Ten Hall of Fame finalists were top 10 NFL Draft picks

Today a 44-member committee will vote on the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2011. Of the 17 finalists, 10 were chosen in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. That would be:

Les Richter, LB, Round 1, pick 2 overall, New York Yanks, 1952
Marshall Faulk, RB, Round 1, pick 2 overall, Indianapolis Colts, 1994
Cortez Kennedy, DT, Round 1, pick 3 overall, Seattle Seahawks, 1990
Chris Doleman, DE, Round 1, pick 4 overall, Minnesota Vikings, 1985
Deion Sanders, CB, Round 1, pick 5 overall, Atlanta Falcons, 1989
Tim Brown, WR, Round 1, pick 6 overall, Los Angeles Raiders, 1988
Willie Roaf, OT, Round 1, pick 8 overall, New Orleans Saints, 1993
Jerome Bettis, RB, Round 1, pick 10 overall, Los Angeles Rams, 1993

The other finalists and their draft position:

Dermonti Dawson, C, Round 2, pick 44 overall, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1988
Curtis Martin, RB, Round 3, pick 74 overall, New England Patriots, 1995
Cris Carter, Fourth round, supplemental draft, Philadelphia Eagles, 1987
Andre Reed, Round 4, pick 86 overall, Buffalo Bills, 1985
Charles Haley, Round 4, pick 96 overall, San Francisco 49ers, 1986
Shannon Sharpe, Round 7, pick 192 overall, Denver Broncos, 1990
Richard Dent, Round 8, pick 203 overall, Chicago Bears, 1983
Chris Hanburger, Round 18, pick 245 overall, Washington Redskins, 1965

Then there is Ed Sabol, my favorite nominee. Of course, as the founder of NFL Films, Sabol doesn't have a draft position. Regardless, he's arguably more important to the game of football than any of the above individuals. They don't show them as much anymore, but when I was young NFL Films programming was on ESPN frequently.

Through Sabol's imagery, and the voices of John Facenda, Harry Kalas and Scott Graham, it was fun to learn the history of professional football.

You can watch the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement at 6 p.m. today on NFL Network.