Fremont Ross graduate and Michigan legend Charles Woodson made the list of 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class 2021 announced Tuesday.

Woodson was named Mr. Football in Ohio as a senior in 1994 at Ross, before winning the Heisman Trophy at Michigan in 1997. In the NFL, he was a three-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler.

Woodson played cornerback and safety with Oakland and Green Bay in his 18-year career. He won a Super Bowl with the Packers and lost one with the Raiders. Woodson was the 1998 Defensive Rookie of the Year and took top defensive player honors in 2009. He also made the All-Decade Team of the 2000s.

Candidates will be trimmed to 15 modern-day finalists who will be considered for entry by the selection committee during Super Bowl week in February. Inductions are scheduled for next August, when the 2020 class and a special centennial class also will be enshrined after the coronavirus pandemic forced postponement of those ceremonies last summer.

Between four and eight new members will be selected.

Peyton Manning, Jared Allen and Calvin Johnson are also first-year eligible players to make the list of 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2021.

Joining them are four players who previously have been eligible, but never made the semifinals: Eric Allen, Willie Anderson, Cornelius Bennett and Rodney Harrison.

A player must be retired for five seasons before being considered for entry to the Canton, Ohio, shrine.

The group of 25 also includes Ronde Barber, Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler, Alan Faneca, Torry Holt, John Lynch, Clay Matthews, Sam Mills, Richard Seymour, Steve Tasker, Fred Taylor, Zach Thomas, Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne, Patrick Willis, Darren Woodson and Bryant Young.

Also on the voting ballot in the coaching category is Tom Flores; in the contributors category is Bill Nunn; and in the seniors category is Drew Pearson.

First Published November 24, 2020, 6:28 p.m.