The Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project: 1989 Preliminary VOTE

03 Jan
2026
Not in Hall of Fame

1989 PRELIMINARY RESULTS:

Thank you to all who participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project. If you are still determining what that is, we acted like the PFHOF had its first class in January 1946.

We have completed the first 42 years.

For “1989,” a Preliminary Vote with close to 100 players whose playing career ended by 1983. We also follow the structure in which players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter was asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, and the top 25 vote-getters were named Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters will be asked to select 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists and then choose five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process every week until we catch up to the current year.

Please note that a significant change occurred “years ago,” allowing voters to submit fewer than the allotted spots. 

31 Votes took place.

This is for the “Modern Era”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

*Indicates they have been removed from future ballots

 

Player

Year of Eligibility

Vote Total

Mel Blount DB

1

23

Ted Hendricks LB

1

23

Ron Yary T

2

21

Terry Bradshaw QB

1

20

Roger Wehrli DB

2

19

Dan Dierdorf T-G-C

1

19

Ken Houston DB

4

18

Randy Gradishar LB

1

17

Jim Langer C

3

16

Elvin Bethea DE

1

15

Tommy Nobis LB

8

14

George Kunz T

4

14

Pete Retzlaff E-HB-TE

18

13

Bob Hayes SE-WR

9

13

Jackie Smith TE

6

13

Bob Griese QB

4

13

Dick LeBeau DB

12

12

Dave Robinson LB

10

12

Dave Wilcox LB

10

12

Tom Mack G

6

12

L.C. Greenwood DE

3

12

Drew Pearson WR

1

12

Joe Fortunato LB

18

11

Chris Hanburger LB

6

11

Claude Humprhrey DE

3

11

Bob Kuechenberg G-T-C

1

11

Gino Cappelletti FL-SE-DB-WR-PK

14

10

Lynn Swann WR

2

10

Cliff Harris S

5

10

Bobby Boyd DB

16

9

Jim Marshall DE

5

9

Curley Culp DT-NT

3

9

Lemar Parrish

2

9

Roger Brown DT

15

8

Andy Russell LB

8

8

Harold Jackson WR

1

8

Walt Sweeney G

9

7

Chuck Foreman RB

4

7

Rosey Grier DT-DE

18

6

Ken Riley DB

1

6

Art Powell E

16

5

Dick Schafrath T-G-DE

13

5

Houston Antwine DT

12

5

Larry Grantham LB

12

5

Otis Taylor WR-FL

9

5

Jake Scott DB

6

5

Bill Bergey LB

4

5

Harvey Martin DE

1

5

Rick Upchurch WR/R

1

5

Jack Kemp QB

15

4

Dave Grayson DB

14

4

Rich Jackson DE

12

4

Ed Budde G

8

4

Dick Anderson DB

7

4

Winston Hill T

7

4

Jim Bakken PK

6

4

Jack Tatum DB

4

4

Cookie Gilchrist FB

17

3

Max McGee E

17

3

Jim Katcavage DE-DT

16

3

Daryle Lamonica QB

10

3

Floyd Little RB

9

3

Bubba Smith DE

8

3

Pat Fischer CB

7

3

Jerry Smith TE

7

3

Ron McDole DE-DT

6

3

Mel Gray WR

2

3

Isiah Robertson LB

2

3

*Bob Gain DT-D-MG-T

20

2

*Jim Ray Smith G-T

20

2

Earl Faison DE

18

2

Goose Gonsoulin DB

17

2

Fuzzy Thurston G

17

2

Billy Cannon TE-HB

14

2

Ben Davidson DE

13

2

Jim Nance RB-FB

11

2

Mike Stratton LB

11

2

Larry Brown RB

8

2

Ernie McMillan T

8

2

Ralph Neely T

7

2

Mike Curtis LB-FB

6

2

Dwight White DE

4

2

Rich Saul C

3

2

Bert Jones QB

2

2

John David Crow HB-TE-FB

16

1

Clem Daniels HB-DB

16

1

Don Meredith QB

16

1

Bob Talamini G

16

1

E.J. Holub LB-C

14

1

Howard Mudd G

14

1

Erich Barnes DB

13

1

Butch Byrd DB

13

1

George Andrie DE

12

1

George Saimes DB

12

1

Matt Snell RB

12

1

John Brodie QB

11

1

Cornell Green LB

10

1

Lee Roy Jordan LB

8

1

Gale Gillingham G-DT

8

1

Bill Stanfill DE

8

1

Roman Gabriel QB

7

1

Len Hauss C

7

1

George Atkinson DB

5

1

Sam Cunningham QB

4

1

Lydell Mitchell RB

4

1

Mike Wagner DB

4

1

Coy Bacon DE

3

1

Ken Burrough WR

3

1

Fred Dryer DE

3

1

Calvin Hill RB

3

1

Leon Gray T

1

1

Riley Odoms TE

1

1

Phil Villapiano LB

1

0

Abner Haynes HB

17

0

Babe Parilli QB

15

0

Boyd Dowler FL-SE-LB

13

0

Carroll Dale WR-E

11

0

Bob Jeter DB-WR

11

0

John Niland G

9

0

*Earl Morrall QB

8

0

Gene Washington WR

5

0

*Otis Armstrong RB

4

0

*Tommy Hart DE

4

0

Lawrence McCutchen RB

3

0

Terry Metcalf RB

3

0

Bob Young G

3

0

*Gary Barbaro DB

2

0

*Larry Brooks DT

2

0

*Will Buchanan DB

2

0

*Rich Caster TE-WR

2

0

*Craig Morton QB

2

0

*Ahmad Rashad WR

2

0

*Jack Rudnay C

2

0

*Jeff Siemon LB

2

0

*Pat Thomas DB

2

0

*Russ Washington 

2

0

Doug France T

1

0

Monte Jackson DB

1

0

Mike Reinfeldt DB

1

0

This is for the Senior Era

Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

*Indicates that they will be removed from the ballot permanently. 

Player

Year

Votes

Gene Lipscomb DT

2

16

Les Richter LB-C

2

13

Charlie Conerly QB

3

11

Alan Ameche FB

4

10

Buckets Goldenberg G-BB

19

9

Marshall Goldberg FB

16

9

Ward Cuff WB-QB-HB

17

7

Pat Harder FB

11

6

Billy Wilson FL-E

4

6

Harlon Hill E-DB

2

5

Bill Osmanski FB

17

4

Baby Ray T

16

4

Woody Strode E

15

4

Tank Younger FB-LB-HB

6

4

Les Bingaman DG-G-C

10

3

Leon Hart E-FB-DE

7

3

George Wilson E

18

2

Frank Cope WB-QB-HB

17

2

Spec Sanders TB

14

2

Bruno Banducci G

10

2

Charley Brock C-HB-FB

17

1

Paul Christman QB

14

1

Frankie Albert QB

12

1

Bill Fischer T-G-DT

11

1

Bill Forester LB-MG-DT

1

1

Buster Ramsey G

13

0

Ray Bray G

11

0

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Semi-Finals:

*Indicates that they will be moved to the Senior Ballot.

**Indicates that they will be removed from the ballot permanently.

Name

Year

Votes

COACH: Don Coryell

1

21

COACH: Bud Grant

1

18

OWNER: Wellington Mara

3

11

OWNER: Tex Schramm

10

10

TV EXEC: Roone Arledge

3

8

*OWNER: Charles Bidwill

20

6

*EXEC:  Arch Ward

20

6

TV COMMENTATOR: Howard Cosell

3

6

*OWNER: Dan Reeves

20

5

OWNER: Bud Adams

8

5

OWNER: Clint Murchison

8

5

COACH: Bum Phillips

2

5

*COACH: Greasy Neale

20

4

EXEC: George Halas Jr.

10

4

COACH: Bill Arnsbarger

4

3

*OWNER: George Preston Marshall

20

2

OWNER: Art Modell

4

2

EXEC: Don Klosterman

4

1

EXEC: Jim Schaaf

1

1

**OWNER: Leon Hess

2

0

**COACH: Mike Scarry

2

0

**EXEC: Johnny Sanders

2

0

**EXEC: Jack Steadman

2

0

**OWNER: Billy Sullivan

2

0

COACH: Jim Myers

1

0

COACH: Steve Ortmayer

1

0

EXEC: Russ Thomas

1

0

Next week, we will announce the Semi-Finalists for the 1989 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project.

Last modified on Saturday, 03 January 2026 18:22

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at kirk.buchner@notinhalloffame.com . Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Comments powered by CComment