Hall of Fame voting

The NFL process is a little bit different than MLB's- which most people are familiar.  There are 44 members who vote on nominations throughout the course of a given year.  The list gets cut to 25, then to 15 finalists.  Only five "modern day" candidates can be enshrined.  Thus, the backload we have today.  There are also two senior candidates, so we can have up to six former players added to Canton this year.  I would vote for five.  Jerry Rice- best receiver ever.  Emmitt Smith- great vision, the key cog in the Dallas "big three" in the 90's.  Russ Grimm- the best of the "Hogs" in the 80's. (What's harder to believe: the two to one offensive to defensive player ratio in the Hall, or none of the infamous Hogs are in?  I'd say the latter.)  Richard Dent- had a great career, and the '85 Bears defense should get as much representation as possible.  Rickey Jackson- everyone remembers LT, but doesn't recall this guy being a just a cut below him.  I like to equate him to Tim Raines to Lawrence Taylor's Ricky Henderson.  Obviously, being the second best outside backer in the same era has eroded people's memory of him.  The sixth and final choice for me would be Dick LeBeau.  Everyone knows him as the genius defensive coordinator for the Steelers, and forgets his accomplishments as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions.  Those are my six.  If the process permitted more players, like baseball where I can name up to ten players, I'd definitely include Shannon Sharpe, and Cris Carter.  The three spots would be between. Roger Craig, Dermonti Dawson, Tim Brown, Charles Haley, Cortez Kennedy, Jon Randle, or Andre Reed, because all are deserving.  Ultimately, this year I would choose Dawson and Haley for two spots, because we need to better recognize our great linemen on both sides of the ball in Canton.  And I would go with Craig for the hypothetical tenth spot, because he accomplished things that weren't duplicated- namely 1000 rushing and 1000 receiving yards in the same season- until some guy named Marshall Faulk came along.