Following a two-year-long review, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced revised bylaws on September 4, 2026, to improve its selection process. One revision reduced the selection committee from 50 to 28. The cut axed members who had contributed to the selection committee for over three decades. And the list includes Houston’s John McClain.
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“It was a privilege serving on the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee and representing Houston, the Oilers and Texans, but I was told I didn’t make the cut from 50 to 28, including 3 non-voting members, under the new by-laws,” McClain wrote on X. “Among the changes, no city or team will have a representative, and no more individual presentations for finalists will be made. Thank you to the Hall of Fame for having me as a small part of the process for more than 3 decades.”
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame president and CEO, Jim Porter, the previous selection process had the possibility of “unintended biases.” The three areas where unintended bias could arise were the differing skills of those presenting nominees, the assignment of a selector to each franchise, and players reaching their final years of eligibility. Following the changes, one person who’s not a member of the selection committee will be responsible for all the initial presentations at the selection meeting.
Under the new rules, officials will no longer assign selectors to specific teams. Furthermore, all retired players will be eligible for the Hall of Fame selection, regardless of the years since their retirement. But they will have to go through a five-year waiting period after retirement. Players will not compete in two separate age pools (senior and modern-era) anymore. The new rules also eliminate the carryover provision, under which candidates who reached the final seven were previously able to become finalists in the next year.
But McClain isn’t the only committee member who got axed. Longtime Cleveland Browns analyst, Tony Grossi, has also vacated his seat on the committee.
“Informed I didn’t make the cut from 50 to 25 voters on the revamped Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee,” Grossi wrote on his X post. “Served for 31 years — tied with the venerable @McClain_on_NFL for third-longest tenure. Had a blast but no tears shed.”
Well, McClain has been with the Houston Texans for 47 years, covering the team at the Houston Chronicle. Meanwhile, Grossi has been covering the Browns for three decades. Their removal from the selection committee made the netizens wonder the reason why. But Porter had an answer.
Porter further claimed that a meeting with 28 selectors will “create robust, thoughtful dialogue and debate” for the selection process. It’ll aid the goal of the Hall of Fame to elect the most deserving individuals.
The change in the rules made the headlines after Bill Belichick failed to make it to the Hall of Fame this year. Most of the NFL community believes that the coach belongs in Canton as a first-ballot Hall of Famer after he retired in 2024 with eight Super Bowl titles. To enter the Hall of Fame, he needed 40 out of 50 votes. But alas! That didn’t happen. Instead, the 2026 Hall of Fame class included Larry Fitzgerald, Roger Craig, Adam Vinatieri, Luke Kuechly, and Drew Brees.
Nevertheless, McClain continued his farewell posts on X and presented eight candidates for the seat. However, the Hall of Fame has yet to share the selection criteria for the 28 committee members.
“As a member of the Selection Committee for 33 years, I take great pride in presenting Oilers Elvin Bethea, Robert Brazile, Curley Culp, Warren Moon, Mike Munchak and Bruce Matthews, Texans Andre Johnson and the Cowboys Chuck Howley,” McClain wrote in a subsequent post on X. “I’d like to thank the Hall and all those hard-working Committee members I served with for more than 3 decades. I salute you all. And good luck to everyone who survived the cut and still have the enormous responsibility of selecting the new class every year.”
The newly trimmed group of 28 committee members is now preparing for the 2027 cycle. But most NFL fans still want experts with years of experience, like McClain and Grossi, to remain in the seats.