The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Wednesday a total of 60 semifinalists for the 2024 class in the senior and coach/contributor categories, and two of them have ties to the New England Patriots.
One of them is Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is a semifinalist in the coach/contributor category. Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994 and has transformed the team into one of the most successful and best run franchises in all of sports. The Patriots have six Super Bowl titles, 10 AFC championships and 19 AFC East division titles during his tenure as owner. He also built a beautiful new venue -- Gillette Stadium -- that opened for the 2002 season and has seen lots of improvement in and around it.
Kraft absolutely deserves induction into the Hall of Fame for what he has done as Patriots owner, plus his contributions to the league/sport.
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He faces some tough competition for the honor, though. Other semifinalists in the coach/contributor category include Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves, among many others.
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The other semifinalist from Wednesday with a connection to the Patriots is wide receiver Stanley Morgan. He is the Patriots' all-time leader in receiving yards (10,352) and finished his career with 10,716 over 13 seasons (the first 12 in New England). He also tallied 557 receptions and 72 touchdowns in 196 career games. His 19.2 yards per reception is the most among all players with 500-plus career catches.
Morgan faces difficult competition, too, including the likes of Mark Clayton, Sterling Sharpe, Carl Banks, Otis Anderson, Ken Anderson and Steve Tasker, among many others.
The next step is for the Hall of Fame committees to choose 12 finalists in both the senior and coach/contributor categories. Those selections will be announced July 27.