Hamilton Park native and former Dallas Cowboys standout Everson Walls has been named as one of 52 senior nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
Everson Walls.
On Oct. 2, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced 52 senior — i.e, players who last played football no later than the 2000 season — nominees for the 2026 HOF class, with Hamilton Park Elementary and Richardson High School alumnus Everson Walls counted among them. The list of senior nominees was released a week after 128 Modern-Era nominees, including Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald, were announced by the Hall of Fame.
Walls, who played for the Cowboys from 1981 to 1989, is joined in his nomination by other Cowboys greats like Don Meredith and former teammate Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones. He has previously been nominated for the Hall multiple times, with the most recent nomination resulting in him being named a semifinalist last year. In 2018, he made the final ballot but was unable to secure enough votes to send him to Canton.
The Hamilton Park native attended Berkner High School, where he played one season of football before graduating in 1977. In his lone season playing against Lake Highlands and Richardson, Walls led the district in interceptions — a feat he would go on to replicate at each level of his career.
Walls led the country in interceptions at Grambling State University before signing with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1980. In his time with Dallas, he made the Pro Bowl four times and led the league in interceptions in three different seasons, a then-NFL record which Ed Reed has since tied.
He eventually went on to help the New York Giants to a Super Bowl Victory following the 1990 season before retiring in 1993 after a stint with the Browns.Â
Walls recently visited Willie B. Johnson Recreation Center in his old neighborhood, where he spoke with residents and posed for photos.
The 52 senior nominees put forward by the HOF screening committee will now be considered by the Blue Ribbon-Seniors Committee, which will reduce the list to 25 semifinalists, then 9 finalists, before eventually voting on final inductees.
