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Brian Dawkins, Terrell Owens fail to make cut for Hall of Fame

HOUSTON - Brian Dawkins made a long plane ride for nothing. The former Eagles great had planned to wait out Saturday's Pro Football Hall of Fame vote at home in Philadelphia.

HOUSTON - Brian Dawkins made a long plane ride for nothing.

The former Eagles great had planned to wait out Saturday's Pro Football Hall of Fame vote at home in Philadelphia.

But at the last minute, he and his wife, Connie, along with their twin daughters, Chonni and Cionni, were persuaded to get on a plane and head for Houston.

"Somebody talked me into coming out,'' he said. "But this will be the last time I'll come out here beforehand. Next time I'll just wait [at home].''

Dawkins' first attempt at Canton came up short Saturday. Same for another former Eagle, wide receiver Terrell Owens.

The Hall of Fame announced its class of 2017 Saturday night after a nine-hour meeting by its 48-member selection committee.

The five modern-era players selected were running backs Terrell Davis and LaDainian Tomlinson, quarterback Kurt Warner, defensive end Jason Taylor, and kicker Morten Andersen.

Also voted in were safety Kenny Easley, this year's senior committee nominee, and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who was one of two "contributor" nominees.

The other contributor nominee, former commissioner Paul Tagliabue, did not get the necessary 80 percent of the votes. According to a report by Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, he came up one vote short.

This was Dawkins' first year of eligibility for Canton. He survived the first reduction vote from 15 to 10, but was eliminated when the group was paired from 10 to five.

Owens failed to make it into the final 10 for the second straight year.

Eliminated in the first reduction vote along with Owens was Isaac Bruce, the other wide receiver in the final 15; offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Joe Jacoby; and coach Don Coryell.

The others besides Dawkins who were eliminated in the second reduction vote from 10 to five were safety John Lynch, offensive linemen Tony Boselli and Kevin Mawae, and cornerback Ty Law.

"I'm disappointed,'' Dawkins said. "That's how I feel right now. I'll be fine, though. I'm upset now, but I'll be fine.

"It's extremely disappointing, I'm not going to lie about that. Extremely [disappointing]. But this is something that will pass and I'll get back to my normal routine and what I was doing before this. I'll get back into my groove of doing my work.

"But this is something . . . it's frustrating.''

Since the Hall of Fame doesn't give out the vote counts, it's not clear how close Dawkins came to making the final five.

Safety is one of the least represented positions in Canton. There are only seven true safeties in the Hall of Fame, and another four players who played both corner and safety.

The nine-time Pro Bowler appeared to have a good chance to get in this year. Aside from Tomlinson, no one else was considered a slam dunk among the 15 modern-era finalists.

But it's very possible that Dawkins and Lynch ended up canceling each other out in the reduction vote from 10 to five.

Last year, Davis and Andersen didn't even make it into the final 10. Andersen was a four-time finalist. Davis and Warner both were three-time finalists.

Owens, who is second in the NFL in career receiving yards (15,934) and third in career receiving touchdowns (153), did not hide his bitterness over being shunned by the voters for the second year in a row.

"HOF is a total joke. Honestly, doesn't mean anything to me to get in beyond this point,'' he tweeted.

Many of the voters again ignored Owens' incredible pass-catching production and chose to focus on his disruptive behavior over the course of his career.

But even Dawkins, who had an up-close-and-personal view of Owens at his worst with the Eagles in 2005, believes the wide receiver deserves to be in Canton.

"To me, that's where [the voting process] is flawed tremendously,'' Dawkins said. "[The voters] take things too personally. You got to look past that. You have got be a bigger person.

"For me, [Owens] ruined my Super Bowl chances for two years after [2005] because of what broke out. It took us a couple of years after that to get back in the groove.

"So I can be pissed off about that. But I'm not anymore. I just look at his resumé. His resumé is he's a phenomenal talent. He should be in the Hall of Fame.''

Dawkins, who has been working as football operations executive with the Eagles since last summer, was to fly back to Philadelphia Saturday.

"It's disappointing,'' he said. "It's disappointing, but it won't last. I'll get this out of me pretty quick. I'll get back to grinding like I was grinding and trying to help the Eagles.''

The path to Canton isn't going to get any easier for Dawkins and Owens next year. Among the players who will become eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2018 are Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, and Randy Moss, and Steve Hutchinson.

In 2019, Tony Gonzales, Champ Bailey and Ed Reed will be eligible.