American Football: Hall of Fame Contenders..!

John Elway, the NFL's second all-time leading passer, and Barry Sanders, the third all-time leading rusher, head the list of 25 semi-finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2004.

The semi-finalists were chosen Wednesday by the Hall of Fame's board of selectors from a list of 67 nominees.

Former New York Giants linebacker Harry Carson and late Giants general manager George Young are automatic finalists because they finished in the top six in the voting last year.

Both Elway and Sanders are first-year eligibles.

Elway is synonymous with the Denver Broncos, playing 16 years with the franchise and passing for 51,475 yards and 300 touchdowns, which is fourth all-time.

Elway's passing yards are second only to Dan Marino's total of 61,361.

Elway and Marino headed the famed quarterback class of 1983. Elway retired after the Broncos won the second of two straight Super Bowls in 1998.

Sanders appeared to be on his way to becoming the NFL's all-time leading rusher, recording 15,269 yards and 99 touchdowns in 10 years with the Detroit Lions.

However, he retired after the 1998 season and is third on the all-time list behind Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton.

The other semi-finalists are Cliff Branch, Richard Dent, Carl Eller, Randy Gradishar, LC Greenwood, Russ Grimm, Ray Guy, Cliff Harris, Lester Hayes, Claude Humphrey, Bob Kuechenberg, Jim Marshall, Art Modell, Art Monk, Donnie Shell, Ken Stabler, Steve Tasker, Roger Wehrli, Ralph Wilson, Rayfield Wright and Gary Zimmerman.

does this mean that sanders isnt making a comeback?

Ben not acording to reports i have read but you never know..