Before the 2023 NFL season gets underway, nine of the best to ever play the game will earn gold jackets in Canton, Ohio. 2023 NFL Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week is set to welcome nine new members to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, officially cementing their legacy in Canton on Saturday, August 5 at noon.
Aside from the Enshrinement Ceremony, the three days of festivities from August 3rd to 5th will also be headlined by the 2023 Hall of Fame Game, where the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns will open preseason play on NBC and Peacock.
See below for the full list and background of the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class.
RELATED: Full 2023 Sunday Night Football schedule, NFL Kickoff information
Who are the 2023 NFL Hall of Fame Inductees?
Rondé Barber
Position: Cornerback/Safety
- 1997-2012, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rondé Barber was more than just a staple of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the course of his 15-year career –he was a franchise-changer.
A large part of Barber’s success can be contributed his durability. From the time he stepped foot on the field Week 1 of 1998 to the day he retired, Barber never missed a single game due to injury.
When the lights shined brightest, Barber was at his best. The Virginia product returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown in Tampa Bay’s 2003 NFC Title victory, along with a sack and forced fumble. In the team’s Super Bowl XXXVII win, he contributed five tackles to help seal the triumph.
Now, in his sixth year of Hall of Fame eligibility, Barber’s efforts will be returned with a gold jacket.
Gold jacket stat: Barber is the only player with more than 45 interceptions and 25 sacks in his NFL career.
Don Coryell
Position: Coach
- 1973-1977, St. Louis Cardinals
- 1978-1986, San Diego Chargers
Founder of the “Air Coryell” offense, Don Coryell was known for his ability to turn suffering franchises around with innovative offensive strategy. This happened first in St. Louis, where the coach led the team to its first 10-win season since 1948 in his first year with the franchise. Coryell was named NFL Coach of the Year that same season.
After making the move to San Diego, Coryell’s success multiplied. The coach’s offense, headlined by Hall-of-Famers Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner, led the NFL in passing for seven of Coryell’s eight seasons with the Chargers.
The effectiveness of his vertical passing attack brought San Diego to consecutive title game appearances in 1980 in 1981.
Coryell passed away in July of 2010, and after being named a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist six different times, his legacy will forever be cemented in the halls of Canton.
Gold jacket stat: Coryell was the first coach to win more than 100 games at both the collegiate (127-24-3) and professional (114-89-1) levels.
RELATED: Dan Fouts to present Don Coryell at 2023 Enshrinement Ceremony
Chuck Howley
Position: Linebacker
- 1958-1959, Chicago Bears
- 1961-1973, Dallas Cowboys
A first-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 1958, Chuck Howley is better remembered for the legacy he left in Dallas. A consistent contributor in multiple roles to a budding America’s Team, Howley was named first-team All-Pro for five consecutive seasons (1966-70) and was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls (1966-71).
What Howley is best known for, however, is his performance in Dallas’ Super Bowl loss to Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts. The linebacker recorded two interceptions and a forced fumble in the 16-13 loss and was named Most Valuable Player afterward.
To this day, he remains the only player from the losing team to receive a Super Bowl MVP award.
Gold jacket stat: Howley was a five-time first-team All-Pro honoree, six-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl VI Champion.
Joe Klecko
Position: Defensive end, Defensive tackle, Nose tackle
- 1977-1987, New York Jets
- 1988, Indianapolis Colts
It’s not often that a player is selected to the Pro Bowl at all three positions across the defensive line. In fact, only one player in NFL history has achieved that feat – Joe Klecko.
Klecko’s versatility and production at defensive end, defensive tackle and nose tackle allowed the Jets’ infamous “New York Sack Exchange” line of the 80s to create the chaos it did.
RELATED: Jets praise Aaron Rodgers for taking less on new contract
Aside from his Pro Bowl accolades, Klecko also finished as the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year behind Lawrence Taylor in 1981. He ultimately retired with 78 career sacks in 155 games.
Gold jacket stat: Klecko went from a sixth-round draft pick in 1977 to NFL sack leader in 1981, recording 20.5.
Darrelle Revis
Position: Cornerback
- 2007-2012, New York Jets
- 2013, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 2014, New England Patriots
- 2015-2016, New York Jets
- 2017, Kansas City Chiefs
A four-time first-team All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl XLIX Champion and first-ballot Hall of Famer, there isn’t much Darrelle Revis left unaccomplished in his storied career.
Revis was the defining cornerback of his era, making an already skilled Rex Ryan defense unbelievably tough to beat.
RELATED: Revis roasts Samuel in heated Twitter exchange between ex-Patriot stars
His expertise in winning one-on-one battles in the 2009 season earned him the nickname “Revis Island”, a place where passes would rarely be completed. It was that same year that the cornerback recorded a season-high for interceptions, with six.
It was in New England, however, where Revis finally won a well-deserved Super Bowl ring with a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
Gold jacket stat: Revis defensed 95 passes during his first five seasons in the NFL, the most by any player since the stat was first tracked in 1991.
Ken Riley
Position: Cornerback
- 1969-1983, Cincinnati Bengals
A sixth-round selection by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1969 AFL-NFL Draft, Ken Riley made a much more immediate impact than most players drafted in that round.
His rookie year would foreshadow the excellent career to come, intercepting four passes in 14 games and contributing to a top 10 Bengals defense. For the next 14 years, Riley remained in Cincinnati, recording at least one interception every season in his time in the league.
Despite his remarkable consistency and playmaking, Riley was never named to a Pro Bowl. He was a first-team All-Pro selection in 1983 – his last season before retirement – after recording 8 interceptions.
Riley passed away in June 2020, but will long live in Canton, Ohio.
RELATED: Ken Riley’s wife to present for him at 2023 Enshrinement Ceremony
Gold jacket stat: Riley is tied for fifth-most interceptions career interceptions in NFL history with 65.
Joe Thomas
Position: Offensive tackle
- 2007-2017, Cleveland Browns
Of the 10,363 consecutive snaps Joe Thomas took in the entirety of his career, not a single one came in the postseason – joining Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Larry Wilson and Floyd Little as the only Hall-of-Famers to never make it past regular season football.
Thomas’ 11 years and 167 games in Cleveland didn’t see many victories, but the Wisconsin native did not let it affect his pristine play. The “Jolly Giant” earned six first-team All-Pro honors and 10 Pro-Bowl selections despite playing for seven different head coaches and blocking for 18 different starting quarterbacks.
The work will now come to fruition, as Thomas prepares to claim a gold jacket just an hour south of Cleveland.
Gold jacket stat: Thomas is one of just five players in NFL history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first 10 seasons.
Zach Thomas
Position: Linebacker
- 1996-2007, Miami Dolphins
- 2008, Dallas Cowboys
The success Zach Thomas achieved in Miami came to the surprise of just about everyone but Thomas himself. A 5-foot-11, 235-pound fifth-round pick wasn’t expected to thrive in the league.
But, due to what Thomas pinpoints as being well-prepared, the Texas Tech product intercepted three passes and recorded 131 tackles and two sacks in his rookie season. He was named AFC Defensive Rookie Player of the Year, and never slowed down in the rest of his 12-year stretch with the team.
He earned five first-team All-Pro honors and reached seven Pro Bowls, finishing his accomplished career with 20.5 sacks, 17 interceptions, four pick-sixes and 1,734 tackles.
Gold jacket stat: Thomas registered 1,734 career tackles, the fifth-most of all time.
DeMarcus Ware
Position: Linebacker/Defensive end
- 2005-2013, Dallas Cowboys
- 2014-2016, Denver Broncos
After just two years of eligibility, the relentless pass-rusher that is Demarcus Ware will have a gold jacket on his hands.
A four-time first-team All-Pro, three-time second-team All-Pro and nine-time Pro-Bowler, the 2005 first-round draft pick had stellar years in both Dallas and Denver. He totaled a team-best eight sacks in his rookie year with the Cowboys, going on to lead the team in that category for the next seven seasons.
After 11 seasons hunting for a Super Bowl appearance, Ware made his time on sports’ biggest stage count, amassing two sacks, four quarterback hits, three solo tackles and two assists in Denver’s Super Bowl 50 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
RELATED: Sean Payton: comments to USA Today were a “mistake”
Gold jacket stat: Ware notched117 sacks in his time with the Dallas Cowboys, the most in franchise history.
When is the 2023 NFL Hall of Fame Game?
- Date: Tonight, Thursday, August 3
- Time: 8 p.m. EST (coverage begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET)
- Location: Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio
- Watch: NBC and Peacock
The NFL’s 104th season begins with a preseason matchup in football’s most famed city — Canton, Ohio. The Cleveland Browns will meet the New York Jets in the midst of Hall of Fame Enshrinement week, in which both teams have inductees in the 2023 Hall of Fame Class.
Of the nine inductees, former Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, former Jets defensive lineman Joe Klecko and cornerback Darrelle Revis will be earning gold jackets at the Hall of Fame Enshrinement on Saturday, August 5.
RELATED: Dalvin Cook’s odds of signing with the Jets “pretty high”
