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Pro Football Hall of Fame 2016 class to be announced Saturday during NFL Honors ceremony

The Pro Football Hall of Fame will have the spotlight Saturday when a new 18-man class is set, and one of the men that may be inducted has Bengals ties.

By Jason Marcum
Elsa/Getty Images

Much of the focus around the NFL this week will be centered on Super Bowl 50.

However, another big event will take place this weekend when the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class is announced during "NFL Honors," a two-hour awards special to air nationally on Saturday from 9-11 p.m. EST on CBS. The awards show will be taped earlier that evening at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco from 8-10 p.m. EST, and the 2016 Hall of Fame Class will be introduced for the first time during the ceremony. The ceremony will also feature the 2015 MVP winners and the Walter Payton Man of the Year winner.

Former NFL receiver Terrell Owens, the lone Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee with ties to the Cincinnati Bengals, is among the three first-year eligible nominees for this year's Hall of Fame class.

Though the majority of his NFL career was spent with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, Owens found himself in the Queen City after signing a one-year deal with the Bengals for the 2010 season. He would go on to play in 14 games and was on pace to finish with a Pro Bowl-caliber kind of season.

Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 4, Owens had one of the best receiving games by a Bengal ever with 10 catches for 222 yards and a touchdown of 78 yards. Entering Week 15, Owens was quietly on pace to finish the season with 88 catches for 1,209 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Unfortunately for Owens, he suffered a knee injury later in the year and was placed on injured reserve for the first time in his 15-year career. He still managed to lead all Bengals' receivers (including Chad Johnson) in receptions (72), yards (983) and touchdowns (9) for the season. That would be the last regular-season action Owens would see in the NFL.

Now, Owens is among 15 Modern-Era Finalists who will be considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when the Hall's Selection Committee meets in San Francisco on the day before Super Bowl 50 to elect the Class of 2016.

Here are the 2016 Modern-Era Finalists for the HOF:

Those 15 Modern-Era Finalists join three other finalists to comprise 18 finalists under consideration for the HOF.

Two Senior Finalists were announced in August 2015 by the Seniors Committee that reviews the qualifications of those players whose careers ended more than 25 years ago:

In addition to those 17 players and coaches, a contributor finalist announced in September was selected by the HOF's Contributor Committee, which considers people, other than players and coaches, who made outstanding contributions to pro football.

That man is Edward DeBartolo, Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers from 1977-2000. During that time, San Francisco took home five Super Bowl trophies and was arguably the best franchise in pro sports over that span.

To be elected, a finalist must receive a minimum positive vote of 80 percent during annual selection meeting.

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