Each year at this time, a groundswell of debate begins over the candidacy and the merits of Pro Football Hall of Fame (“HOF”) nominees and their respective levels of worthiness for induction.  As he has on a few other occasions Art Modell is among the first cut of nominees for induction.

Football fans of Baltimore want to see Modell honored in Canton, Ohio yet he does have his detractors. To gain a better sense of the voting process and Modell’s chances this year, I sat down with Baltimore’s voting member of the induction committee, Scott Garceau from ABC 2 News and 105.7 The Fan…

1. Scott, what exactly is the HOF committee and how many voting members does it consist of?

SG: Pro Football Hall of Fame's 44-person Board of Selectors meets annually on Super Bowl Saturday to determine that year’s class. The Board consists of one media representative from each pro football city with two from New York (Giants/Jets). A 33rd member is a representative of the Pro Football Writers of America and there are 11 at-large delegates.

With the exception of the PFWA representative who is appointed for a two-year term, all appointments are of the open-end variety and can be terminated only by retirement or resignation, as long as the member continues to attend meetings regularly.

2. When voting in a new nominee what are the factors the voting members consider before casting their vote?

SG: The body of work of that player, coach or contributor. How he stacks with the best at his position, how he stacks up with the best of his era. The by-laws tell us to judge the person on performance only, not character. If he played football Pete Rose would be judged on his playing record not his trouble off the field, O.J. Simpson the same.

[That said], human nature still plays a part, in my opinion that may have coast Michael Irvin and more recently Cris Carter 1st ballot election.

3. There are 25 or so nominees each year that get paired down to a smaller number and then an even smaller number are inducted.  Describe that process.

SG: This year’s list started with 133 preliminary nominees. After examining that list we voted for our top 25. The top 25 Modern Era Semifinalists were announced on November 25th. 

The list of 25 will now be reduced to 17 finalist nominees, including Bob Hayes and Claude Humphrey this year’s Seniors Committee nominees. The results of the modern-era reduction vote to 15 will be announced in early January.

On Super Bowl Saturday each candidate is presented with an open discussion on the nominee's strengths and weaknesses. A candidate must receive at least 80 percent approval of the Board for election. In this session we reduce the field twice by secret ballot then make a YES or VOTE on the finalists.

The Hall doesn't release the result of the vote (was he a unanimous pick ?) and the Board of Selectors doesn't know who's been voted in until the HOF press conference later that day.

There is no set number for any class of enshrinees but, the Board's current ground rules do stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year with no more than 5 being modern era candidates.

4. It is well known that Tony Grossi has passionately pleaded his case as to why Art Modell should not be in the Hall of Fame?  Is that the only thing keeping Art out of Canton or are there other mitigating circumstances?

SG: I think Tony Grossi gets too much credit for keeping Art out of the Hall of Fame. This is the 5th year I've been in the room and in my time Art has never been a finalist. I think there are some very strong-willed people who sit on the board of selectors and one man's opinion likely won't deter how they feel.

How many in the room hold the move against Art I don't know, but I do know his contribution to the NFL has earned him induction. I just hope Art is alive to get the news. I have heard some say they believe it's a PLAYERS Hall of Fame and will always favor a player over a contributor if it's close.

Consider this year’s class, with a maximum of 5 Modern Era's for election you have strong 1st year eligible players in Rod Woodson, Shannon Sharpe and Bruce Smith. Cris Carter has some of the best numbers ever for a wide receiver, Derrick Thomas played in 9 Pro Bowls and has numbers similar to Lawrence Taylor and Randall McDaniel played in 12 Pro Bowls. Some in the room feel Paul Tagliabue deserves induction. There might be 10-15 viable Hall of Famers but only 5 spots. Art Monk had to wait far too long.  

5. There is a local rally going on to create momentum for Art, specifically an IN-DUCT ART chant that is being promoted by a local radio station.  In your opinion, will that affect the vote of committee members?