Apparently, there still is a place for defense in the NFL. Only it's located in Canton, Ohio.

For the second straight year, defense dominates the incoming class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But where it was four modern-era finalists who made it last year, this time, it's three – edge rushers Julius Peppers and Dwight Freeney, as well as linebacker Patrick Willis – who join the Hall’s Class of 2024.

But that's not all. So do two seniors – linebacker Randy Gradishar and defensive tackle Steve McMichael. That means five of the seven members of the Class of 2024 are defensive players, and ... wait. Stop right there. Seven? I thought there were supposed to be nine. At least there were last year, right?

Correct. But unlike last year, two of this year’s senior and coach/contributor candidates were voted down. Both coach/contributor finalist Buddy Parker and senior candidate Art Powell failed to cross the finish line, and stay tuned. More on that later.

For the moment, let’s celebrate those who did make it. Ladies and gentlemen, the Hall-of-Fame’s Class of 2024:

MODERN-ERA (5)

--- DWIGHT FREENEY, DE/LB – 2002-12 Indianapolis Colts; 2013-14 San Diego Chargers; 2015 Arizona Cardinals; 2016 Atlanta Falcons; 2017 Seattle Seahawks.; 2017 Detroit Lions.

--- DEVIN HESTER, PR/KR, WR – 2006-13 Chicago Bears; 2014-15 Atlanta Falcons; 2016 Baltimore Ravens.

--- ANDRE JOHNSON, WR – 2003-14 Houston Texans; 2015 Indianapolis Colts; 2016 Tennessee Titans.

--- JULIUS PEPPERS, DE – 2002-09, 2017-18 Carolina Panthers; 2010-13 Chicago Bears; 2014-15 Green Bay Packers.

--- PATRICK WILLIS, LB – 2007-14 San Francisco 49ers.

SENIORS (2)

--- RANDY GRADISHAR, LB – 1974-83 Denver Broncos.

--- STEVE McMICHAEL, DT – New England Patriots 1980; Chicago Bears 1981-93; Green Bay Packers 1994.

For the record, the class was chosen in a January meeting of the Hall’s board of 50 selectors, and it was done virtually for the fourth straight year. The Hall had planned to return to an in-person session that spanned two days, but a wave of winter weather that week forced it to change plans. Result: A one-day Zoom meeting that lasted 8 hours and 28 minutes.

Now, let’s see how the finalists were chosen that afternoon and others were not.

ON THE CLOCK

What follows is the order of candidates and the length of discussions for each – including five-minute presentations and subsequent debates. The meeting began at 9 a.m. (EST) and ended at 5:28 p.m.

1. Buddy Parker (coach/contributor)… 1:10:00.

2. Randy Gradishar (senior) …15:10

3. Steve McMichael (senior) …9:55

4. Art Powell (senior) …14:38.

(MODERN ERA CANDIDATES)

5. Devin Hester … 22:16.

6. Antonio Gates … 35:47

7. Torry Holt … 13:03.

8. Andre Johnson … 22:37.

9. Reggie Wayne … 37:33.

10. Willie Anderson … 13:15.

11. Jahri Evans … 11:57.

12. Jared Allen … 14:02.

13. Dwight Freeney … 11:38.

14. Julius Peppers … 6:48.

15. Patrick Willis … 12:32.

16. Eric Allen … 10:48.

17. Rodney Harrison … 19:12.

18. Darren Woodson … 13:47.

19. Fred Taylor … 11:47.

THE NO BRAINER

Julius Peppers. The guy ranks fourth all-time in sacks with 159-1/2, a half-sack behind Hall-of-Famer Kevin Greene, and was a two-time all-decade choice. But Peppers was more than a pass rusher. He was a complete player. His 51 forced fumbles are second only to Robert Mathis. His 11 interceptions are second all-time among defensive ends. And his four pick-sixes are the most of any defensive lineman. Plus there’s longevity. He played 17 seasons and 266 games, missing only two due to injuries. Among defensive ends, only Hall-of-Famer Bruce Smith and Jim Marshall played in more. There was little Peppers couldn’t do, as Kansas City linebackers coach Ken Flajole noted this week in Las Vegas, site of Super Bowl LVIII. “One of the more memorable moments I remember about him,” said Flajole, who once coached at Carolina, “was (when) we were playing at Atlanta, and Michael Vick was the quarterback. Julius was our right defensive end, and Michael ran a bootleg play to the left defensive end, broke contain and started running. Julius caught him from the opposite side. At the time, I want to say ‘Pep’ probably weighed 280, 285, and I had never seen a man that size catch Michael Vick. It just amazed me that a guy that big had that kind of athletic ability.” It shouldn't. When former Carolina GM Marty Hurney appeared on an "Eye Test for Two" podcast in December (https://talkoffametwo.com/hof-interviews/hurney-on-julius-peppers), he offered voters unsolicited advice. "I'll tell you the same thing we say when we're on the clock (for the NFL draft), and we love somebody," Hurney said. "Run the pick up." Voters did.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Make that biggest surprise(s). There were two of them: Buddy Parker and Art Powell.

Normally, coach, contributor and senior finalists are virtual locks. In fact, the last time … er, the only time …. one was derailed over the previous 11 years ( outside of the Centennial Class of 2020, that is) was 2017, when contributor candidate Paul Tagliabue was denied. However, he was endorsed three years later by the Centennial Class committee, which operated apart from the Hall’s board of selectors.

This time, however, we not only had one who was turned away; we had two. That’s the total of all senior, coach and contributor candidates declined in the previous 13 years (2012 and 2017, with the Centennial Class excluded), and it’s a puzzling development. The board of selectors usually approves its committee finalists, but not this time. It rejected two of the four.

Why? Only the voters know. All I know is that the Class of 2024 won't be remembered solely for the finalists who made it. It will be remembered for those who didn’t, too.

Let’s start with Parker, the coach/contributor finalist; He was the last Detroit Lions’ coach to win an NFL championship … and he won two (1952-53). Furthermore, he assembled the team that won a third (1957), and do the math. In essence, that makes him Jimmy Johnson. Except he was better. He won more regular-season games (104-80), had a better winning percentage (.581-.556), went to more NFL title games (3-2) and was 4-1 with the Lions vs. Hall-of-Famer Paul Brown, including 2-1 in title games.

However, he left the Lions on the eve of the 1957 season (their last NFL championship) and left the Steelers prior to 1965, and that seemed to resonate with voters – enough, apparently, that they voted him down.

With Powell, it’s a little more difficult to read the room. He compiled an astounding record as an AFL receiver, with more touchdowns (81) than every AFL receiver but Hall-of-Famer Don Maynard (84). He also holds five of the AFL’s 20 single-season touchdown records, provoking AFL historian Todd Tobias to describe him as “a touchdown machine.” Nevertheless, he failed to gain the necessary approval of 80 percent of the Hall’s 50 voters, thus ending a run of 16 senior candidates to reach Canton (excluding the Centennial Class) and becoming the first senior candidate since Dick Stanfel in 2012 to be denied.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

You mean, outside of Parker and Powell? Tight end Antonio Gates. All he did was catch 116 touchdown passes, more than any tight end in NFL history and more than all but six receivers … period …and that includes tight end Tony Gonzalez, a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2019. But Gates had the resume to be a first-ballot choice, too. He was an eight-time Pro Bowler, more than any candidate outside of Peppers, and an all-decade choice. What he wasn’t was an NFL champion. Nevertheless, he seemed a virtual certainty as a first-ballot Hall of Famer … until he wasn’t. That wasn’t expected, partly because the Hall’s board of selectors historically leans toward first-ballot inductees. Prior to this year, it admitted 14 in the past seven years, or 40 percent of the class, including three each in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Only once in the past 12 years did it pass on first-ballot choices, and that was 2022.

BIGGEST JUMPS

Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester and Patrick Willis … come on down. All failed to make the first cut last year from 15 to 10 but jumped the queue this time when they passed three others ahead of them in 2023 (Torry Holt, Jared Allen and Reggie Wayne) to reach Canton. Making the leap is not unprecedented. Sam Mills did it in 2022, Terrell Owens in 2018 and Morten Andersen in 2017. But three in one class? That is.

MAKING HISTORY

Another shout out for Hester. Until now, there were only three specialists in the Hall – kickers Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen and punter Ray Guy. Now there’s a fourth: The first return specialist to be chosen to Canton and for good reason: He was the best return specialist of all time. Not only did he have an NFL-record 20 returns for TDs, including 14 via punts, but he was a two-time all-decade choice and member of the NFL’s 100^th anniversary team, too. Granted, so was Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, also a two-time all-decade pick, but he didn’t have a 20 TD returns. He had eight and is still waiting on Canton.

THE TREND CONTINUES

For the seventh time in eight years, voters chose two players at one position – pass rushers Julius Peppers and Dwight Freeney. Peppers you know about. But Freeney? A mild surprise. He wasn’t a Top-10 finisher last year, but Jared Allen was. He didn’t have 136 career sacks, but Allen did. Freeney had 125-1/2. And he wasn’t in his fourth year as a Hall finalist. Allen was. Freeney was in his second. Yet Freeney jumped Allen to reach Canton, and three reasons come immediately to mind: 1) He was an all-decade choice, and Allen was not; 2) he played on a championship team. Allen did not and 3) he had a signature move, the spin/speed pass rush. Allen did not. No question, Freeney is deserving and belongs. But so does Allen.

THE TREND CONTINUES, PART II

Remember when longevity was a potential hurdle to Canton? Not anymore. Two years ago, Tony Boselli was inducted after seven pro seasons. Before that, Terrell Davis and Kenny Easley were chosen in 2017, also after each played seven years. Now, it’s former 49ers’ linebacker Patrick Willis, whose career was cut short after seven-and-a-half years by a painful toe injury. But Willis is in for all the right reasons: He was one of the league’s most dominant players during a relatively short career, and the envelope, please: He was a seven-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro, five-time first-team All Pro, all-decade choice and Defensive Rookie of the Year. All of that in seven-and-a-half seasons. “What do you want?” former Hall-of- Fame voter Paul Zimmerman once asked the board. “Quality or quantity?” Their answer was unequivocal.

BREAKING A GRIDLOCK

After voters chose the Class of 2023, they all but promised to break a bottleneck of three wide receivers. So they did. They chose Houston's Andre Johnson over Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne, separating the three for the first time in three years. The move mirrors one made by Hall voters in 2013 when they pushed Cris Carter ahead of Andre Reed and Tim Brown after they were stuck three years as finalists, too. Reed was inducted in 2014 and Brown in 2015. Maybe these three follow a similar script.

CUTTING FROM 15 to 10

The first casualties were cornerback Eric Allen, guard Jahri Evans, safety Rodney Harrison, running back Fred Taylor and wide receiver Reggie Wayne. The biggest surprise here is Wayne, in his fifth year as a finalist and a Top-10 finisher in 2023. That wasn’t anticipated. But the others? Look what they have in common: All were first-year finalists. That includes Allen, who was in his 18^th year of modern-era eligibility -- which means the clock is ticking. He has only two years of eligibility left before moving on to the seniors category.

CUTTING FROM 10 to 5

For the second straight year, Jared Allen failed to make the move from 10 to Canton … and that’s mildly surprising, mostly because he was jumped by someone (Dwight Freeney) with fewer career sacks. However, Freeney was an all-decade choice, and Allen was not. Freeney was also an NFL champion, and Allen was not. Joining Allen in the on-deck circle for 2025 are tackle Willie Anderson, tight end Antonio Gates, wide receiver Torry Holt and safety Darren Woodson. Of that group, Allen and Gates seem the most likely to move forward in 2025.

SENIOR MOMENTS

Denver linebacker Randy Gradishar and Chicago defensive tackle Steve McMichael are this year’s senior inductees, and hallelujah. Gradishar is in his 36^th year of eligibility; McMichael in his 24^th. Gradishar is the first member of the famed “Orange Crush” defense elected to Canton, while McMichael is the fourth starter from the 1985 Bears’ defense to reach the Hall, joining Dan Hampton, Mike Singletary and Richard Dent. "The last time I was in Canton and the Hall of Fame," Gradishar said last August in an "Eye Test for Two" interview (The Randy Gradishar Story You May Not Know ... but Have to Hear - Talk Of Fame (talkoffametwo.com), "was when John Elway went in (2004), and I had an opportunity to be there. Now I'm hoping that guy named Randy Gradishar will be going in." He will. McMichael was never a finalist for Canton until this year, but his election is particularly poignant. He’s been left paralyzed and unable to speak as he battles ALS. “He needs to see himself enshrined in the Hall of Fame,” said his wife, Misty, to WGN last summer. “Please pray for him.” Prayers answered.

CENTENNIAL CLASS REVISITED

The Centennial Class of 2020 was supposed to address deserving seniors, and it did. Sort of. But it also left 10 Hall worthy finalists – including Gradishar – out in the cold. The expectation was that they’d be enshrined in subsequent years, especially with the Hall expanding its senior class to three in 2023, but that hasn’t really happened. Of the seven seniors elected after 2020, only three – Gradishar, Cliff Branch and Drew Pearson – were Centennial Class finalists, and of the last five senior inductees, only one had been a finalist anywhere. That was Gradishar, who was twice a modern-era candidate (2003, 2008) and twice a senior finalist (2020, 2024). All three of last year’s senior inductees (Ken Riley, Joe Klecko and Chuck Howley) were never modern-era or senior finalists until 2023.

WHAT’S NEXT: THE CLASS OF 2025

You think the Buddy Parker debate was long? Wait until next year. That’s when quarterback Eli Manning becomes eligible for the Class of 2025. Manning is a hot-button topic for voters, with some pushing him as a first-ballot choice and others insistent that he’s a no-ballot candidate. The good news for Manning is that, if history acts as his guide, he won’t wait long. Of the last 11 quarterbacks who were modern-era finalists, only one – Kurt Warner – wasn’t elected in his first year of eligibility. He was inducted in his third. Manning is one of several noteworthy candidates eligible in 2025, a class stocked with top-tier candidates. The list includes linebacker Luke Kuechly, linebacker Terrell Suggs, guard Marshal Yanda, kicker Adam Vinatieri, safety Earl Thomas, running back Marshawn Lynch, tackle Joe Staley and centers Ryan Kalil and Travis Frederick.