Ken Anderson, the Bengals' inaugural Ring of Honor member, made it to the senior committee's final meeting for the second straight year. But again couldn't advance out of the field of 12 to the final stage of gaining enshrinement.
Anderson, who is the only eligible quarterback with four NFL passing titles not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, will have to wait another year.
The nominations wound up going to the trio of Broncos linebacker and 1978 Defensive Player of the Year Randy Gradishar, two-time All-Pro Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael, and Art Powell, an AFL wide receiver who led the league in yards twice.
Those three will now advance to January's final ballot and will need 80 percent of the vote from the 50-member selection panel, where Bengals.com has a vote.
The last time a senior nominee didn't win election was a dozen years ago.
Anderson's late Super Bowl VXI teammate Ken Riley was inducted earlier this month in Canton, Ohio and many had high hopes to reunite the two in the gallery of busts.
Anderson, who attended Riley's induction and watched a Bengals practice last week while wearing a Ken Riley 2023 Hall of Fame hat, has been in this position before. He was also a two-time modern-era finalist in the 1990s and still continues to gain support from historians and Hall of Fame voters.
Another former Bengal, right tackle Willie Anderson, will begin another bid next month when the preliminary ballot is released. Anderson has reached the finals of the last two modern-era ballots for candidates who have been retired 25 years or less.
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