Former Green Bay Packers Sterling Sharpe, Mike Holmgren advance to next round of Pro Football Hall of Fame voting

Sterling Sharpe and Mike Holmgren advanced through the latest round of voting by committees overseeing the Pro Football Hall of Fame process, putting them essentially one step away from Canton.

Sharpe, the former Packers wide receiver, was one of 12 semifinalists to emerge from a fresh round of voting July 27 in the “Seniors” category, and Holmgren made a list of 12 in the “Coach/Contributor” category. Both lists initially featured 30 names each.

Does this mean Sharpe and Holmgren are definitely on track to make the Hall of Fame?

Their inclusion isn't surprising nor indicative of imminent induction; both made it this far last year. Sharpe's chances remain better than Holmgren's; three of the 12 players on the Seniors list will be forwarded onward by a Seniors committee as “finalists,” and all three will be given a yes/no vote by the final 49-person Hall of Fame committee. Last year, all three players sent onward (Ken Riley, Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko) were given final approval and will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.

The Coach/Contributor category still forwards only one name for final selection, giving Holmgren a much tougher battle. Last year, that was Don Coryell, who earned approval and will also be inducted in August.

In the Seniors category, three names will again get forwarded next year for the Class of 2025, rounding out a three-year window of expanded selections, before the selection process is pared back to one finalist per season.

Where is Cecil Isbell?

One player not on the list of 12 names is Cecil Isbell, who played for the Packers from 1938-42 and was named in the final 12 last year. He was on the expanded semifinalists list released this month but joins three other non-inducted players (Bob Kuechenberg, Tommy Nobis, Everson Walls) who were on the final-12 list last year and not on this year's list.

Who are the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors semifinalists?

Sharpe is joined by returnees quarterback Ken Anderson, linebacker Maxie Baughan, linebacker Randy Gradishar and cornerback Eddie Meador, plus newcomers running back Roger Craig, tackle Joe Jacoby, defensive back Albert Lewis, defensive tackle Steve McMichael, wide receiver Art Powell, wide receiver Otis Taylor and tackle Al Wistert.

McMichael spent the 1994 season with the Packers but spent the bulk of his career in Chicago.

Remind me why Sterling Sharpe should be in the Hall of Fame

Sharpe made five Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro teams during his career, with 18 touchdown receptions in his final season standing alone as a franchise record until Davante Adams matched it in 2020.

But his career lasted only from 1988-94 because of a career-ending neck injury. When he caught 108 passes in 1992 and 112 in 1993, he set NFL single-season records both times, though those marks have since been obliterated under an NFL that began to emphasize the passing game in the 1990s.

Shannon Sharpe, Sterling's brother who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011, mentioned Sterling in his own induction speech.

"I’m the only player of 267 men that’s walked through this building to my left that can honestly say this: I’m the only pro football player that’s in the Hall of Fame, and the second best player in my own family," Shannon said.

"If fate had dealt you a different hand, there is no question, no question in my mind we would have been the first brothers to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The 44 men and women that I thanked and congratulated earlier for giving me and bestowing this prestigious honor upon me, all I do is ask, all I can do is ask, and the most humblest way I know how, is that the next time you go into that room or you start making a list, look at Sterling Sharpe’s accomplishments."

Sterling can still make that Hall of Fame first happen; Eli Manning won't be eligible until the Class of 2025, when he could potentially join Peyton, and we're several years away from seeing the Kelce brothers or Watt brothers make it happen.

What are Mike Holmgren's chances this year?

Holmgren, who coached the Packers from 1992-98 and led the team to two Super Bowl appearances (one title), finds himself on a list with a number of familiar names, including Mike Shanahan, the Broncos coach who beat Holmgren's Packers in Super Bowl XXXII following the 1997 season. Holmgren coached Seattle to a Super Bowl later in his career.

Shanahan and Tom Coughlin, also on the list, both have two Super Bowl championships. Other finalists are Patriots front-office leaders Frank "Bucko" Kilroy and Robert Kraft, two-time NFL champion Lions head coach Buddy Parker, Broncos coach Dan Reeves, Steelers front-office leader Art Rooney Jr., longtime coach Marty Schottenheimer, Rams coach Clark Shaughnessy, Chiefs scout Lloyd Wells and Cowboys scout and NFL player development guru John Wooten.

Kilroy, Kraft, Parker, Reeves, Rooney, Shanahan, Shaughnessy and Wooten all made this stage last year along with Holmgren.

It's a loaded field.

What is the next step in the process?

The Seniors committee will meet again to choose its three finalists Aug. 22; names forwarded from the committee have a high success rate of approval into the Hall of Fame, though it's not 100%. In 1997, for example, the Senior committee suggestion of Jerry Kramer was not approved for induction; the Packers great later earned induction but not until 2018.

The Coach/Contributor team will forward its one name to the Hall of Fame committee Aug. 15.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sharpe, Holmgren inching closer to Pro Football Hall of Fame selection