Kevin Mawae Named as a Semifinalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Kevin Mawae was one of the most dominant centers in all of football between 1994 and 2009. Fortunately for the Jets he played 8 of his seasons here in New York where he anchored a line that allowed Curtis Martin to shine. Of course Curtis Martin was entered into the Hall of Fame last year and Mawae will hope to follow him this year.

The 26 modern era semifinalists that were named last night will be whittled down to 15 by January 8th. The list will then increase from 15 to 18 with the addition of two recommended candidates from the contributors committee and one finalist from the senior committee.

Kevin Mawae came to the Jets in 1998. While he was in New York he was named to 6 pro-bowls and 2 all-pro teams. He helped Curtis Martin break several franchise records, including eight 100 yard rushing games in a season and the record for yards in a season with 1,464. With him anchoring the line the Jets would dominate in the trenches for year, allowing few sacks and allowing their offense to put up numbers we can only dream about at the moment.

Mawae started 177 straight games for the Jets before a triceps injury forced him to miss a game in October 2005, he wouldn't play for the remainder of the season and would be cut afterwards.

Kevin came to the Jets from Seattle who drafted him in the 2nd round of the 1994 draft out of LSU. After leaving the Jets he went on to play for the Titans for four more years, establishing his game and cementing his place as one of the finest centers to play the game.

I'm confident that Mawae will be a finalist this year. Unfortunately for Joe Klecko he has now been eligible for 20 years, which means he will now fall under the seniors category. It's still a sore spot for many Jets fans that a premium rusher like Klecko, still doesn't get any recognition for his career from the select committee.