2021 Hall Of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony Will Be Historic

The Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend is going to look a lot different this year.

The actual game will go on as normal. It’s set to take place on Thursday, Aug. 5 at 8 p.m. ET, and will feature the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys. Sure, it’ll have been two years since the last Hall of Fame Game, but it will be familiar.

The enshrinement ceremony will too, but there will be a historic twist to it. It’s going to include two classes, the 2020 group and the most recent inductees from 2021. That was decided last June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In other words, we’re going to get a lot more speeches.

Here is a list of the 20 2020 inductees:

• Steve Atwater
• Isaac Bruce
• Steve Hutchinson
• Edgerrin James
• Troy Polamalu
• Bill Cowher
• Jimmy Johnson
• Harold Carmichael
• Jim Covert
• Bobby Dillon
• Cliff Harris
• Winston Hill
• Alex Karras
• Donnie Shell
• Duke Slater
• Mac Speedie
• Ed Sprinkle
• Steve Sabol
• Paul Tagliabue
• George Young

Then, we’ve got the 2021 group, which will include:

• Peyton Manning
• Charles Woodson
• Calvin Johnson
• Drew Pearson
• Alan Faneca
• Bill Nunn
• John Lynch
• Tom Flores

Charlean Williams with Pro Football Talk noticed something interesting about these lists: eight of the 28 names above played for either the Steelers or the Cowboys, the two teams who will be playing in the game.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for football to return.

Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.