Twelve former Packers nominated for 2026 Pro Football HOF

The 128 nominations for the 2026 Pro Hall of Fame were announced last week, which included 12 former Green Bay Packer players. 

Nominees include receivers Donald Driver and Jordy Nelson, safety Nick Collins, linebackers A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews and guard Josh Sitton.

Other nominees who played parts of their career in Green Bay include offensive linemen Jahri Evans and Jeff Saturday, tight end Wesley Walls, returners Eric Metcalf and Allen Rossum, and punter Sean Landeta.

I grew up watching players like Driver, Nelson, Collins, Hawk, Matthews, Sitton and Saturday. 

Those were some of the highlights of watching the Packers, with most of them being on the Super Bowl roster when they won in 2010-11. Driver and Nelson were two of my favorite receivers to watch in the Green and Gold, and my grandpa took any opportunity to drive me up to Green Bay for training camp practices to see them. 

Driver played all 14 years of his NFL career in Green Bay, and finished with 743 catches, over 10,000 yards receiving and 61 touchdowns. 

Nelson played four years less than Driver, but made a similar impact on the field. He played nine of the 10 seasons with the Packers, and finished his career with 8,587 receiving yards and 72 touchdowns. 

Defensively, Hawk and Matthews had lengthy careers as linebackers in the league. Each dominated in their own way during their careers as well. Hawk was more of a coverage linebacker and had just over 600 tackles in his career, while Matthews tormented opposing quarterbacks off the edge. Matthews finished his career with seven or more sacks in seven of his 11 seasons in the league, including a 13.5-sack season in 2010, his second season in the league. 

Notable nominees this year include former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward and Reggie Wayne, along with tight end Greg Olsen. Some defensive players include safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas. 

A committee will reduce the 128-player list to 50 in mid-October before naming 25 semifinalists later this fall. A list of 15 finalists will then be announced ahead of the Super Bowl in February.