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After two years of seeing Tampa Bay Buccaneers going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Bucs are going to have to do without a new member for a year: both Tony Dungy and John Lynch were not elected to this year's Hall of Fame class, according to Gil Brandt. It was Dungy's second year of eligibility, and Lynch's third.
But that doesn't mean the Bucs won't have any new players in the Hall of Fame at all this year: Ron Wolf and wide receiver Tim Brown were both elected to the Hall of Fame according to multiple reports including Mike Chappell and Jim Corbett. Both of them had short stints with the Bucs. Wolf and Brown will join Steve Young as not-really-Buccaneers in the Hall, while Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp and Lee Roy Selmon made the Hall because of their play as Bucs.
Although he was only a Buccaneer for a few years, the Bucs can also claim Ron Wolf, who was the Buccaneers' first vice-president of operations and general manager. Wolf drafted Lee Roy Selmon with the first overall pick in 1976 and built the foundations for the 1979 NFC Championship run, but was sacrificed after a 2-26 start to the Bucs' franchise. But Wolf made it to the Hall of Fame because of his work with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. Acme Packing Company has the skinny on the rest of his career.
Tim Brown was also a Buc for a single year, although he was effectively useless putting up just 200 yards and one touchdown on 24 catcehs that season. He'll make the Hall of Fame almost entirely because of his time with the Raiders, as he put up a ridiculous 14,734 receiving yards and 99 touchdowns with them.
The other members of this Hall of Fame class are Charles Haley, Jerome Bettis, Junior Seau, Will Shields, Bill Polian and Mick Tingelhoff as the senior selection.
Per @daringantt, a @ProFootballHoF selector, Kevin Greene, Kurt Warner, Orlando Pace, Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy reached final 10.
— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) February 1, 2015
John Lynch was a key player in the Bucs' dominant defense throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. As a hard-hitting safety who was especially good against the run, he was renowned for making the middle of the field a punishing place to be for any receiver. He was what Kam Chancellor is now for the Seattle Seahawks -- and he has the accolades to show for it with nine Pro Bowl selections, two first-team All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl ring, as well as two Man of the Year awards.
Tony Dungy, for his part, was an outstanding defensive coordinator, turned around the Bucs, brought the Indianapolis Colts a Super Bowl and was the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl. He went 139-69 in six years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and seven with the Colts and just has a long track record of success.
And while both of those resumes are impressive, I'm not entirely sure either Dungy or Lynch will ever get in the Hall of Fame at this rate. The competition is stiff, and those dominant Tampa Bay defenses already have two Hall of Fame representatives in the Hall with Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp.