Lemoore High and Fresno State alum Lorenzo Neal earns nomination to NFL Hall of Fame

His prowess on the gridiron has earned him a nomination to the National Football League 2020 Hall of Fame.

Football wasn’t his only sport. He was one of the school’s most outstanding athletes ever.  He won a state wrestling championship during his senior year at LHS and then took his exceptional football skills and his wrestling skills to Fresno State.

He was one of Fresno State’s most memorable players, who played three years (1990, 1991 1992) for the Bulldogs, rushing for 2,405 yards, placing him eighth among the school’s all-time rushing greats. The No. 1 all-time Bulldog runner is Robbie Rouse who from 2009 through 2012 rushed for 4,647 yards.

As a Bulldog, Neal also scored 27 touchdowns, good enough for eighth place on the FSU records list.

This year’s Hall of Fame selections will be part of the NFL’s 100th-year celebration.

Neal, who managed to return respectability to the fullback position, played for seven teams from his 1993 start with the New Orleans Saints to his final season with the Baltimore Ravens.

As a professional football player, Neal carried the ball 226 times for 807 yards and a 3.6-yard average. He also scored six touchdowns in his career. He was, however, a considerable force as a blocking back for some of the premier players in the league, including San Diego Charger LaDainian Tomlinson for whom Neal blocked. Tomlinson is already in the NFL Hall of Fame, elected in his first year of eligibility, thanks in large part to Neal’s efforts.

He has Neal to thank for much of the yardage he piled up during his stellar NFL career. Neal blocked for seven 1,000 rushers during his long career. In his 15 seasons, Neal was one of the league's most reliable offensive players and didn’t miss a single game from 1994 to 2006. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro.

As a full-time fullback, Neal helped running backs and quarterbacks execute at a high level, stated Tomlinson, who has long advocated for Neal’s selection as a Hall of Famer.

A total of 122 players, including eight in their first year of eligibility, comprise the list of modern-era player nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020. The extensive list of nominees includes only players whose careers ended less than 25 seasons ago. The nominees include 63 offensive players, 43 defensive players, and 16 special teams’ players.

According to the NFL’s Hall of Fame website, the Modern-Era players' list will be reduced to 25 semifinalists in November and to 15 finalists in early January 2020. The finalists will then be presented to the full 48-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee during its annual meeting on “Selection Saturday,” the day before Super Bowl LIV. 

This year’s selection process is meant to honor the NFL’s Centennial Celebration through its “Centennial Class" comprised of 20 members in 2020. The group will include five modern-era players to come from the original list in addition to 10 seniors (a player who has been retired for more than 25 seasons), three contributors (an individual other than a player or coach) and two coaches.

The selection committee will meet on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, in Miami to elect the Class of 2020 that will include five modern-era players. The Finalists will be trimmed during the meeting from 15 to 10 and then from 10 to the five who will be elected as part of the Class of 2020. 

The determination of the seniors, contributors, and coaches finalists will be led by a special 25-person Centennial “Blue-Ribbon” panel who will review the backlog of deserving seniors, coaches, and contributors. The Blue-Ribbon Panel will be comprised of Hall of Fame selectors, Pro Football Hall of Famers, media members, football historians, and industry experts.

The Centennial Class of 2020 will be formally enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the annual Enshrinement Week from Aug. 6-9, 2020 and the Centennial Celebration in Canton on Sept. 16-19, 2020. 

MODERN-ERA NOMINEES FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020

*Finalist in 2019; Underline indicates first year of eligibility. 

Quarterbacks
(7) – Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Boomer Esiason, Jeff Garcia, Jeff Hostetler, Dave Krieg, Donovan McNabb

Running Backs
(19) – Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Earnest Byner, Larry Centers, Corey Dillon, Eddie George, Priest Holmes, *Edgerrin James, Daryl Johnston (FB), Thomas Jones, Maurice Jones-Drew, Eric Metcalf (also WR/KR/PR), Lorenzo Neal (FB), Clinton Portis, Fred Taylor, Herschel Walker (also KR), Chris Warren, Ricky Watters

Wide Receivers
(12) – *Isaac Bruce, Gary Clark, Donald Driver, Henry Ellard (also PR), Torry Holt, Chad Johnson, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne

Tight Ends
(6) – Dallas Clark, Ben Coates, Keith Jackson, Brent Jones, Jeremy Shockey, Wesley Walls

Offensive Linemen
(19) – Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), *Tony Boselli (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ray Donaldson (C), *Alan Faneca (G), Kevin Gogan (G/T), Jordan Gross (T), Chris Hinton (G/T), Kent Hull (C), *Steve Hutchinson (G), Lincoln Kennedy (T/G), Olin Kreutz (C), Chris Samuels (T), Jeff Saturday (C), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G) 

Defensive Linemen
(11) – John Abraham (DE also LB), La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Casey Hampton (DT/NT), Chester McGlockton (DT), Leslie O’Neal (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), *Richard Seymour (DT), 
Justin Smith (DE), Neil Smith (DE), Greg Townsend (DT/NT), Bryant Young (DT)

Linebackers 
(17) – Carl Banks, Cornelius Bennett, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, James Farrior, London Fletcher, Seth Joyner, Wilber Marshall, Clay Matthews, Willie McGinest (also DE), Sam Mills, Chris Spielman, Takeo Spikes, Darryl Talley, Zach Thomas, Jessie Tuggle, Patrick Willis

Defensive Backs
(15) – Eric Allen (CB), *Steve Atwater (S), Ronde Barber (CB/S), LeRoy Butler (S), 
Nick Collins (S), Merton Hanks (S), Rodney Harrison (S), Albert Lewis (CB), *John Lynch (S), Terry McDaniel (CB), Tim McDonald (S), Troy Polamalu (SS), Bob Sanders (S), 
Troy Vincent (CB), Darren Woodson (S) 

Punters/Kickers
(11) – David Akers (K), Gary Anderson (K), Jason Elam (K), Jeff Feagles (P), 
Jason Hanson (K), Sean Landeta (P), Ryan Longwell (K), Nick Lowery (K), Reggie Roby (P), Rohn Stark (P), Matt Turk (P)

Special Teams
(5) – Johnny Bailey (PR/KR also RB), Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Mel Gray (PR/KR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Steve Tasker (ST also WR)

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