Introducing the Mile High Report Hall of Fame - for Broncos fans, by Broncos fans

Note: This is the announcement for the Mile High Report Hall of Fame. Nominations have begun, so come help us forge the first fan-driven Broncos Hall of Fame!

Who better than Denver Broncos fans to immortalize the most meaningful members of Broncos Country?

With that in mind, we are proud to introduce... the Mile High Report Hall of Fame!

The Mile High Report Hall of Fame is an honorary section of the MileHighReport.com website dedicated to immortalizing significant figures in Denver Broncos football history. Unlike the Pro Football Hall of Fame or the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame, these inductees are determined by Broncos fans, for Broncos fans.

The Mile High Report Hall of Fame (MHRHoF) is also meant to honor significant contributors to the MileHighReport.com website itself. Authors and members are each eligible for enshrinement.

Each year, between the team's minicamp and training camp, a new class of the (MHRHoF) will be nominated, elected, and inducted by readers and staff members of MileHighReport.com. Inductees will be nominated by members, voted upon by members, then ultimately voted upon by the MHR staff.

Each inductee will receive a real-life honorary trophy or plaque stating, "Thank you for your contributions to Broncos Country."  They will also be digitally immortalized in the Hall of Fame section of MileHighReport.com at http://milehighreport.com/hall-of-fame/.

Each class of the MHRHoF is split into three categories of inductees: Broncos, Authors, and Members. In addition, each class will include a Broncos Sportsperson of the Year. In total, each class will include between three and seven new inductees into the MHRHoF and one Sportsperson of the Year.

The Basics

There are three groups of inductees: Broncos (real-life players, coaches, personnel, etc.), Authors (MHR writers/staff members), and Members (MHR readers and commenters). Two to four Broncos will be inducted; zero to one Author will be inducted; one to two Members will be inducted.

Selection occurs in three phases: Fans nominate candidates by commenting and rec'ing comments; fans vote on nominees to create a final class of candidates; MHR staff members vote on and ultimately elect each year's class.

In the first year of the MHRHoF (2014), the maximum number of candidates will be inducted for each group - four Broncos, one Author, and two Members.

Groups of Inductees

Broncos

While the category name is "Broncos", this category pertains to any "real person" directly contributing to the Denver Broncos Football Club. Anyone who is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame or Denver Broncos Ring of Fame would also be eligible here, including players, coaches, executives, and (super)fans.

Current active players and personnel associated with the team are not eligible. To be considered, a Bronco must be removed from association with the Denver Broncos Football Club (retired, cut, traded, fired, etc.) for at least four years.

Each class will induct between two and four Broncos out of a final group of seven nominees, with at least two members of the seven-man group being "Senior Candidates," in order to encourage a mix of old and new. Senior Candidates must have been removed from association with the Denver Broncos Football Club for at least 20 years.

Authors

Authors are MHR contributing writers, moderators and editors, also known as "staff members." To be considered, they must have been an active official staff member (listed on the Masthead of MileHighReport.com) for at least one year.

Current active Authors are not eligible. Authors must be removed from association with Mile High Report for at least one year to be considered and remain in good standing as a Member of MHR (not banned). Each class will induct up to one Author out of a group of two final nominees.

Members

Members are MHR community members, most often commenters, but can also be Fanposters and those who interact in social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Members are those who served as a beacon of the MHR Community and steward of Broncos Country - showing respect to others and demonstrating football acumen or extraordinary commentary that benefited the site and Broncos Country.

Unlike the other two categories, which restricted nominations to retired or otherwise disassociated contributors to Broncos Country, Members can be nominated from active community members.  Current active staff members, however, are not eligible. Former staff members inducted or nominated for Author consideration are not eligible (Author eligibility overrides a Member eligibility). Banned community members are not eligible.

To be considered, a Member must have been active for at least one year. Each class will induct up to three Members out of a final group of five nominees.

Sportsperson of the Year

The MHR Sportsperson of the Year inductee is a special award given to exactly one former or active player, coach, or difference-maker to the Denver Broncos Football Club that year. The award is given to an active or former Broncos "Player" for outstanding sportsmanship, noteworthiness, football contributions, and community service within that year. The Sportsperson is selected from an initial group of four candidates and final group of two candidates.

The award represents a football figure who we, as fans, are most proud to say represented the orange and blue over the past calendar year. Previous winners of the award can be considered for the award again.

Selection Process

Nomination Phase

Here, MHR community members nominate potential inductees in the comments section of MileHighReport.com. Any member can nominate any eligible person, and multiple nominations can be submitted. The format for a nomination is:

Comment Subject (required): I nominate [Bronco/Member/Author Name]

Comment Body (optional): [reason for nomination]

Fans can support another fan's nomination by rec'ing the comment. All comments that have been rec'ed to become a highlighted comment will be considered for the next phase of the selection process.

Duplicate nominations will be hidden to prevent duplicate recs.  During the Member Nomination phase, members cannot nominate themselves, and any such comment will be hidden. Any nomination that is clearly not related to the Denver Broncos (trolled) will be removed. Repeat nomination violations can result in moderation including warnings and bannings.

How to Advance: Up to the 15 most rec'ed Broncos, five most rec'ed Authors, 10 most rec'ed Member nominations will advance to the next phase.  At least two Broncos Senior Candidates will advance first; the remaining 13 slots can be filled by a mix of modern or senior candidates.

Voting Phase

In this phase, fans will vote Yes or No on each candidate from the group of Broncos, Authors and Members nominated in the previous phase. Each fan will have a limited number of Yes votes for each group - as many votes as nominees who can advance..

How to Advance: The seven Broncos, two Authors, and five Members with the most Yes votes will advance to consideration in the final selection phase. At least two Broncos Senior Candidates will advance first; the remaining five slots will be filled by any nominees.

Final Selection Phase

The final selection phase will be limited in participation to the Mile High Report staff, who are all avid members of Broncos Country, in order to preserve the final authenticity of the process from the Internet - otherwise fans of other teams could come to the site and skew the final vote. Similar to the Voting Phase, staff members will vote Yes or No for each candidate, and have as many Yes votes as potential inductees in each group.

How to Advance: A candidate must receive at least 2/3 Yes votes to be inducted. Only up to the maximum number of inductees will be inducted, sorted by descending Yes vote percentage. Exception to the 2/3 Yes rule occurs when the minimum number of inductees is not met - in this case, the highest percentage vote-getters will be inducted to fulfill the minimum requirement.

Tiebreaking

Any ties in any phase that interfere with that phase's maximum will be settled by staff vote. MHR Staff members will vote for the most worthy candidate among the tied candidates, with the highest vote-getter advancing to the next phase (or being inducted into the MHRHoF, if in the Final Phase).

If there is still a tie after the staff re-vote, MHR's Managing Editor will have final say and break the tie.

Award Acceptance

Inductees will receive their trophy or plaque contingent upon MHR's ability to contact them and confirm their identity. Awards can be shipped to the US and Canada only. Inductees will be asked to submit a short "acceptance speech" in text, photo, or video format to include in their enshrinement, although this is optional.

Disclaimer

These rules are subject to change. Mile High Report reserves the right to change selection processes and criteria at any time. Updated rules can be found at http://milehighreport.com/hall-of-fame/.

Nominations will begin for the Mile High Report Hall of Fame starting next week! This announcement is meant to encourage fans to start thinking about how they will vote at that time. Stay tuned for the full MHRHoF Class of 2014 Selection Schedule to be released soon!

Update July 9, 2014: Member eligibility modified to reflect that anyone who is eligible for Author enshrinement is not eligible for the Member category.