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Former Chargers linebacker Junior Seau and Rams teammates Orlando Pace and Kurt Warner highlight the list of finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which was announced tonight.

Those three first-year eligible players are part of a stacked class of 15 modern-era nominees, from which no more than five will earn induction into Canton this year.

Along with those three are the five finalists from last year who made the cut from 15 to 10 but didn’t make the final five: Running back Jerome Bettis, linebacker Kevin Greene, defensive end Charles Haley, wide receiver Marvin Harrison and guard Will Shields.

The remaining seven finalists include kicker Morten Andersen, wide receiver Tim Brown, coach Don Coryell, running back Terrell Davis, coach Tony Dungy, coach Jimmy Johnson and safety John Lynch.

The finalists will be discussed and voted on by the selection committee and announced on Jan. 31 in Phoenix, the day before the Super Bowl.

The 15 finalists will be voted on along with seniors committee candidate Mick Tingelhoff and contributors Bill Polian and Ron Wolf, which could make for a maximum class of eight (contributors and seniors are discussed and voted upon separately from modern-era candidates, and need 80 percent of a yes-no vote to be approved).

The difficulty of selecting a class of five from the modern-era candidates is underscored by the 11 names which were reduced in the vote from 26 semifinalists.

Those names include Rams wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, running backs Roger Craig and Edgerrin James, offensive linemen Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn and Kevin Mawae, linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, cornerback Ty Law and safeties Steve Atwater and Darren Woodson.