NASHVILLE – Former Oilers receiver/return man Billy "White Shoes" Johnson is among those who have advanced in the voting process for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 in the Seniors Category.
Steve Tasker, who began his NFL career with the Oilers before becoming a perennial Pro Bowl with the Buffalo Bills, also advanced.
A total of sixty individuals advanced to the next stage in the voting process. To be considered, each former player last could have appeared in a professional football game in the 1999 season.
Each member of the Seniors Screening Committee, a new entity created this year to add additional input around the overall selection process, cast a ballot for 50 individuals from a list of 182 nominees consisting of 100 offensive players, 77 defensive players and five special teamers. All players who tied for the 50th position remain under consideration.
The separate nine-person Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will make additional reductions in increments over the next several weeks.
In late fall, this committee will select three Seniors as Finalists for possible election with the Class of 2025.
During his 14-year NFL career (Houston Oilers, 1974-1980; Atlanta Falcons, 1982-87; Washington Redskins, 1988), Johnson was named to three Pro Bowls.
Johnson's NFL career stats include 337 receptions for 4,211 yards and 25 TDs, 282 punt returns for 3,317 yards and six TDs, and 123 kickoff returns for 2,941 yards and two TDs.
In 1994, Johnson was selected as the punt returner on the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. He remains the only man selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team who is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Later, Johnson was named to the 100th Anniversary team as the punt returner.
Johnson was named to the NFL's 1970s All-Decade team, and to the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team.
The players who remain eligible for election with the Class of 2025 are:
QUARTERBACKS (5): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, Jack Kemp, Jim Plunkett.
RUNNING BACKS (7): Alan Ameche, Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Roger Craig, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul "Tank" Younger.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (10): Mark Clayton, Isaac Curtis, Boyd Dowler, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Sterling Sharpe, Otis Taylor.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (12): Ed Budde, Ox Emerson, Bill Fralic, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, George Kunz, Ralph Neely, Dick Schafrath, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (6): L.C. Greenwood, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Jim Marshall, Harvey Martin, Leslie O'Neal, Bill Stanfill.
LINEBACKERS (11): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Bill Bergey, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Tommy Nobis, Andy Russell, Pat Swilling, Phil Villapiano.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (8): Dick Anderson, Deron Cherry, Pat Fischer, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls.
SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025 will be enshrined next August in Canton.
