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- Mar 19, 2019
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INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning has taken his first step towards football immortality.
The legendary Indianapolis Colts quarterback today was among 14 first-year-eligible Modern Era players selected as a nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2021.
Manning is one of several players with Colts ties to earn a place on this year's Modern Era nominees list, which also includes wide receiver Reggie Wayne, who was voted a Hall of Fame finalist last year, as well as tight end Dallas Clark, center Jeff Saturday, defensive end Simeon Rice, linebacker Cornelius Bennett, safety Bob Sanders, punter Rohn Stark and returner Josh Cribbs.
The next step in the process: today's list of 130 Modern Era nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November, and then whittled down to 18 finalists — 15 Modern Era players and a finalist each in the Senior, Contributor and Coach categories — in January, when they will be presented to the full 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee during its annual meeting on "Selection Saturday," the day before Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2021 will be enshrined Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Canton, Ohio.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame will also be holding its enshrinement ceremony for the Class of 2020, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. Former Colts great running back Edgerrin James is among those being enshrined on that day.
For now, it seems as if Manning and Wayne have the best shot of potentially celebrating their Hall of Fame enshrinements with their former teammate, James, that weekend in Ohio. Here's a little on both of their cases for gold jackets: