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Former tight end Shannon Sharpe, who was named to the Pro Bowl seven times as a Denver Bronco and helped the club to two Super Bowl victories, was elected as the 22nd member of the Broncos' Ring of Fame, it was announced Tuesday.

The induction ceremony will take place on Sunday, Sept. 20, at halftime of the Broncos' home opener against the Cleveland Browns at INVESCO Field at Mile High (2:15 p.m. MDT kickoff).

Sharpe, who played 12 seasons for Denver from 1990-99 and 2002-03, tied a Broncos franchise record with seven consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 1992-98 while becoming the NFL's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns by a tight end. A key member of the Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl championship teams from 1997-98, Sharpe also was a four-time first-team All-Pro selection by the Associated Press while a member of the Broncos.

In 172 career regular-season games (139 starts) with Denver, Sharpe registered the second-most receptions (675), receiving yards (8,439) and receiving touchdowns (55) by a player in club annals, trailing only wide receiver Rod Smith. Selected by the Broncos in the seventh round (192nd overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft from Savannah State University, Sharpe totaled 18 100-yard receiving games (17 regular season, 1 postseason) as a Bronco that tie for the third most by a player in franchise history.

Sharpe also played two seasons with Baltimore from 2000-01, earning the third Super Bowl ring of his career during the 2000 campaign and his eighth trip to the Pro Bowl in 2001 with the Ravens.

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Four first-year eligible players, John Randle, Shannon Sharpe, Bruce Smith, and Rod Woodson, are among the 17 finalists who will be considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when the Hall's Board of Selectors meets in Tampa, Florida on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

Joining the four first-year eligible players, are nine other modern-era players, two contributors and two players nominated earlier by the Hall of Fame's Senior Committee.  The contributor finalists are former National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Buffalo Bills founder/owner Ralph Wilson, Jr. The Senior Committee nominees, announced in August 2008, are former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Bob Hayes and former Atlanta Falcons defensive end Claude Humphrey.  The other modern-era player finalists include wide receiver Cris Carter; center Dermontti Dawson; defensive end Richard Dent; guard Russ Grimm; defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy; guard Bob Kuechenberg; guard Randall McDaniel; wide receiver Andre Reed; and linebacker Derrick Thomas.

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Two Broncos have made it to the next round in deciding the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2009.  RB Terrell Davis and first-timer TE Shannon Sharpe were among the 25 Semi-Finalists named yesterday --

Four first-year eligible players, John Randle, Shannon Sharpe, Bruce Smith, and Rod Woodson, are among the 25 semifinalists being considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2009. The Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors chose the 25 semifinalists from the recently announced list of 133 preliminary nominees.

Although he has been eligible since 1999, this is first time that Roger Craig has been a semifinalist. Each of the remaining 20 nominees has been on the semifinalist list at least once prior to this year. Although no coaches are among the semifinalists, the list includes three contributors, Art Modell, Paul Tagliabue and Ralph Wilson.

The complete list of 25 modern-era semifinalists is as follows:

 

1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins
» Roger Craig, RB - 1983-1990 San Francisco 49ers, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders, 1992-93 Minnesota Vikings,
» Terrell Davis, RB - 1995-2001 Denver Broncos
» Dermontti Dawson, C - 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers
» Richard Dent, DE - 1983-1993, 1995 Chicago Bears, 1994 San Francisco 49ers, 1996 Indianapolis Colts, 1997 Philadelphia Eagles
» Chris Doleman, DE/LB - 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers
» Kevin Greene, LB/DE - 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers
» Russ Grimm, G - 1981-1991 Washington Redskins
» Ray Guy, P - 1973-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
» Charles Haley, DE/LB - 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys
» Lester Hayes, CB - 1977-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
» Cortez Kennedy, DT - 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks
» Bob Kuechenberg, G - 1970-1984 Miami Dolphins
» Randall McDaniel, G - 1988-1999 Minnesota Vikings, 2000-01 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
» Art Modell, Owner - 1961-1995 Cleveland Browns, 1996-2003 Baltimore Ravens
» John Randle, DT - 1990-2000 Minnesota Vikings, 2001-03 Seattle Seahawks
» Andre Reed, WR - 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins
» Shannon Sharpe, TE - 1990-99, 2002-03 Denver Broncos, 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens
» Bruce Smith, DE - 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000-03 Washington Redskins
» Ken Stabler, QB - 1970-79 Oakland Raiders, 1980-81 Houston Oilers, 1982-84 New Orleans Saints
» Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner - 1989-2006 National Football League
» Steve Tasker, Special Teams/WR - 1985-86 Houston Oilers, 1986-1997 Buffalo Bills
» Derrick Thomas, LB - 1989-1999 Kansas City Chiefs
» Ralph Wilson, Owner - 1960-current Buffalo Bills
» Rod Woodson, CB/S - 1987-1996 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers, 1998-2001 Baltimore Ravens, 2002-03 Oakland Raiders

The list of 25 semifinalists will be reduced by mail ballot to 15 modern-era candidates. That list increases to 17 finalist nominees with the inclusion of the two recommended candidates of the Hall of Fame's Seniors Committee. The Seniors Committee nominees, who were announced in August, are Bob Hayes and Claude Humphrey. Hayes, a three-time All-NFL pick spent 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (1965-1974) and one season with the San Francisco 49ers (1975).

Humphrey, a five-time first-team All-Pro defensive end, played with the Atlanta Falcons (1968-1978) and Philadelphia Eagles (1979-1981).

The results of the modern-era reduction vote to 15 finalists will be announced in early January.

To be considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a nominated player or coach must have been retired at least five years. A contributor, who is a nominee who has made outstanding contributions to pro football in capacities other than playing and coaching, may still be active in his pro football career.

Although there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame's current ground rules do stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year. No more than five modern-era nominees can be elected in a given year and a class of seven enshrinees can only be achieved if both senior nominees are elected.

The Class of 2009 will be determined at the Selection Committee's annual meeting on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. the day before Super Bowl XLIII. The election results are announced immediately following the meeting at a press conference at the Super Bowl media headquarters.