Former Rams, UCLA Coach Dick Vermeil, Los Angeles Raiders Wide Receiver Cliff Branch, Trojan John Boselli Elected To Pro Football Hall of Fame
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Pro Football Hall of Fame elected eight new people to their hallowed halls on Thursday, just days ahead of Super Bowl LVI.
Included in those elected are former UCLA and St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil and former Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders receiver Cliff Branch.
Vermeil's coaching career began in 1959 as a high school assistant coach with Del Mar High School in San Jose. After a brief tenure in both high school and college in a variety of coaching positions, he would officially become one of the first ever special teams coaches in NFL history, when he was hired in 1969 to join the Los Angeles Rams.
The next year he would go on to coach the UCLA Bruins, as their offensive coordinator for just one season, when he was re-signed by the Rams as an assistant coach.
He would then switch back to the Bruins again, this time in a head coach capacity from 1974 to 1975. While with UCLA, he had a 15-5-3 record, where he led the team to a Rose Bowl victory in 1975. He was also elected into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame as a result in 2014.
Vermeil's NFL Head Coaching career would then take off in 1976 when he joined the Philadelphia Eagles, in a position he would hold until 1982, when he would briefly retire from coaching.
During his 15-year hiatus from the game, Vermeil would go on to work as a sports announcer for both CBS and ABC.
He was then coaxed back into coaching by the then St. Louis Rams in 1997. Despite a dreadful first two seasons, he eventually led "The Greatest Show on Turf" to the franchise's only Super Bowl Championship in Super Bowl XXXIV, where he was also named NFL Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
During his three years with the Rams, Vermeil was 22-26.
Once again, Vermeil would take a hiatus following the Super Bowl victory, before joining the Chiefs in 2001. He would finally retire from coaching officially in 2005.
Since then, he has become a household name due to his repeat appearance on both college football broadcasts and NFL Network.
Vermeil was initially named a coaching finalist for the Hall of Fame in 2020, but he failed to get in both that year and in 2021.
Vermeil was recognized by the Rams in 2008 when they placed his name on the "Ring of Honor" which aligned the walls of the team's stadium in St. Louis. He is also well-known for his role in signing Vince Papale, the hometown Eagles fan who worked his way onto his beloved team, which later became inspiration for the Disney movie "Invincible."
As a head coach, Vermeil was 120-109 with one Super Bowl Title and three division titles. His teams made the playoffs six times in 15 seasons overall.
One of Vermeil's potential Super Bowl teams was denied by Cliff Branch's Raiders in 1980, which was the second of three Super Bowl Championships that Branch would be a part of with the franchise.
Branch played his college football at the University of Colorado before he was selected in the fourth round of the 1972 NFL Draft by the then Oakland Raiders. He spent his entire career as a Raider, amassing 8,685 yards and 67 touchdowns over his 14 years.
He was part of three Raiders championships, two in Oakland and one in Los Angeles, and was named to four Pro Bowls. He was the league's receiving yards leader in 1974 and the two-time league leader in receiving touchdowns in both 1974 and 1976. He is one of the nine members of the 1976 Oakland Raiders to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, along with John Madden.
Branch, known for his blazing speed, still holds the NFL record for longest-receiving touchdown with his 99-yard haul in a 1983 game against the then Washington Redskins. He also set several playoff receiving records that were later broken by Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers.
He was initially nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame much earlier than 2022, when he was a semifinalist in both 2004 and 2010. After his passing in 2019, he was posthumously elected in 2022.
University of Southern California alum John Boselli, who spent seven years in the NFL was also selected. After four years as a Trojan, Boselli was the No.2 overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft by the brand-new Jacksonville Jaguars. He would remain there until 2002 when he was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Expansion Draft by the brand-new Houston Texans, though he would not play in any games with Houston due to injury.
While at USC, Boselli was a three-time First-Team All-American and a three-time First-Team All-Pac-10. During his NFL career he was named to five Pro Bowls and was a three-time First-Team All-Pro. He is now enshrined in both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Along with Vermeil, Branch and Boselli, five others were enshrined on Thursday. The eight people selected were:
- Tony Boselli, OT, 1995-2002; Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans
- Cliff Branch, WR, 1972-1986; Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
- LeRoy Butler, S, 1990-2001; Green Bay Packers
- Art McNally, Referee/Officiator, 1959-2007
- Sam Mills, LB, 1986-1997; New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers
- Richard Seymour, DL, 2001-2012; New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders
- Bryant Young, DL, 1994-2007; San Francisco 49ers