Playing his entire twelve year career with the Chicago Bears, Lance Briggs was often in the shadow of teammate, Brian Urlacher but he was nevertheless a star in the National Football League. Briggs would make seven consecutive Pro Bowls, had a verstaile skillset, but his name is never mentioned in Canton circles.  It is morel likely that the Hall will not advance him past the Preliminary stage.

The recipient of five straight Pro Bowls as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, Defensive End, Justin Smith was a major force of the Niners Defense and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year by multiple publications in 2011. For a five-year stretch (2009-13), Smith was in the conversation for the top Defensive End in football, and the consumate dispruptor had found his mojo.  He retired with 87.5 Sacks and 884 Tackles, numbers that showed he was devastating on both the rush and pass.

A member of the 100 Sack club (133.5 exactly), John Abraham was a pounding Defensive End who terrorized Quarterbacks for years. Eight times he would exceed ten sacks in a season and was a very popular figure during his time with the New York Jets and the Atlanta Falcons. A very intriguing candidate, Abraham is as of this writing in the top ten all-time in Forced Fumbles and Tackles for Loss and the top fifteen in Quarterback Sacks.  He would go to five Pro Bowls, and was twice a First Team All-Pro, and that first step he took off the snap remains in the nghtmares of offensive linemen.

A three time Pro Bowl selection, Darnell Dockett spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals and had a break out year in 2007. That year saw Dockett make his first Pro Bowl and the year after he anchored his team’s defense to a Super Bowl appearance and tied the record for the most sacks in the big game.