Michael Irvin

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2005 may be without a great wide receiver. But it is not without great quarterbacks.

The Cowboys' 1990s all-decade wide receiver, Michael Irvin, was passed over Saturday in his first year of eligibility, but the Hall did welcome the first passer, most prolific passer and most efficient passer.

Quarterbacks Benny Friedman, Dan Marino and Steve Young – plus running back Fritz Pollard – will be enshrined this August as the Class of 2005.

They represented the very young and very old. Friedman and Pollard played in the 1920s and will be inducted posthumously. Marino and Young were both elected in their first year of eligibility.

"This is an incredible honor," Marino said. "It's humbling."

Irvin reached the final six. New York Giants linebacker Harry Carson also reached the final six. But both were rejected in a yes-or-no vote by the 39-member Hall of Fame selection committee. Neither Irvin nor Carson received the required 32 votes.

Marino holds the career records for most completions, passes, yards and touchdown passes. He went to nine Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl. Marino was the MVP in 1984, when he passed for a league-record 5,084 yards.

Young is the all-time leading passer with a 96.8 efficiency rating. He tied Sammy Baugh with a record six passing titles. Young went to seven Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl, winning MVP honors in that game, and also was a two-time league MVP.

In addition, Young was among the best running quarterbacks in history. His 4,239 rushing yards rank second at his position, and his 43 touchdowns first.

"When I broke in, [running quarterbacks] were called mad scramblers because no one thought they could be efficient in the pocket," Young said. "It was viewed as a deficiency.

"So the [passing] efficiency thing was a way for me to show that even though you could move around and scramble, you could also stay in the pocket, make the throws and do all the things you needed to do to move your team. I wanted to make it a positive. Being a scrambler could actually be a positive thing."

Friedman led the NFL in touchdown passes for four consecutive seasons, from 1927-30, in an era when the league ran the ball almost exclusively. The ball was almost round in those days, making it difficult to throw. His record of 66 career touchdown passes stood for 10 seasons after his retirement.

Pollard was one of the NFL's first black players as well as coaches. He started playing in 1919 with the Akron Pros and became the game's first black coach with the Pros in 1921. He played for five teams in an eight-year career and posted an 8-4-1 record as a coach of two of them.

Quarterback (5-10, 183 pounds)

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

Notable: The Senior Selection Committee nominee was the NFL's first great passer. He threw a league-record 11 touchdown passes as a rookie in 1927 and bettered it with 20 in 1929. The versatile player could run, pass and kick. In 1928, he led the league in rushing touchdowns and touchdown passes; no other player has ever accomplished that.

Quarterback (6-4, 218 pounds)

NFL career: 1983-1999 Miami Dolphins.

Notable: He was Miami's first-round pick (27th overall) in the 1983 draft. Five quarterbacks, including Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and John Elway, were taken before him. Marino is the most prolific passer in NFL history, with 4,967 completions in 8,358 attempts for 61,343 yards and 420 touchdowns. He threw four touchdown passes in the AFC Championship Game to lead the 1984 Dolphins to the Super Bowl and had thirteen 3,000-yard seasons (including six 4,000-yard seasons and the first 5,000-yard season).

Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame

Back/coach (5-9, 165 pounds)

Pro career: 1919-1921, 1925-1926 Akron Pros, 1922 Milwaukee Badgers, 1923, 1925 Hammond Pros, 1923-1924 Gilberton Cadamounts (independent), 1925 Providence Steam Roller

Notable: He turned pro in 1919 after service in World War I. In 1920, Pollard led the Pros to the American Professional Football Association's first title. He was one of two African Americans in the new league. In 1921, he became the NFL's first African American head coach.

Quarterback (6-2, 205 pounds)

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

Notable: He was Tampa Bay's first-round pick of 1984 supplemental draft after spending two seasons in the USFL. After being traded to the 49ers in 1987, he backed up Hall of Famer Joe Montana. Young stepped into the starting role in 1991 and won the first of four straight passing titles. He and Sammy Baugh are the only ones with six passing titles. Young led the 49ers to victory in the 1995 Super Bowl. The left-hander threw for 3,000 or more yards six times and had 20 or more touchdown passes five times.

Arizona - Andy Bagnato, Arizona Republic
Atlanta - Furman Bisher, The Atlanta Journal
Baltimore - Scott Garceau, WMAR-TV
Buffalo - Mark Gaughan, Buffalo News
Carolina - Charles Chandler, Charlotte Observer
Chicago - Don Pierson, Chicago Tribune
Cincinnati - Chick Ludwig, Dayton Daily News
Cleveland - Tony Grossi, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Dallas - Rick Gosselin, The Dallas Morning News
Denver - Woodrow Paige, Denver Post
Detroit - Jerry Green, The Detroit News
Green Bay - Cliff Christl, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Houston - John McClain, Houston Chronicle
Indianapolis - Mike Chappell, Indianapolis Star
Jacksonville - Sam Kouvaris, WJXT-TV
Kansas City - Bob Gretz, KCFX Overland Park, Kan.
Miami - Edwin Pope, Miami Herald
Minnesota - Sid Hartman, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
New England - Ron Borges, Boston Globe
New Orleans - Pete Finney, Times-Picayune
New York (Giants) - Vinny DiTrani, Bergen Record
New York (Jets) - Paul Zimmerman, Sports Illustrated
Oakland - Frank Cooney, The Sports Xchange
Philadelphia - Paul Domowitch, Philadelphia Daily News
Pittsburgh - Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
St. Louis - Bernie Miklasz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
San Diego - Jerry Magee, San Diego Union Tribune
San Francisco - Ira Miller, San Francisco Chronicle
Seattle - John Clayton, ESPN/ESPN Magazine
Tampa Bay - Ira Kaufman, Tampa Tribune
Tennessee - David Climer, The Tennessean
Washington - Len Shapiro, Washington Post
PFWA - Howard Balzer, The Sports Xchange/USA Today Sports Weekly
At Large - Jarrett Bell, USA Today
At Large - Dave Goldberg, Associated Press
At Large - Peter King, Sports Illustrated
At Large - Bob Oates, Los Angeles Times
At Large - Len Pasquarelli, ESPN.com
At Large - Mike Wilbon, Washington Post