13 Cowboys seniors nominated for Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has revealed its slate of Senior player nominees for the Class of 2026, and the Cowboys are very well represented, including a pair of franchise greats who have just passed away in recent weeks.In all, 162 players were nominated for enshrinement as Senior players.

Each had to have last played at least 25 full seasons ago, so no more recently than 2000.

Five years of service in the league and at least one recognized postseason honor are the other prerequisites.Some of the notable names on the list include Jim Plunkett, Roger Craig, Mark Clayton, Mark Gastineau, L.C.

Greenwood, Todd Christensen, Cornelius Bennett, Matt Millen, Carl Banks, Lester Hayes, and Steve Tasker.The Hall's Seniors Screening Committee will pare the list down to 50 players over the next few weeks, and then three Seniors finalists will emerge for possible selection for Canton.Here's a look at the 13 Cowboys legends who have been nominated.DB Cornell Green (1962-1974)Tied for fifth all-time among Cowboys interceptions leaders, Green is a five-time Pro Bowler (at two different positions) who, amazingly, never even played college football.

A basketball star at Utah State, he took a detour from his fifth-round NBA draft assignment in 1962 and accepted an invitation to Cowboys training camp just for the $1,000 bonus...

and then stayed for 13 seasons.

Over that time, Green never missed a single game and went to two Super Bowls.

He still leads the Cowboys in blocked kicks.WR Billy Howton (1960-1963)The onetime Packer was traded to Cleveland and then planned to retire...

until the Cowboys came into existence in 1960.

The Texas native signed with the expansion franchise for one last ride and the chance to play in his home state.

He went on to lead the Cowboys in receiving in 1961 and 1962 with back-to-back 700-yard seasons, and was actually the NFL's all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards when he retired in 1963.

One of the Cowboys' earliest star players, Howton passed away last month at the age of 95.DE Ed 'Too Tall" Jones (1974-1978, 1980-1989)At 6-foot-9, the nickname was a little obvious.

Jones was the first overall pick in 1974's draft, even though head coach Tom Landry had no idea what position he should play.

After finally finding a home at left defensive end, all "Too Tall" did was dominate the league...

until he abruptly retired from football at 28 years old to take up professional boxing.

After just six bouts (all wins, five of them by knockout) he returned to the Cowboys for reasons he never publicly shared.

Amazingly, he was even better in his second stint, playing another ten years and going to three Pro Bowls.

The league began charting pass knockdowns as a stat because of Jones.

Only two Cowboys have played in more games.LB Lee Roy Jordan (1963-1976)Called "one of the finest football players the world has ever seen" by none other than Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, Jordan wore the star for 14 seasons, led the original "Doomsday" defense, and helped guide the team to its first-ever Super Bowl victory.

Considered one of the hardest hitters of his era, Jordan was also a brilliant student of the game; his contract included a projector so he could watch game film at home and learn Tom Landry's innovative "Flex" system.

A Ring of Honor member, Jordan remains the Cowboys' second all-time leading tackler.

He passed away just two weeks ago at age 84.DE Harvey Martin (1973-1983)Martin is one of the most ferocious defensive players in Cowboys history, and one of the most decorated.

In his 11 seasons, he was named to four Pro Bowls, earned four All-Pro nods, was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1977, led the league in sacks that same year, and was named co-MVP of Super Bowl XII, an honor he shared with teammate Randy White.

His mind-boggling 114 sacks (an unofficial stat kept by the club for most of his career) was only eclipsed by DeMarcus Ware 30 years after he retired.

Martin died of pancreatic cancer in 2001 at 51 years old.QB Don Meredith (1960-1968)He wasn't the first Cowboys quarterback, but he was the one who made the position a larger-than-life celebrity role that eventually transcended football.

Meredith led the Cowboys to back-to-back NFL championship appearances in 1966 and 1967 and went to three Pro Bowls over his nine-year playing career.

After his playing days, he was an actor and broadcaster, famous as the original color analyst for Monday Night Football.

He was inducted into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor in 1976.

He still sits sixth all-time in franchise history in: passing attempts, completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.

Meredith died in 2010; he was 72.OT Ralph Neely (1965-1977)Neely's 13-year career included the Cowboys' first four Super Bowl appearances; the team's dominating win over Denver in Super Bowl XII was his final game as a pro.

A two-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro at right tackle, Neely selflessly switched to right guard and then to left tackle to make room for emerging players.

Oddly, a dispute over his draft status with both the NFL's Cowboys and the AFL's Oilers was one of the major sticking points that had to be settled for the merger of the two leagues to move forward.

Neely passed away in early 2022.OG John Niland (1966-1974)Niland was the first offensive lineman the Cowboys ever drafted in the first round and then began his NFL career practicing every day as a rookie against future Hall of Famer Bob Lilly.

It must have worked; he went on to earn six Pro Bowl nods and is one of just six Cowboys O-linemen with that many to his name.

Niland played in the Ice Bowl, the Cowboys' first Super Bowl appearance, and their first Super Bowl win.TE Jay Novacek (1990-1996)Ranked in the all-time top 10 among Cowboys pass-catchers in both targets and receptions, it's easy to forget that Novacek played the first five years of his career with the Cardinals.

But his five Pro Bowl nods and three Super Bowl rings came after he signed with Dallas as a free agent in 1990.

He posted a career-high 705 yards in 1995 and caught the first Cowboys touchdown of Super Bowl XXX to cap off that postseason, but it would prove to be the final game of Novacek's NFL career Recurring back injuries forced him to retire even though he was still delivering at the position after 11 years.FB Don Perkins (1961-1968)Before Ezekiel Elliott, before Emmitt Smith, even before Tony Dorsett, there was Don Perkins.

The first great Cowboys running back was 1961's Rookie of the Year; he then earned six Pro Bowl trips over eight seasons in which he never finished a year with a per-rush average lower than 3.9 yards.

An instrumental figure in ushering in the desegregation of Cowboys players in the 1960s, he was fifth on the NFL's all-time leading rusher list when he retired in 1968.

He's still fourth in Cowboys franchise history.

Perkins, a Ring of Honor member, died in 2022 at 84.RB Herschel Walker (1986-1989, 1996-1997)The man who helped kickstart a Super Bowl dynasty just by being traded away was nevertheless a prolific talent during his time in a Cowboys uniform.

A freakish talent who rushed the ball out of the backfield, Walker could be a bona fide receiver in the passing game and was a dangerous return threat, too.

If you combine all of his all-purpose yards from his stints with four NFL teams as well as the USFL's Generals, Walker would be No.

1 in that category in football history.CB Everson Walls (1981-1989)Walls is probably most immediately remembered by Cowboys fans for his transcendent 1981 season, when he snagged a whopping 11 interceptions as an undrafted rookie.

No player- rookie or otherwise- has matched that total since.

Others may know him as the defender who got posterized by the 49ers' Dwight Clark as he made "The Catch" in the 1982 NFC Championship, the unfortunate costar of one of the most instantly recognizable photographs in sports history.

Walls led the NFL three times in picks and remains in the NFL's top 15 all-time for interceptions.

DB Charlie Waters (1970-1981)Waters never experienced a losing season in his 12-year career and played in five Super Bowls during the team's 1970s glory days under Tom Landry.

He is among the four men tied as the NFL's recordholders for most postseason interceptions, with nine, and is still No.

3 on the Cowboys' all-time picks list.

Waters made three Pro Bowls and then went into coaching and broadcasting for a time after his retirement.Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: 13 Cowboys seniors nominated for Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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