NASHVILLE – Former Houston Oilers receiver/return man Billy "White Shoes" Johnson is among 52 players who've advanced in the Seniors Category for consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025.
Members of the Hall of Fame's Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee trimmed the list from the 162 nominees they had received, and they were tasked with reducing the list for the new class to 50. (Ties for the final spot also advanced.)
The group will now begin their work to determine three finalists from the Seniors category for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2026.
Members of the Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee, who also serve on the full Hall of Fame Selection Committee, will reduce the list of 52 candidates to 25, then again to nine, in balloting that will occur over the next several weeks. They then will meet virtually to discuss those nine Semifinalists and will choose three Finalists for the Class of 2026.
During his 14-year NFL career (Houston Oilers, 1974-1980; Atlanta Falcons, 1982-87; Washington Redskins, 1988), Johnson was named to three Pro Bowls.
Johnson's NFL career stats include 337 receptions for 4,211 yards and 25 TDs, 282 punt returns for 3,317 yards and six TDs, and 123 kickoff returns for 2,941 yards and two TDs.
In 1994, Johnson was selected as the punt returner on the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. He remains the only man selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team who is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Later, Johnson was named to the 100th Anniversary team as the punt returner.
He was named to the NFL's 1970s All-Decade team, and to the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team.
To be considered this election cycle, each person in the Seniors category could have appeared in a professional football game no more recently than the 2000 season.
The players who remain eligible for election with the Class of 2026 are:
QUARTERBACKS (5): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, Jack Kemp, Don Meredith.
RUNNING BACKS (6): Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Roger Craig, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul "Tank" Younger.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (9): Mark Clayton, Isaac Curtis, Lavvie Dilweg, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Otis Taylor.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (11): Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, Marvin Powell, Dick Schafrath, Jerry Sisemore, Walt Sweeney, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (4): L.C. Greenwood, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Jim Marshall, Harvey Martin.
LINEBACKERS (8): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Mike Curtis, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Matt Millen, Tommy Nobis.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (8): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Pat Fischer, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls.
SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker.
