Brazile honored to be selected as finalist

Career Oilers LB on the ballot as a senior nominee

MINNEAPOLIS — Oilers outside linebacker Robert “Dr. Doom” Brazile finds out Saturday night if he’s going to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Brazile is a finalist for the first time and one of two senior nominees with Green Bay Packers guard Jerry Kramer.

Brazile, who played from 1975 through 1984, starred for the Luv Ya Blue Oilers coached by the legendary Bum Phillips.

Former Washington and San Diego general manager Bobby Beathard was nominated by the contributors’ committee.

The Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018 will be announced on the nationally televised NFL Honors Show at 8 p.m. on NBC.

“I feel so good about this,” Brazile, 64, said. “Just to be recognized as a finalist with so many great players is such an honor.”

The modern-era finalist most likely to be elected on the first ballot is Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis.

The most debate could be about wide receivers Terrell Owens and Randy Moss. Owens didn’t make it in the first two years he was eligible. Moss is eligible for the first time.

Other offensive players among the finalists are running back Edgerrin James, receiver Isaac Bruce, tackles Tony Boselli and Joe Jacoby, center Kevin Mawae, and guards Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchinson.

Defensive finalists are inside linebacker Brian Urlacher, cornerbacks Ty Law and Everson Walls, and safeties John Lynch and Brian Dawkins.

Brazile, Kramer, Beathard and 15 modern-era finalists need to get 80 percent of the vote from the 48-member committee that is expected to meet for more than eight hours to determine the new class.

If Brazile is elected, he’ll join running back Earl Campbell, defensive end Elvin Bethea and nose tackle Curley Culp as players from Luv Ya Blue enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

“I’ve been so nervous,” Brazile said. “My wife (Brenda) and I won’t be able to sleep.

“I cried like a baby when they called me and told me I was a senior finalist. If I’m fortunate enough to make it, I’m sure I’ll just cut loose (with tears) again.

“I want this so bad. It would mean so much to me and my family and friends.”

To begin the annual meeting, members of the selection committee will hear presentations on Brazile, Kramer and Beathard.

Then the floor will be open to anyone who wants to comment on their candidacy. Finally, each committee member will vote yes or no on each candidate.

Then the committee will hear presentations on the 15 modern-era candidates. When the presentations are finished and the candidates have been debated, the voters will select 10, eliminating five.

Once the committee knows which 10 survived the initial vote, the list will be reduced to five.

When the final five modern-era candidates are known, the committee votes yes or no on each of them. There can be as many as eight members in the class, including five modern-era finalists.

Focus on Sport / Getty Images Linebacker Robert Brazile plied his trade in the NFL for 10 years, all of them with the Oilers. He started and played 147 games, starring for legendary coach Bum Phillips in the Luv Ya Blue era, when shoulder pads were much larger.

Mike Roemer / Associated Press Randy Moss, left, played for five NFL teams, including two stints with the Vikings, on his way to being nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.