately of Donovan McNabb and his plight for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, from Terrell Owens simply saying “Who?” when asked about McNabb and McNabb himself comparing his stats to Troy Aikman and saying that he is a Hall of Famer.

McNabb’s candidacy has been much aligned by critics and fans and even on our site, he has not received a lot of support.

He does, however, have a great fan for his potential Hall of Fame bust in his former coach Andy Reid, who had this to say:

“Listen, I’m his biggest fan. I was there. I know he belongs there.  You talk about the great players in the National Football League? Five championship games, a Super Bowl? All those things? Good football player. Great football player, and did some things that weren’t being done at that particular time in a lot of areas. I think the world of him.”

Reid makes a lot of good points, but they seem to have gone on deaf ears in terms of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  McNabb has yet to be a Semi-Finalist and based on history it does not seem that he will be chosen this year.

Either way, we will be paying attention.

It was announced today that Harley Race, former seven-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion of the World passed away today at the age of 76 after a lengthy battle with lung cancer.

Race began in career in the early 1960’s and he would first achieve significant success as a tag team with Larry Hennig in the American Wrestling Association where they would hold the AWA World Tag Team Championship three times.  Race sought a singles career and he would cut his teeth in the Midwest, impressing NWA promoters enough to put the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on him.  In what was considered an upset at the time, Race defeated Dory Funk Jr. for the title in 1973 in Kansas City, though it was not expected that he would be the World Champion for long.  In reality, the NWA had Race beat Funk Jr. as they wanted to eventually put the title on Jack Brisco as they were not certain that Dory would do the honors for Brisco. With Race as his opponent, Funk Jr. would have a hard time escaping with the title as Race had already established himself as the toughest man in the business and one would only lose if he allowed himself to.

Race’s title run was brief, as he lost to Jack Brissco a few months later but Race’s profile was raised, which he continued to add to by wrestling all over the world and winning titles everywhere.  This included the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title and the Mid-Atlantic United States Championship, the latter of which he would be the first ever champ.  

When Brisco wanted to relinquish the title, the NWA board voted 4 to 3 in favor of Terry Funk to be the champion but Funk himself would ask to lose the title for personal reasons and in 1977, Harley Race would defeat Funk for the World Heavyweight Title.  Save for brief one-week reigns by Dusty Rhodes, Giant Baba and Tommy Rich, Race was a dominant champion for four years.  He lost it again to Rhodes, who in turn lost it to Ric Flair, and Race would beat Flair for his 7^thWorld Title reign in June of 1983, which would set up Starrcade, a closed-circuit broadcast that was main-evented by Race defending his title in a Steel Cage Match against Flair.  Race lost, and focused on the Central States and St. Louis territory of which he was a part-owner as the World Wrestling Federation was growing by leaps and bounds and he stayed in St. Louis to battle Vince McMahon until 1986 when he joined the WWF.

In the WWF, he would win two “King of the Ring” tournaments and would be given the “King” gimmick.  He had a Wrestlemania III win over the Junkyard Dog and would then face Hulk Hogan in a series of matches for Hogan’s World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title. In a match that was televised on Saturday Night’s Main Event in early 1988, Race went body first through a table and complications from that caused him suffer a serious intestinal injury. Race’s career wound down after that, though after he left the WWF, he did wrestle again in the AWA and NWA for a bit.

He resurfaced in 1992 in WCW as a manager, where he was most closely associated with Big Van Vader, who would win the Heavyweight Title multiple times there.

Race would be inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1994, Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 1996 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Harley Race at this time.

As we approach the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, we have been working on our future eligible section.  As football players don’t always retire after they played their last game (usually to see if they can land another job while sitting out as a free agent) we aren’t able to immediately add them.  

With that being the case, we have added to our site, 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame eligible list.

The people eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame whom we are featuring are:

Alterraun Verner:  Verner would be named to the Pro Bowl at Cornerback in 2013 when he was with the Tennessee Titans.

Brian Cushing:  The Linebacker was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2009, but this would be the only year that the career Houston Texan would be named to the Pro Bowl.

Carson Palmer:  Palmer was a three-time Pro Bowl Quarterback who led the NFL in Touchdown Passes in 2005.

Chris Johnson:  Johnson was the Offensive Player of the Year in 2009 and the Running Back would go on to three Pro Bowls.

Cliff Avril:  Avril was a Pro Bowl Linebacker in 2016 and was a Super Bowl Champion with the Seattle Seahawks.

Danny Woodhead:  Woodhead was a popular and undrafted Running Back who would have nearly 5,000 Yards from Scrimmage.

Darrelle Revis:  Revis was the greeter of “Revis Island”, where the Cornerback would be named to seven Pro Bowls and four First Team All-Pros.  Revis would win a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots.

Darren McFadden:  McFadden played at Running Back where he would have 7,535 Yards from Scrimmage.

DeAngelo Hall:  Hall would become a three-time Pro Bowl Defensive Back.

DeMarco Murray:  Murray was explosive in 2014 where the Running Back would be named the Offensive Player of the Year.  He was also a three-time Pro Bowl Selection.

Dwight Freeney:  Freeney was a First Team All-Pro Defensive End three times and he would be named to seven Pro Bowls.  Freeney won the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts and he retired with 125.5 Quarterback Sacks.

Elvis Dumervil:  At Defensive End, Dumervil was a five-time Pro Bowl and two-time First Team All-Pro who led the NFL in Sacks in 2009.  He retried with 105.5 Sacks over his career.

Eric Decker:  The Wide Receiver would have over 50 Receiving Touchdowns over his career.

Eric Weems:  Weems would record over 5,000 Return Yards and was 2010 Pro Bowl Selection.

Eric Wood:  Wood would be a Pro Bowl Selection at 2015 at the Center Position.

James Harrison:  Harrison was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and was a five-time and two-time First Team All-Pro.  The Linebacker would help the Pittsburgh Steelers win two Super Bowls.

Jay Cutler:  Cutler would throw for over 35,000 Yards and was a Pro Bowl Selection in 2008.

Jeremy Maclin:  Maclin played at Wide Receiver and he had five straight years of 800 Yards.

Joe Thomas:  Thomas played his entire career at Left Tackle for the Cleveland Browns where he was an 11-time Pro Bowl and a six-time First Team All-Pro Selection.

John Kuhn:  Kuhn was a three-time Pro Bowl Fullback who would win two Super Bowls, one with Pittsburgh and one with the Green Bay Packers.

Julius Thomas:  Thomas was a two-time Pro Bowl Tight End.

Kam Chancellor:  Chancellor helped the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl and the Strong Safety was a four-time Pro Bowler. 

Martellus Bennett:  Bennett was a Pro Bowl Tight End in 2014 and a Super Bowl Champion with the New England Patriots.

Matt Forte:  Forte was a two-time Pro Bowl Running Back who retired with 9,796 Rushing Yards and another 4,672 Yards from Receiving.  

NaVorro Bowman:  Bowman was a First Team All-Pro Linebacker who would lead the NFL in Tackles in 2015.

Paul Pozluszny:  Pozluszny was a Pro Bowl Linebacker in 2013.

Shane Lechler:  Lechler was the best Punter of his era, going to seven Pro Bowls and earning six First Team All-Pro Selections.

Tamba Hali:  Hali would have 89.5 Sacks over his career and the career Kansas City Chief would go to five Pro Bowls.

Terence Newman:  Newman was a two-time Cornerback. 

The entire group eligible for 2023 can be found here.

As always, we encourage you to vote and state your opinion.

Thank you again for your support!