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The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL

Hall of Very Good, Class of 2026

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We're firmly in the Remember Some Guys period of the NFL calendar, and what better way to do so than with the Hall of Very Good? You kinda-sorta know a Hall of Very Good player when you see one, but we followed two loose rules when putting this episode together. First, if a player ever advanced to the semifinalist stage in Hall of Fame voting, he was too good to be in the Hall of Very Good. Second, he had to immediately conjure memories of legitimate peaks. Check both those boxes, and you're a Hall of Very Good candidate. So who made the 2026 class? Allow Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman to walk you down memory lane on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.


0:00 Welcome to the show

6:29 Ryan Kerrigan

11:39 Tamba Hali

16:02 Matt Forte

19:19 Warrick Dunn

24:43 Thomas Davis

29:38 Michael Bennett

35:16 Stephen Davis

40:28 Mike Iupati

43:27 Snacks Harrison

48:03 D'Brickashaw Ferguson

51:12 Sean Lee

57:35 Jordy Nelson

1:03:07 Reggie Nelson

1:04:49 Rapid fire additions


Host: Robert Mays

Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Senior Producer: Katy Duffy

Social Producer: Scott Krinch


Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays

Follow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_


Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

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