Doug Williams is one step closer to Canton.

The Super Bowl 22 MVP is one of five contributor candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The list was announced Wednesday.

Williams was the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl. He is joined by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, late Bears owner Virginia McCaskey, longtime player and scout John Wooten and former Canton Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay.

How the vote works

A subcommittee picked the five from 42 nominees. It will choose one of them to move on.

That contributor will join one coach and 13 players as finalists. The 15 will be cut to 10 and then seven. The full selection committee will meet in early 2027.

Each of the 25 voters can pick six names. It takes 80% support to get in.

Williams' story

Tampa Bay drafted Williams 17th overall in 1978. He joined Washington as a backup in 1986 and took over the next season when Jay Schroeder got hurt.

He threw four touchdown passes in a 42-10 Super Bowl win over Denver. He has spent the past 13 seasons in Washington's front office.

The rest of the list

Kraft has owned the Patriots since 1994. His teams have won six Super Bowls.

McCaskey, the daughter of Bears founder George Halas, was the team's principal owner from 1983 until she died in 2025 at 102.

Wooten was a two-time Pro Bowl lineman who later spent nearly three decades in scouting. He has led the Fritz Pollard Alliance since 2003.

Hay owned the Bulldogs from 1918 to 1922. The league's founding meeting was held at his car dealership in Canton.