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NATCHEZ — Natchez football legend, the late Joe Fortunato, is among a list of 60 former professional football players who are being considered as senior player nominees for the Class of 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Fortunato, a native of Mingo Junction, Ohio, played his college ball at Mississippi State from 1950 through 1952, where he was a first team All American and a first team All-SEC player. He spent his entire 12-year professional career as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears, where he was a standout.

According to a press release on the Chicago Bears website, Fortunato was selected by the Bears in the seventh round of the 1952 draft (80th overall) out of Mississippi State, where he played fullback and linebacker and was voted an All-American in 1951. He did not join the Bears until 1955 due to a military commitment.

Fortunato played in 155 career games, recording 16 interceptions and 22 fumble recoveries.

After retiring as a player, Fortunato spent two seasons as a Bears assistant, working as linebackers coach in George Halas’ final year as head coach in 1967 and then as defensive coordinator on Jim Dooley’s staff in 1968.

As a businessman in Natchez, Fortunato and Noland Biglane were partners at Big Joe Oil Co.

In a press release, the Pro Football Hall of Fame said to be considered in the senior player nominee, the player must have last played football at least 25 full seasons ago to be eligible for a nomination. Qualifications include at least five years of service and at least one recognized postseason honor.

The Class of 2025 nominees originally included 100 offensive players, 77 defensive players and five special teams players.

The Seniors Screening Committee, a new entity created by the Hall of Fame this year to add additional input around the overall selection process, reduced the list to 60 players who were announced this week.

Sixty individuals have advanced to the next stage in the voting process for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 in the Seniors category. To be considered, each former player last could have appeared in a professional football game in the 1999 season.

 

Each member of the Seniors Screening Committee, a new entity created this year to add additional input around the overall selection process, cast a ballot for 50 individuals from a list of 182 nominees consisting of 100 offensive players, 77 defensive players and five special teamers. All players who tied for the 50th position remain under consideration.

 

The separate nine-person Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee will make additional reductions in increments over the next several weeks. In late fall, this committee will select three Seniors as Finalists for possible election with the Class of 2025 presented by Visual Edge IT.

 

The 60 players who remain eligible for election with the Class of 2025 are:

 

QUARTERBACKS (5): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel, Jack Kemp, Jim Plunkett.

 

RUNNING BACKS (7): Alan Ameche, Ottis Anderson, Larry Brown, Roger Craig, Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul “Tank” Younger.

 

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (10): Mark Clayton, Isaac Curtis, Boyd Dowler, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Sterling Sharpe, Otis Taylor.

 

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (12): Ed Budde, Ox Emerson, Bill Fralic, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, George Kunz, Ralph Neely, Dick Schafrath, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert.

 

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (6): L.C. Greenwood, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Jim Marshall, Harvey Martin, Leslie O’Neal, Bill Stanfill.

 

LINEBACKERS (11): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Bill Bergey, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Tommy Nobis, Andy Russell, Pat Swilling, Phil Villapiano.

 

DEFENSIVE BACKS (8): Dick Anderson, Deron Cherry, Pat Fischer, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls.

 

SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker.

 

This year’s reduction voting is processed via online voting platforms developed specifically for the Pro Football Hall of Fame by the firm Ernst & Young, LLC.

 

EY has overseen the election process since the Centennial Class of 2020.

 

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 will be enshrined next August in Canton.