Browns legend has a new shot at the Hall of Fame via seniors candidacy

One day after the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its 52 candidates for the Class of 2026 with only one player with Cleveland ties, the Hall’s Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee announced its list of 34 candidates, one that includes four more former Browns players, including one of the most beloved ever by Cleveland’s fanbase.

Additionally, three former coaches tied with the franchises’ history are up for induction next year.

The senior candidates are Clay Matthews Jr., Jim Marshall, Carl Banks and Everson Walls.

Out of those four, Matthews was the only one who truly made his best and largest contributions with the Browns, making him one of the Dawg Pound’s favorites.

The former outside linebacker played his first 16 seasons with Cleveland (1978-1993), before ending his career with the Falcons. A four-time Pro Bowler and one-time second team All-Pro, all as a member of the Browns, Matthews’ best season came in 1984 when he logged 126 combined tackles, 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He topped the 100+ tackle mark eight times in his career. Matthews was the Browns first-round pick in 1978 (12th overall) out of USC.

Matthews was inducted in the Browns Ring of Honor in 2019. Matthews has reached the finalist stage of the voting process one time (2021), and has also made it to the semifinalist round four times.

Banks, also a linebacker, played two seasons for the Browns (1994-1995), reuniting him with then head coach Bill Belichick, who previously served as his defensive coordinator with the Giants. He was included in the Hall’s All-1980s team.

Likewise, Walls spent his last season and a half in the NFL with Cleveland in 1992 and 1993, after a stellar nine-year career with the Cowboys and two and a half years with the Giants. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Walls came in fifth in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year in 1982.

Before arriving in Cleveland as a fourth-round pick (44th overall) out of Ohio State, Marshall had a brief one-year stint in the CFL, in 1959. He only lasted one season with the Browns before being traded to the expansion Vikings, with whom he would stay for the 19 remaining years of his pro career, appearing in four Super Bowls for Minnesota.

Matthews, Banks, Marshall and Walls add their names to Lomas Brown, the only former player with Cleveland ties announced yesterday among the 52 candidates to be enshrined in next year’s Class. Additionally, two former head coaches and one former team president — Marty Schottenheimer, Bill Belichick and Mike Holmgren — could be inducted in the Hall as part of the 2026 Class, through the coaches and contributors category.