Branch Chosen 2022 Senior Nominee for HOF
Cliff Branch of the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders was selected as the senior finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022 on Tuesday by the Senior Committee, which met virtually, the Hall of Fame announced.
Dick Vermeil, who was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Kansas City Chiefs, was the Coach Finalist selected by the same committee.
The full Hall of Fame Committee will vote on the Class of 2022 next Feb. 13, the day before Super Bowl LVI at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
“Cliff Branch changed the game,” owner Mark Davis of the now Las Vegas Raiders said after receiving a congratulatory phone call from David Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. “Safeties had to be aware of him.”
The 5-11, 180-pound Branch, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 71, was a HOF semifinalist for 13 consecutive years and in 2018 he missed being the Senior finalist by one vote in a tiebreaker with guard Jerry Kramer of the Green Bay Packers.
Hall of Famers such as Marcus Allen, Ronnie Lott, Fred Biletnikoff, Mel Blount, Mike Ditka and many more over the years have said that Branch should have been elected to the Hall of Fame years ago.
The speedy Branch was selected by the Raiders in the fourth round of the 1972 NFL Draft (No. 98 overall) out of Colorado and passed up a chance to try to qualify in the sprints for the United States in the Olympic Games that year in Munich, Germany, so he could be with the Raiders at the start of training camp.
In 14 NFL seasons, all with the Raiders, Branch made 501 receptions for 8,685 yards, 67 touchdowns, and an average of 17.3 yards per catch, in 183 regular-season games, and was selected first-team All-Pro three times and to four Pro Bowls. He is one of four players who started for Raiders each time as they won Super Bowls XI, XV and XVIII.
Branch’s statistics are equal to or better than HOF wide receivers Biletnikoff, Paul Warfield, John Stallworth, Charlie Joiner, Lynn Swann, Charley Taylor, Harold Carmichael, and Drew Pearson.
In addition, Branch set NFL post-season records of 73 receptions for 1,289 yards, an average of 17.7 yards per catch, and also scored five touchdowns. Those records were held until Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers came along, and Branch’s playoff numbers still rank fourth all-time.
The 84-year-old Vermeil coached the Eagles from 1976-82, the Rams from 1997-99, and the Chiefs (2001-05), compiling a 120-109 record during the regular season and a 6-5 mark in the post-season.
Vermeil’s Eagles were beaten by the Raiders, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV, but his Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans, 23-16, in Super Bowl in XXXIV. He was selected NFL Coach of the Year in 1979 and 1999.
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