Hall of Fame inductees

The four players being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today. Television coverage begins at 10 a.m. on ESPN:

BENNY FRIEDMAN, NFL’s first great passer

NFL years, team: 1927 Cleveland Bulldogs, 1928 Detroit Wolverines, 1929-1931 New York Giants, 1932-1934 Brooklyn Dodgers.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

* Threw league-record 11 touchdown passes as a rookie in 1927.

* Set another record with 20 TDs in 1929.

* Led league in touchdown passes four consecutive years (1927-1930).

* His 66 career touchdown passes was an NFL record for years.

* During his first four pro seasons, Friedman earned first-team All-NFL honors.

* In 1928, he led the league in rushing touchdowns and touchdown passes; no other player has ever accomplished that.

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DAN MARINO, NFL’s most prolific passer

NFL years, team: 1983-1999 Miami

Dolphins.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

* Miami’s first-round pick (27th overall) of the 1983 draft.

* Five other quarterbacks, including Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and John Elway, had been taken before the Dolphins grabbed Marino.

* Career statistics include 4,967 completions, 8,358 attempts for 61,343 yards, and 420 TDs.

* Marino threw 20 touchdowns and recorded a 96.0 passer rating to earn rookie-of-the-year honors.

* In 1984, became first player to pass for 5,000 yards in a season (5,084) and threw a then-record 48 TDs. By season’s end, he had set six league records and was named the NFL’s most valuable player.

* In the 1984 AFC championship game, Marino passed for 421 yards and threw four touchdowns in the Dolphins’ 45-28 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning his first and only trip to the Super Bowl.

* By the end of the 1995 season he had supplanted Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton as the career passing leader in attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns.

* Recorded 13 3,000-yard seasons, which includes the six seasons he reached the 4,000-yard mark.

* Passed for 300 yards in a game 63 times and threw for 400 or more yards in a game 13 times. Marino was named first- or second-team All-Pro eight times and earned All-AFC honors six times.

* Selected to nine consecutive Pro Bowls.

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FRITZ POLLARD, NFL’s first black head coach

NFL years, teams: 1919-1921, 1925-1926 Akron Pros, 1922 Milwaukee Badgers, 1923, 1925 Hammond Pros, 1923-1924 Gilberton Catamounts (independent pro team), 1925 Providence Steamrollers.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

* Two-time All-American halfback from Brown University.

* Turned pro in 1919 after Army service during World War I. In 1920, Pollard led the Pros to an undefeated (8-0-3) season and won the American Professional Football Assn.’s first crown.

* Earned a place in pro football history as one of two African Americans in the new league. In 1921, he became the first black head coach in NFL history when the Pros named him co-coach.

* An exciting, elusive runner, he was the most feared running back in the fledgling league.

* During his pro football career, he played and sometimes coached for four NFL teams.

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STEVE YOUNG, Super Bowl MVP

NFL years, teams: 1985-1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1987-1999 San Francisco 49ers

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

* Spent two years in the U.S. Football League, was the Buccaneers’ first-round pick of the 1984 supplemental draft.

* Traded in 1987 to 49ers, where he served as the backup to Hall of Famer Joe Montana.

* Tied with legendary Sammy Baugh as only QBs to win six NFL passing titles.

* Set then-record 112.8 passer rating in 1994.

* Threw six touchdown passes and was named most valuable player of San Francisco’s 49-26 win over the San Diego Chargers in the 1995 Super Bowl.

* Career statistics include 33,124 yards and 232 TD passes, also rushed for 4,239 yards and 43 TDs.

* The left-hander threw for 3,000 or more yards six times and had 20 or more touchdown passes in a season five times, and posted a passer rating of 100 or higher six times.

* Named All-Pro in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1998 and earned All-NFC honors three times.

* The two-time league MVP was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times.

Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame