These two Erie natives are nominated for Pro Football Hall of Fame membership
Two Erie natives are among 173 nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2024 class.
Mark Stepnoski and Bob Sanders, both graduates of Cathedral Prep, were included on the list of modern-era players. They hope to be among 25 finalists chosen by the hall’s selection committee come November.
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Stepnoski, an offensive lineman, graduated from Prep in 1985 before playing at the University of Pittsburgh. A third-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1988, he played 13 NFL seasons, including nine with Dallas and four with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise.
The five-time Pro Bowler won two Super Bowls with Dallas and was selected to the National Football League 1990s All-Decade Team. Stepnoski was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, a year after his induction into its Metro Erie Chapter.
Sanders graduated from Prep in 2000 after three years there and one, his freshman season, at Central Tech. The safety played at the University of Iowa and was the Indianapolis Colts’ second-round draft selection in 2004.
Sanders, the 2007 Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year, played seven seasons at Indianapolis and was twice a first-team All-Pro. He was inducted into the Metro Erie sports hall of fame in 2015 and the state hall in 2017.
How can they be inducted?
The hall’s selection committee features one media representative from each of the NFL’s 30 cities, including two each from New York and Los Angeles, where two franchises are based. The Pro Football Writers of America designate an additional committee member, plus up to 17 at-large members from other media organizations.
Each committee member will vote for 25 players to assemble a 25-man list of semifinalists, which will be released in November. Players are eligible for nomination five years after retirement.
If inducted, they would join another Erie native in the hall. Fred Biletnikoff, a 1961 Tech Memorial graduate and career Oakland Raiders receiver in the NFL, was inducted in 1988.
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter,@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie PA's Stepnoski, Sanders among 173 Football Hall of Fame nominees
