Colts Franchise Great Reggie Wayne Falls Short as Finalist in Latest Bid for Pro Football HoF

On Thursday evening, the Pro Football Hall of Fame unveiled its Class of 2022 on NFL Honors Night, and Indianapolis Colts finalist Reggie Wayne—while very well deserving in his own right, was not selected among the eight enshrinees:

Instead, there was a wide receiver selected, but it was a senior candidate, late longtime Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders wideout Cliff Branch (1972-85). Surprisingly, no modern era wide receiver was selected in this class—whose passed over finalists also included the Houston Texans’ Andre Johnson (1st year) and St. Louis Rams’ Torry Holt (8th year) respectively.

While Wayne fell short in his third straight year as a Finalist, if he keeps knocking this close to the door, eventually he’ll get a ‘knock of his own’, as it’s just a matter of when—not if.

Regarding Wayne’s impressive Hall of Fame caliber resume:

As it stands, Wayne ranks all-time career-wise: 10th in receiving yards (14,345), 10th in receptions (1,070), 27th in touchdown receptions (82nd), as well as receiving all-time in the postseason: 6th in playoff receiving yards (1,254), 3rd in playoff receptions (93), and 9th in playoff touchdown receptions (9).

During his 14 seasons—all with the Colts, he was a Super Bowl XLI Champion, 6x Pro Bowler, First-Team NFL All-Pro, 2x 2nd-Team NFL All-Pro, NFL receiving yards leader, and Colts Ring of Honor member.

Rest assured though, he should eventually get in—maybe even as soon as next year, joining iconic Horseshoe teammates such as Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison; head coach Tony Dungy; and general manager Bill Polian among Colts greats from that successful Super Bowl winning era.