ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Former Navy football player Ed Sprinkle has been selected as a Class of 2020 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sprinkle was selected as one of 15 inductees in the Centennial Slate.

The special slate of enshrinees are made up of 10 Seniors (players who last played more than 25 years ago), three Contributors (an individual other than a player or coach) and two Coaches that were elected by a special Blue-Ribbon Panel during a meeting at the Hall of Fame last week.

The Centennial Slate of enshrinees will be joined in the Class of 2020 by five Modern-Era Players who will be elected on "Selection Saturday," the day before Super LIV in Miami. Those five individuals will be revealed and join the members of the Centennial Slate on NFL Honors, a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally on the eve of Super Bowl LIV at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

COACHES
·       Bill Cowher – 1992-2006 Pittsburgh Steelers
·       Jimmy Johnson – 1989-1993 Dallas Cowboys, 1996-99 Miami Dolphins 

CONTRIBUTORS
*Deceased
·       *Steve Sabol, Administrator/President – 1964-2012 NFL Films
·       Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner – 1989-2006 National Football League
·       *George Young, Contributor/General Manager – 1968-1974 Baltimore Colts, 1975-78 Miami Dolphins, 1979-1997 New York Giants, 1998-2001 National Football League

SENIORS
*Deceased
·       Harold Carmichael, WR – 1971-1983 Philadelphia Eagles, 1984 Dallas Cowboys
·       Jim Covert, T – 1983-1990 Chicago Bears
·       *Bobby Dillon, S – 1952-59 Green Bay Packers
·       Cliff Harris, S – 1970-79 Dallas Cowboys
·       *Winston Hill, T – 1963-1976 New York Jets, 1977 Los Angeles Rams
·       *Alex Karras, DT – 1958-1962, 1964-1970 Detroit Lions
·       Donnie Shell, S – 1974-1987 Pittsburgh Steelers
·       *Duke Slater, T – 1922 Milwaukee Badgers, 1922-25 Rock Island Independents, 1926-1931 Chicago Cardinals
·       *Mac Speedie, E – 1946-1952 Cleveland Browns [AAFC/NFL]
·       *Ed Sprinkle, DE/LB/E – 1944-1955 Chicago Bears

CENTENNIAL SLATE BLUE-RIBBON PANEL
The Centennial Slate Blue-Ribbon Panel was comprised of many members of the overall Selection Committee in addition to Hall of Famers, coaches, football executives and several leading historians. The panel considered nearly 300 nominees in the lengthy process to elect the slate.

"This was the most thorough vetting of candidates in the Hall's history and it needed to be. Our charge was to scour 100 years of professional football and find the most deserving candidates who have slipped through the cracks," commented veteran Hall of Fame Selector Rick Gosselin. "All 38 finalists for the Centennial Slate were Hall of Fame worthy, but we could only choose 15. I am proud to be a part of this process that honors these men who shaped the NFL in its first century."

·       Bill Belichick – New England Patriots Head Coach
·       Jarrett Bell – Hall of Fame Selector, USA Today
·       Gil Brandt – Pro Football Hall of Fame Contributor
·       Joel Bussert – Former NFL Executive, Pro Football Historian      
·       John Clayton – Hall of Fame Selector, The Washington Post
·       Frank Cooney – Hall of Fame Selector, Sports Xchange            
·       John Czarnecki – Hall of Fame Selector, FOX Sports        
·       Rick Gosselin – Hall of Fame Selector, Talk of Fame Network
·       Elliot Harrison – Pro Football Historian and Long-time TV Analyst
·       Joe Horrigan – Retired Pro Football Hall of Fame Executive Director, Football Historian       
·       Ira Kaufman – Hall of Fame Selector, JoeBucsFan.com    
·       Dick LeBeau – Pro Football Hall of Fame Cornerback, Longtime NFL coach     
·       Jeff Legwold – Hall of Fame Selector, ESPN/ESPN.com    
·       John Madden – Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach            
·       John McClain – Hall of Fame Selector, Houston Chronicle          
·       Gary Myers – Hall of Fame Selector, Sports Illustrated    
·       Ozzie Newsome – Pro Football Hall of Fame Tight End, EVP Baltimore Ravens
·       Sal Paolantonio – Hall of Fame Selector, Senior National Correspondent – ESPN
·       Carl Peterson – Longtime Pro Football Executive
·       Bill Polian – Pro Football Hall of Fame Contributor
·       Dan Pompei – Hall of Fame Selector, The Athletic
·       Charean Williams – Hall of Fame Selector, Pro Football Talk      
·       Chris Willis – Producer-Head of Research Library - NFL Films, Football Historian
·       Barry Wilner – Hall of Fame Selector, Associated Press
·       Ron Wolf – Pro Football Hall of Fame Contributor

Sprinkle played for 12 seasons with the Chicago Bears and led them to the 1946 NFL Championship. Bears coach George Halas referred to Sprinkle as "the greatest pass-rusher I've ever seen."

Sprinkle started out as two-way player, catching 32 passes for 451 yards and seven touchdowns during his career. His ability to rush opposing quarterbacks, however, soon made him a defensive specialist, earning four Pro Bowls. Sprinkle was also known as an outstanding special teams player.  Sprinkle was nicknamed 'The Claw' from his infamous clothesline tackling technique. He was inducted into the Chicago Bears Ring of Honor in 2009.

Prior to his NFL career, Sprinkle won three letters in football and two in basketball at Hardin-Simmons University.  Sprinkle transferred to the Naval Academy in 1943 after Hardin-Simmons dropped varsity sports due to World War II.  Sprinkle made All-East in his only season at Navy as the Mids finished with an 8-1 record, which included wins over Penn State (14-6), Georgia Tech (28-14) and Army (13-0).

"On behalf of the Navy Football Family our sincerest appreciation to the Hall of Fame Selection Committee for including one of our favorite sons in Ed Sprinkle to the Class of 2020," said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk.  "Ed's historic impact and legacy at Navy remains an inspiration and benchmark to which our midshipmen can aspire.  Now that his accomplishments have been recognized at the highest level, we take an even greater degree of pride in not only what he has accomplished on the field of competition, but his documented and impactful influence on the game at large.  We are so very proud and grateful in Annapolis for this distinguished recognition of Ed."

"Ed Sprinkle was an outstanding football player and is very deserving of this honor," said New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick. "He was extremely quick off the ball, explosive and was hard to block.  He was outstanding on special teams, which was incredibly important in that era because there were far more punts back then.  He was athletic and consistently disrupted the opposing offense."

"I have a copy of the 1943 Army-Navy game and he was as dominant of an offensive lineman as I've ever seen," said former Green Bay General Manager and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ron Wolf.  "He was just a football player, he wasn't a big guy, but he was as tough as they come.  He was one of the few guys that played back then that could play today.  You could not run at him and he could really rush the passer.  I'm glad he finally made it into the Hall of Fame, it's been a long time coming and I'm not supposed to say that, because he's a Chicago Bear."

Sprinkle is believed to be the second Naval Academy alumnus to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining Roger Staubach.