Junior Seau leads 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame class

PHOENIX – The Class of 2015 is now official.

The voting panel selected Junior Seau, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley and Will Shields on Saturday as the newest entrants in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with Ron Wolf and Bill Polian joining as contributors and Mick Tingelhoff in as a senior nominee. The class will be inducted and have their busts among the select few enshrined Aug. 8 in Canton, Ohio. The panel is made up of 46 media members.

In his 20-season career, Seau logged 56.5 sacks, 18 interceptions and three forced fumbles with the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. The six-time All-Pro linebacker helped lead the Chargers to their lone Super Bowl appearance in 1994, falling to the 49ers 49-26.

Seau was a paradigm of endurance, and is the only defender in the history of the league to have played 20 years.

Seau's induction is bittersweet, a reminder of the violent nature of football. In May 2012, Seau committed suicide, and tests showed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He was 43.

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"This is a huge honor for our family," Seau's son, Tyler, said fighting off tears. "It's definitely with a heavy heart to accept this because it should be him. He should be here. He is here. Emotionally, it's tough. We're missing a huge part, but we're staying strong. This is a blessing and we're humbled to be a part of this family."

Bettis, the former Rams and Steelers running back, carried the ball 3,479 times for 13,662 yards and 91 touchdowns in his 13 seasons. He helped lead the Steelers to a championship in Super Bowl XL, his final year before retiring. Nicknamed "The Bus," Bettis rushed for at least 1,000 yards in eight seasons.

"To think that a little fat kid from Detroit, to ascend to this level is incredible," Bettis said. "At no point did I ever think that I had the ability to get to the Hall of Fame. And to now be here, it's humbling."

Brown, who starred at Notre Dame a couple of years before Bettis did, caught 1,094 passes for 14,934 yards and 100 touchdowns in his 17 seasons in the NFL. He spent all but one of those years with the Raiders, and set multiple franchise records and held the NFL's second-most receiving yards at the time of his retirement.

It had been quite a wait for Brown, who enters the Hall in his sixth year of eligibility.

"It was tough, but when you have Jerry Rice and Andre Reed, you have to wait your turn," Brown said. "I'm just elated to be sitting here."

Haley, the former 49ers and Cowboys defensive end, compiled 100.5 sacks and two interceptions in his 13-year career. To this date, he's the only player in NFL history to have appeared on five Super Bowl winning teams.

"Individual awards are never something that I have ever believed in, but I now have a new team here and I'm just so very, very happy," Haley said.

Shields played in 224 consecutive games from his rookie season in 1993, until he retired. He started 223 of those games. In his 14 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Shields was a three-time All-Pro guard.

Wolf has been a long-time personnel man in the NFL, starting out as an Oakland scout in 1963. He later became a director of player personnel and helped build teams that won nine division titles and made three Super Bowl appearances. Considered one of the top talent evaluators in NFL history, Wolf later moved on to Green Bay and built a Packers team that won three consecutive division championships and earned a championship in Super Bowl XXXI.

Spanning back to 1978, Polian assembled rosters with the Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and was involved in laying the foundation of the expansion Carolina Panthers. His teams appeared in five Super Bowls, including a championship in 2006. Polian is known as the architect of the Colts and drafted quarterback Peyton Manning.

"It's really overwhelming," Polian said. "I never in a million years thought I'd be in this situation. These names here, they're way above my pay grade. The biggest thrill tonight for me is to share it with my family and to have (Bills quarterback) Jim Kelly and Peyton Manning here, because they're the reason that I'm here."

Tingelhoff was a five-time All-Pro in 17 seasons, all of which were as a center with the Minnesota Vikings. Tingelhoff helped win 10 division titles from 1968 through 1978 and propelled the Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances.