2000 Pro Football Hall of Fame Senior Nominee Named.

CANTON, Ohio--(BW SportsWire)--Aug. 19, 1999--

Dave Wilcox, a 6-3, 240-pound outside linebacker, who played 11 seasons (1964-1974) with the San Francisco 49ers, has been selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Senior Committee as a finalist for election into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2000.

As the Senior Committee nominee, Wilcox will join 14 still-to-be named Modern-Era candidates on the list of finalists from which the Class of 2000 will be selected. The Hall of Fame selection meeting will be held on January 29, 2000, the day before Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta. To be elected, Wilcox must receive the same 80 percent voting support that is required of all finalists. The Hall's 38-member Board of Selectors will elect between four and seven new members during next January's meeting.

The 49ers third-round draft choice in 1964, Wilcox was selected to play in seven Pro Bowls. Known as "The Intimidator," many of his contemporaries insist he was the finest outside linebacker of his day.

"Dave Wilcox is the best I've seen at his position," long-time NFL player and coach Paul Wiggin once remarked. "He gave us fits," recalled Detroit Lions Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Schmidt. "He came prepared all the time."

Virtually every tight end that faced the five-time All-NFL linebacker quickly realized that he simply was not going to allow them to get off the line, whether it was to block or get into a pass route.

"What I do best," Wilcox once said, "is not let people block me. I just hate to be blocked."

Never a "free-lancer," Wilcox was a student of the game. He prepared mentally as well as physically. "If I were to describe my style of play," he said, "I guess I would say that I tried to be fundamentally correct."

Los Angeles Rams' quarterback Roman Gabriel once said, "He plays outside linebacker like Dick Butkus plays middle linebacker."