Former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson will now be inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
With the COVID-19 pandemic not going away anytime soon, the NFL decided to cancel this year’s Hall of Fame Game and Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony that was scheduled to take place during the first week of August. With this decision, former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson will now have to wait another year before he will receive his gold jacket.
Hutchinson was scheduled to be the only former Vikings player to be inducted this summer. But now that he has to wait another year, he could be accompanied by two more of his former teammates in 2021.
Former Vikings defensive linemen Jared Allen and Kevin Williams are among those who will be eligible to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year. It seems like there’s a good chance that at least one of them will get their bronze bust in 2021 with Hutchinson.
How many former Minnesota Vikings will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021?
While Williams is technically eligible for the Hall of Fame next year, it doesn’t seem very likely that he will get in during his first time on the ballot. If former Minnesota players like Cris Carter, John Randle, and Alan Page didn’t get the call when they first appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot, it would be pretty surprising if Williams did.
This isn’t a knock on the former Vikings defensive lineman either. Williams is one of the best to ever suit up for Minnesota, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a lock to get a bronze bust in Canton one day.
As for Allen, it actually would be surprising if he wasn’t voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021 when his name will first appear on the ballot. There will be some other impressive names to choose from (Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson, Calvin Johnson), but the former Minnesota sack machine deserves to be a part of the 2021 class of inductees.
After next year, it might also be a while before another former Vikings player is voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Chad Greenway becomes eligible in 2022, but after him, there haven’t really been many players to suit up for Minnesota during the last decade who legitimately deserve to even be on the ballot.
Honestly, Adrian Peterson could be the next former Vikings player to earn a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after Hutchinson and Allen are inducted. And who knows when that could be since Peterson wants to play until he’s 103-years-old.