Former Green Bay Packers great Brett Favre heads the list of 15 modern-era finalists who are being considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.
Favre is one of three first-year eligible nominees, along with wide receiver Terrell Owens and guard Alan Faneca.
The selection committee is to meet in San Francisco on the eve of Super Bowl 50 next month to elect the Class of 2016.
Photo: AP
No more than five modern-era finalists can be inducted in a given year.
This is the first year Favre is eligible, having retired five years ago with virtually every major NFL career passing record.
His marks for touchdown passes and passing yards have since been surpassed by Peyton Manning.
Last year, Favre was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame and became the sixth player in Packers history to have his jersey number retired.
Named the NFL Most Valuable Player three straight times from 1995 to 1997, Favre started in five NFC championship games and led the Packers to a victory in Super Bowl 31 after the 1996 season.
Favre, 46, was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in the 1991 NFL Draft. A year later, Favre was traded to the Packers. He stayed in Green Bay until 2007 before playing one season with the New York Jets and two with the Minnesota Vikings before retiring.
Owens played for five teams in 16 NFL seasons, reaching the Super Bowl with the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles.
He ranks second in yards receiving with 15,934 and third in touchdown receptions with 153.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set