CANTON, OHIO - Former Arizona State defensive lineman Curley Culp is one of two finalists selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Seniors Committee for election into the 2013 Hall of Fame Class.
The other Seniors Committee finalist is former Green Bay Packers linebacker Dave Robinson.
Culp and Robinson will join 15 yet to be named modern-era candidates on the list of finalists from which the Class of 2013 will be selected. The Hall of Fame selection meeting will be held on Feb. 2, 2013, the day before Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, La.
Culp, from Yuma, was a two-sport star at Arizona State and a 1967 NCAA wrestling champion at heavyweight for the Sun Devils, the first NCAA wrestling champion in Arizona State history.
He is a charter member of the Arizona State Hall of Fame, a member of the Sun Devil Ring of Honor and a member of the Yuma High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Culp was selected in the second round of the 1968 draft by the Denver Broncos but was soon traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent the first six-plus seasons with the Chiefs, where he was an integral member of the team's Super Bowl IV championship team.
He was traded to the Houston Oilers in 1974 and was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year by the Newspaper Enterprise Association in '75. He was selected for six Pro Bowls, earned first- or second-team All-Pro recognition five times and was named All-AFC his first three full seasons with the Oilers. He finished his NFL career with the Detroit Lions.
Robinson joined the Green Bay Packers as the team's first round draft pick in 1963 and played in Greey Bay for 10 seasons before playing the final two years of his career with the Washington Redskins. He helped Green Bay to three straight NFL championships, including victories in Super Bowls I and II.
Robinson was named to three Pro Bowls, earned All-NFL acclaim three times, and was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1960s.
The Seniors nominees must receive the same 80 percent voting support that is required of all finalists. The Hall's Selection Committee can elect a maximum of two senior candidates and five modern-era candidates for a class no smaller than four or larger than seven.
A senior nominee is an individual whose career ended at least 25 years ago.
