Former Raiders Tom Flores and late Cliff Branch are finalists for Hall of Fame
Tom Flores is one of eight former coaches to be named as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s special Centennial Class of 2020.
Also a finalist is the late Cliff Branch, the former Oakland Raider who played for Flores. Branch died Aug. 3.
The group of nominees has been reduced to a list of finalists that will be debated in a meeting in early January and voted on by a panel to elect the 15-member “Centennial Slate” (10 seniors, three contributors and two coaches) to be part of the class celebrating 100 years of pro football.
Flores, 82, played at Sanger High and Fresno City College and led the Raiders to two Super Bowl wins as coach.
Earlier this year, Flores was a finalist for enshrinement in the 2019 class, traveling to Atlanta where the vote was held on the eve of the Super Bowl. He didn’t make the cut, leaving many fans upset.
Now there is hope Flores and Branch will both get in.
Hall pass? Tom Flores, Cliff Branch
Flores won 97 games, including an 83-53 run with the Raiders from 1979 to 1987. But he was even better in the postseason, where his 8-3 record for a .727 winning percentage ranks second to Vince Lombardi among those who have coached 10 or more playoff games.
Under Flores, the Raiders became the first wild-card team to win a Super Bowl, beating the Philadelphia Eagles in 1980. They won again under Flores in 1983, holding offensive-minded Washington in check in a 38-9 victory.
Flores and Mike Ditka are the only two men to earn Super Bowl rings as a player, assistant coach and coach.
In a 14-year career, Branch helped the Raiders to three Super Bowl victories and was a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro.
The week before Branch died he texted Flores with a link to an article about the Hall of Fame celebrating the NFL’s centennial by expanding its 2020 class with 20 extra honorees.
“He said, ‘You’re in, Coach,’ “ Flores said then. “And I was going to text him back as soon as I got home and say maybe we’ll both go in together. I didn’t get a chance to do that. Now, maybe we’ll still go in together.
“It would be the ultimate.”
Centennial finalists
Coaches (last coached more than five seasons ago): Don Coryell, Bill Cowher, Tom Flores, Mike Holmgren, Jimmy Johnson, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Dick Vermeil (Flores and Coryell were Hall fiinalists in 2019)
Contributors: Bud Adams, Ralph Hay,, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Art McNally, Art Modell, Clint Murchison, Steve Sabol, Seymour Siwoff, Paul Taglibue, George Young
Seniors (last played more than 25 seasons ago): Cliff Branch, Harold Carmichael, Jim Covert, Roger Craig, Bobby Dillon, LaVern Dilweg, Ox Emerson, Randy Gradishar, Cliff Harris, Winston Hill, Cecil Isbelll, Alex Karras, Verne Lewellen, Tommy Nobis, Drew Pearson, Donnnie Shell, Duke Slater, Mac Speedie, Ed Sprinkle, Al Wistert
Modern-era players: The remainder of the 20-person Class of 2020 will be five modern-era players to be voted on from a list of 15 finalists. That list will be announced on Jan. 2.
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Former Raiders Tom Flores and late Cliff Branch are finalists for Hall of Fame."
