By admin 
Five men will become part of Pro Football Hall of Fame immortality on Saturday, when quarterback Drew Brees, running back Roger Craig, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, linebacker Luke Kuechly and kicker Adam Vinatieri will have their bronze busts unveiled during their induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio, with Brees and Fitzgerald having the ultimate honor of going in on the first ballot. Conversely, Craig has waited more than a quarter century for his gold jacket after finishing his 11-year career with the Vikings.
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Of course, heading into the ceremony, the proceedings are overshadowed by the man who won’t be there, as coach Bill Belichick was denied induction despite winning eight Super Bowls, including two as a Giants defensive coordinator and six as the Patriots’ head coach. The same fate befell New England owner Robert Kraft, who despite overseeing a dynasty and saving pro football in Massachusetts, wasn’t selected for induction into the Class of 2026.
Still, the class is fantastic, even without the Patriots’ duo, and its headliner is Brees, a Super Bowl champion with eye-popping stats to pair.
Drew Brees, QB
Teams: San Diego Chargers (2001 to ’05); New Orleans Saints (2006 to ’20)
Brees was consistently one of the league’s top quarterbacks for 15 years, spanning a golden age for the position, which included Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and others.
Over his 20-year career, Brees was named to 13 Pro Bowls and five All-Pro teams, earning first-team honors in 2006. He was also named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year twice and threw for 5,000 yards five times, something nobody else has accomplished in league history. From a team standpoint, Brees led the struggling Saints to their only Super Bowl title in ’09, beating Manning and the Colts in Miami.
With 80,358 passing yards and 571 touchdown tosses, Brees ranks second all time in both categories behind only Brady. A seven-time passing champion and league leader in completion percentage on six occasions, Brees walks into Canton as the second Saints offensive player to reach the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, joining former left tackle Willie Roaf.
Roger Craig, RB
Teams: San Francisco 49ers (1983 to ’90); Los Angeles Raiders (’91); Minnesota Vikings (1992 to ’93)
To understand why Craig is getting into the Hall of Fame as a senior committee choice, you have to understand his impact on the sport.
While Craig was not the first back to catch the ball, he was the man who made it mainstream by doing so on a championship team, and to the degree in which he did it. Other runners-such as the Colts’ Lydell Mitchell, the Vikings’ Ted Brown and Chuck Foreman, and the Saints’ Tony Galbreath-had been excellent receiving backs. Still, Craig was the first to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season, doing so in 1985 while pacing the NFL with 92 receptions.
Additionally, Craig was a key cog in the 49ers’ dynasty, winning three Super Bowls under coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert. During his time in San Francisco, Craig amassed 11,506 scrimmage yards, more than anyone else during the dynasty’s 1980s run.
Ultimately, Craig helped pave the way for multipurpose backs who found their way to Canton before him, including Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson and others.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR
Teams: Arizona Cardinals (2004 to ’20)
In an age where so many receivers are stuck at Canton’s gates because of a never-ending logjam, Fitzgerald will join Brees as a first-ballot Hall of Famer in this class.
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While there are myriad deserving pass catchers waiting for enshrinement, including Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne, Fitzgerald broke through due to his sustained excellence over a 17-year career. Over that span, he was named to 11 Pro Bowls, three All-Pro teams and the 2010s all-decade team. He also posted nine 1,000-yard seasons while totaling 17,492 receiving yards and 121 touchdowns, ranking second and sixth all-time, respectively.
Despite playing for a Cardinals team that was often adrift throughout his playing days, Fitzgerald reached a Super Bowl and went to a pair of NFC title games. During Arizona’s run to Super Bowl XLIII, Fitzgerald put forth one of the greatest playoff showcases ever, posting 30 catches for 546 yards and seven touchdowns. All three were single-season playoff records at the time, and the yards and touchdown marks still stand.
Luke Kuechly, LB
Teams: Carolina Panthers (2012 to ’19)
In eight seasons, Kuechly made the most of a short (by Hall of Fame standards) career. Only once was he not named an All-Pro, and that was his first season when he earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors with a league-high 164 tackles.
Kuechly was the gold standard of inside linebackers during his time in Carolina. A 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time first-team All-Pro, Kuechly helped lead the Panthers to Super Bowl 50 in ’15, posting 118 tackles, five quarterback hits and four interceptions as the Panthers went 15–1 that season.
Although Kuechly retired early due to concussion issues, his legacy was made clear by his selection to the 2010s all-decade team. In his final season of ’19, he played all 16 games, recording 144 tackles, two interceptions and 12 passes defensed, demonstrating how dominant he still was before retiring after his age-28 season. Now 35 years old, he’ll be the second-youngest inductee in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s history; Gale Sayers was 34.
Adam Vinatieri, K
Teams: New England Patriots (1996 to 2005); Indianapolis Colts (2006 to ’19)
Vinatieri is the gold standard for clutch kicking. In both Super Bowl XXXVI and XXXVIII, he drilled championship-winning field goals as time expired, giving New England its first two titles.
Then, in his first season with the Colts, Vinatieri was instrumental in helping Peyton Manning win his first Super Bowl, booting five field goals in a 15–6 win over the Ravens in the divisional round. In that postseason run, Vinatieri hit 14-of-15 field goal attempts, including at least three in all four games, en route to winning Super Bowl XLI.
All told, Vinatieri holds the record for most field goals made (599) and attempted (715) in the regular season, as well as in the postseason by going 56-of-69. Retired kicker Stephen Gostkowski is a distant second in playoff field goals with 41, while the active leader is the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker with 36.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald Headline 2026 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
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This story was originally published August 3, 2026 at 3:00 AM.