CANTON, Ohio — Former Cincinnati Bengals players Ken Anderson, Isaac Curtis and Lemar Parrish are being considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 in the Seniors category.
Anderson is one of five quarterbacks on the initial list of 52 names that the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Thursday morning.
Curtis is one of nine wide receivers/tight ends. Parrish is one of eight defensive backs.
Anderson played all 16 years of his career for the Bengals from 1971 to 1986, was the NFL MVP in 1981 and led Cincinnati to its first Super Bowl appearance in 1982.
He was inducted into the Bengals Ring of Honor in September 2021.
Curtis, a 2022 Bengals Ring of Honor inductee, played with the Bengals from 1973 to 1984. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection.
Parrish was elected to the Bengals Ring of Honor this past July and will be inducted Oct. 26. The eight-time Pro Bowl selection played with the Bengals from 1970 to 1977.
The nine-person Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will reduce the list of 52 candidates to 25 and then again to nine semifinalists in balloting that will occur over the next several weeks. The committee will ultimately determine three finalists.
Each person in the Seniors category could have appeared in a pro football game no more recently than the 2000 season.
Reduction voting in three other categories — Modern-Era Players, Coach and Contributor — will also be conducted this month.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026, which can be composed of a minimum of four individuals to as many as eight, will be enshrined next August in Canton.
The Modern-Era category nomination list includes former Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins, offensive tackle Willie Anderson (finalist) and former Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly (finalist), a 2009 St. Xavier High School graduate.
The players who remain eligible for election with the Class of 2026 in the Seniors category are:
QUARTERBACKS (5): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, Jack Kemp, Don Meredith
RUNNING BACKS (6): Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Roger Craig, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul “Tank” Younger
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (9): Mark Clayton, Isaac Curtis, Lavvie Dilweg, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Billy "White Shoes” Johnson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Otis Taylor
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (11): Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, Marvin Powell, Dick Schafrath, Jerry Sisemore, Walt Sweeney, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (4): L.C. Greenwood, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Jim Marshall, Harvey Martin
LINEBACKERS (8): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Mike Curtis, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Matt Millen, Tommy Nobis
DEFENSIVE BACKS (8): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Pat Fischer, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls
SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker
