The Pro Football Hall of Fame added a new contributor category to help deserving non-players make their way to Canton, and the first two candidates have been chosen.
Via Jim Trotter of ESPN, a member of the nine-person committee, former Raiders and Packers executive Ron Wolf and Bills, Panthers and Colts General Manager Bill Polian are the first two contributor candidates.
Much like seniors committee candidates to the Hall, they will need 80 percent of a yes/no vote to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
The addition of those candidates won’t take away from the five spots reserved for modern-era candidates.
Wolf turned the Packers into contenders in the 1990s with the additions of coach Mike Holmgren and quarterback Brett Favre, and by wooing free agent Reggie White to Green Bay. The Packers were 92-52 during his stint as G.M.
Polian helped build the Bills into a four-time Super Bowl team, then authored a quick-build in Carolina which saw the Panthers make the NFC Championship Game in their second year of existence. He then failed to screw up the Peyton Manning-Ryan Leaf decision, setting the stage for the Colts to be perennial contenders.
