Bills great Steve Tasker receives big Pro Football Hall of Fame news

For the ninth time, Buffalo Bills' legendary special teams standout Steve Tasker has been denied entrance into the Hall of Fame despite reaching the semifinals.

Steve Tasker | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Contrary to a cruel Thanksgiving social media hoax, Steve Tasker isn't dead. The Hall-of-Fame future of the Buffalo Bills' legend, however, might be.

During his 12 seasons with the Bills, Tasker - along with Bill Bates of the Dallas Cowboys - was a special teams maven and trailblazer. He returned kicks, blocked punts, forced fumbles and made countless big-time tackles. For his performance he was named to five All-Pro teams and seven Pro Bowls.

MORE: Buffalo Bills' legend Steve Tasker thankfully shoots down holiday hoax

As a player he made the semifinal round of Pro Football Hall of Fame voting eight times to no avail. Many analysts figured his body of work would be more appreciated by Canton's Seniors committee, and he again made the semifinals and was knocking on the door to football immortality.

But on Wednesday the Hall of Fame announced its Blue Ribbon committee has trimmed its Seniors, Coach and Contributor list to five finalists for the Class of 2026. Not on it: Tasker. That's nine semifinal sniffs at Canton without ever even making it to the final cutdown. At this point, Task is the NFL's version of Susan Lucci, the actress who infamously was nominated 18 times for an Emmy before winning one on her 19th time.

This year's five Blue Ribbon committee nominees are New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (Contributor), Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (Coach) and Seniors Ken Anderson (Cincinnati Bengals' QB), Roger Craig (San Francisco 49ers' RB) and L.C. Greenwood (Pittsburgh Steelers' DL).

MORE: Bills surprisingly small favorites over 4-8 Bengals in Week 14

Tasker is still visible in Buffalo, including hosting a weekly podcast and regularly joining The Sean McDermott Show.

— Sign up for OnSI’s Free Buffalo Bills Newsletter —

More Buffalo Bills News:

Elijah Moore reportedly critical of role in Bills' offense prior to being released

Aaron Rodgers remarks on Josh Allen and 'all the damn commericals he's in'

Ex-Bills' personnel director says 'just cut Keon Coleman'

Is Josh Allen amongst seven current Bills' players in Hallmark movie cast?