Six-time Super Bowl-winning owner Robert Kraft and NFL founder Ralph Hay are among the 21 contributors who advanced to the next stage for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.

A blue-ribbon committee reduced the candidates from an initial list of 32 nominees in voting released on Friday. The committee next will cut down the list to nine semifinalists and one finalist who will advance to voting conducted by the full selection committee early next year.

There also will be 15 modern-era finalists, three seniors and one coach for the Class of 2026. Between four and eight new members will be elected in the second year of this current format.

Kraft bought the New England Patriots in 1994 and quickly turned them into one of the most successful franchises in the NFL. He hired Bill Beli

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