Ken Anderson is going to have to wait another year.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Senior Committee tapped defense Wednesday when it named former Chiefs, Oilers and Lions tackle Curley Culp, and former Packers and Redskins linebacker Dave Robinson as the two senior candidates that make the list of 17 finalists for next February's vote.
It's the second year Anderson has been eligible for the senior list, which is open to players that have been retired at least 25 years. Although several committee members say Anderson has an excellent chance at becoming a finalist, they don't see it happening in the near future because of a backlog of defensive players and stars from the 1960s and 1970s.
Robinson and Culp fit that category as two of the marquee defensive players in the early Super Bowls with Robinson's Packers and Culp's Chiefs. Robinson, a three-time Pro Bowler, played on three of Green Bay's title teams before he retired after the 1974 season. Culp's five Pro Bowls were capped by winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1975 and he retired in 1981.
Anderson, who retired in 1986 as the most accurate passer in postseason history, is the only eligible quarterback with at least three passing titles that isn't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He won four while becoming the only quarterback to win back-to-back passing titles in two different decades, 1974-75 and 1981-82.
"Like I've said, it's an honor to be considered but life isn't any different now than it was two hours ago," Anderson said. "Those are two worthy guys."
