Junior Seau, the beloved San Diego Chargers linebacker who was raised in Oceanside, was named Thursday night as one of the finalists to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for 2015.
Seau played from 1990 to 2009, and spent most of his career as a Charger. He led the franchise to its only Super Bowl appearance. This was his first year eligibility for the Hall of Fame.
Seau committed suicide on May 2, 2012, at his beachfront home in Oceanside. He was 43 and left behind three children. His family has sued the NFL over his death, saying his suicide stemmed from brain disease caused by the hits he took as a football player.
Seau, Warner and Pace joined 18 finalists named during an NFL Network broadcast Thursday night.
The list of nominees was reduced Thursday to 15 from the modern era, one senior and two contributors. A finalist must receive at least 80 percent of the votes from the 46-person selection committee to be elected.
The class of 2015 will be announced Jan. 31 in Phoenix during "NFL Honors," the TV show in which The Associated Press hands out its eight individual NFL awards. Inductions will be in August in Canton, Ohio.
The modern-day finalists are kicker Morten Andersen, running back Jerome Bettis, wide receiver Tim Brown, coach Don Coryell, running back Terrell Davis, coach Tony Dungy, linebacker-defensive end Kevin Greene, linebacker-defensive end Charles Haley, wide receiver Marvin Harrison, coach Jimmy Johnson, safety John Lynch, and guard Will Shields.
The senior nominee is former Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff.
Special contributors are Bill Polian and Ron Wolf, the architects of Super Bowl teams as executives.
Of the three coaches on the ballot, Dungy is in his second year of eligibility, Johnson in his 16th and Coryell in his 28th. Hall of Fame rules for coaches changed in 2007, requiring the coach to be retired for five seasons.
