The NFL announced 108 nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2016 on Wednesday and three Buccaneers were on the initial list – safety John Lynch, defensive end Simeon Rice and coach Tony Dungy. Other notable nominees include Brett Favre, Terrell Owens, Clinton Portis, Lawyer Milloy and Keith Bulluck, who are all in their first year of eligibility.
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This isn't the first time that Lynch and Dungy have been nominated for the Hall. The two were among 15 finalists in 2015 and 2014 and are among seven returning finalists after Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley, Bill Polian, Junior Seau, Will Shields and Ron Wolf were enshrined this summer. This is Rice's first nomination.
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Lynch played 11 of his 15 NFL seasons with the Buccaneers, from 1993 to 2003. He recorded 973 tackles during his time in Tampa Bay, enough for No. 5 on the team's all-time list. Dungy, Lynch's coach from 1996 to 2001, won 56.3% of his games as the Bucs' head coach, the best in franchise history. His 96 total wins are No. 3 on the team's all-time list. Rice played six seasons in Tampa Bay, from 2001 to 2006, and recorded 69.5 sacks, No. 3 on the Bucs' all-time list behind Hall-of-Famers Lee Roy Selmon and Warren Sapp.
