Cincinnati Bengals great Willie Anderson is through to the Pro Football Hall of Fame finals for the fifth time.
And this time, he’s headlining a class that features major first-time names like Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald.
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Anderson, widely considered the best right tackle of his generation, has been forced to overcome archaic thought processes about the left side of the line being more important than the right.
Names like Eli Manning taking up space on the ballots, of course, don’t help.
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Like usual, the selection committee will meet before the Super Bowl to elect up to five names off the modern ballot. Three must make it after the final cut to seven.
Fellow Bengals great Ken Anderson is on the ballot in the seniors/coach/contributor for the first time as a finalist. He was a modern-era candidate all the way back in 1998.
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals great Willie Anderson overcomes major Hall of Fame hurdle