Hall of Fame: Class of 2024 finalists named
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Sep 28, 2023
The two former players selected in their first year of eligibility on the final Player ballot are Kyle Beckerman and Tim Howard. Photo: Jose L. Argueta/ISI Photos.
The National Soccer Hall of Fame released the names of the 34 finalists for election to the Class of 2024.
From the 20 finalists on the Player ballot, 10 on the Veteran ballot and four on the Builder ballot, as many as six will be inducted. As many as three Players and two Veterans can be selected, along with one Builder.
Player Ballot Finalists (20)
• Chris Ahrens
• Kyle Beckerman
• Lori Chalupny
• Dwayne DeRosario
• Maurice Edu
• Thierry Henry
• Stuart Holden
• Tim Howard
• Eddie Johnson
• Keith Johnson
• Jermaine Jones
• Shalrie Joseph
• Robbie Keane
• Lori Lindsey
• Josh McKinney
• Oguchi Onyewu
• Cat Reddick Whitehill
• Nick Rimando
• Carlos Ruiz
• Jonathan Spector
Voting. The two finalists who receive the most votes from the 48-person Player Voting Committee and are named on at least 50% of the ballots will be elected. The finalist with the third most votes will be elected if he or she is named on at least 75% of the ballots.
Veteran Ballot Finalists (10)
• Chris Armas
• Chico Borja
• Sean Bowers
• Mary Harvey
• Lori Henry
• Eddie Lewis
• Clint Mathis
• Tony Sanneh
• Tisha Venturini-Hoch
• Aly Wagner
Criteria. The Veteran Ballot is the path to the Hall of Fame for players who have been retired for more than 10 full calendar years.
Voting. The finalist who receives the most votes from the 24-person Veteran Voting Committee will be elected. A second finalist will also be elected if he or she receives at least 75 percent of the votes.
Builder Ballot Finalists (4)
• Mark Abbott
• William Cox
• Clark Hunt
• Francisco Marcos
Criteria. The Builder Ballot is the path to the Hall of Fame for individuals who contribute in a non-playing capacity: referees, coaches and contributors. They are selected on a rotating basis -- only contributors are being considered for induction in 2024.
Voting. The finalist who receives the most votes from the 24-person Builder Voting Committee will be elected.
Beckerman is not the most talented player. He, however, of all the national team players I saw made the most out of what talent he had. I wish they could share his mentality with everyone else.