For the second time in three years there are two Bengals greats on the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2026 final ballot with Ring of Honor members Ken Anderson and Willie Anderson reaching the last vote in the run-up to the Super Bowl.

Ken Anderson, the 1981 NFL MVP and four-time NFL passing champion, is one of three senior players to reach the finals in results released Wednesday by the Hall of Fame.

After reviewing a slate of nine players who have been retired since 2000, the Hall's blue-ribbon senior committee sent Ken Anderson to the finals with Steel Curtain member and long-time defensive end L.C. Greenwood along with versatile 49ers running back Roger Craig.

It's Ken Anderson's third trip to the finals, first since teammate Anthony Munoz went in on the first ballot 28 years ago, and first appearance as a senior. It was his fourth straight trip to the senior semifinals.

Also Wednesday, the Hall announced that former New England head coach Bill Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner and current North Carolina head coach, is the coach finalist. The man he worked for, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, is also on the last ballot as the contributor finalist.

In the second year of the Hall's new voting process, Ken Anderson and his two senior counterparts are head-to-head with Belichick and Kraft when the 50-member selection committee meets virtually.

Voters can vote for three of the five, and a maximum of three can make it. If no one gets 80%, the top vote-getter is inducted. Last year, one of the five emerged from the seniors/coach/category group when former Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe got the call.

Willie Anderson, the only right tackle in the last four decades to be first team All-Pro three straight seasons, has already qualified for his fifth straight finals when he made the top seven last year on the Modern-Era ballot.

A total of 15 of those players round out the final ballot of 20 and is announced in a few weeks. It could include first-year eligibles such as Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald. A minimum of three and maximum of five come out of the modern category. Last year, prolific Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, All-Pro pass rusher Jared Allen, and long-time cornerback Eric Allen made it.

The class is announced at the NFL Honors show on Feb. 5 during Super Bowl week in San Francisco, and induction is at the Canton, Ohio shrine on Aug. 8.

Bengals.com is a member of the blue-ribbon senior committee and 50-member board of selectors.

In 2023, Willie Anderson and the late Ken Riley were in the Hall finals together. Riley, whose 65 interceptions are the most ever by a cornerback on one team, was one of three senior finalists in the next-to-last-year before the Pro Football Hall of Fame board of directors changed the voting procedure so it "helps ensure the exclusivity of inclusion in the game's most elite fraternity."

As was the norm before the new process, all three seniors, Riley, Joe Klecko and Chuck Howley, made it. They were voted on separately and needed an 80% yes vote for induction.