The only eligible quarterback with four NFL passing titles not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame must wait another year.
Bengals inaugural Ring of Honor member Ken Anderson made it to the senior committee's final meeting for the second straight year, but again couldn't advance out of the field of 12 to gain the golden ticket that virtually assures enshrinement.
That went to the trio of Broncos linebacker and 1978 Defensive Player of the Year Randy Gradishar, two-time All-Pro Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael, and Art Powell, an AFL wide receiver who led the league in yards twice.
They advance to January's final ballot needing 80 percent of the vote from the 50-member selection panel, where Bengals.com has a vote. The last time a senior nominee didn't win election was a dozen years ago.
Anderson's late Super Bowl VXI teammate Ken Riley took the route to his induction earlier this month at the Canton, Ohio shrine and Bengaldom had been hoping to reunite the two in the gallery of busts.
Anderson, who attended Riley's induction and watched a Bengals practice last week wearing a Ken Riley 2023 Hall of Fame hat, has been here before. He was also a two-time modern-era finalist in the 1990s and still continues to draw support from historians and Hall of Fame voters.
Bengals Ring of Honor right tackle Willie Anderson, who has reached the finals of the last two modern-era ballots for candidates who have been retired 25 years or less, begins another bid next month when the preliminary ballot is released.
