Roger Craig retired almost 26 years ago. He’s still on the outside of the Pro Football Hall of Fame looking in.

His next best chance to join the club that includes teammates Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Fred Dean, former team owner Eddie De Bartolo and the late coach Bill Walsh.

Here’s what Craig is looking at. He is part of a special field of 300 nominees for consideration as part of the Hall of Fame’s centennial 2020 induction ceremony in July.

The math isn’t as daunting as it seems for Craig. He is on a list of 20 seniors, players who last played more than 25 years. Ten will make the grade.

If you were a 49ers red-hot in the 1980s, you must wonder where Craig is lacking. The 49ers went to the playoffs in all eight years he was with the team. He was part of three Super Bowl winners. He rushed for 1,000 yards three times. He was the first NFL player to gain 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. Even in today’s pass-happy offenses, Craig’s 92 catches (as a running back) in 1985, followed by 81 caches the following season looks like a typo on steroids.

He scored 66 touchdowns in 121 game with the 49ers.

His knees-high style of running was distinctive to the point of being iconic. The NFL made a list of the 100 best plays in NFL history. Craig checked in at No. 100 for this run.

He tacked on after leaving the 49ers for the Raiders and two seasons with the Vikings. He retired with 8,189 rushing yards — 44th in NFL history and just a few high steps behind Herschel Walker.

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49ers team with Browns to help Raheem Mostert witness son’s birth while on NY road trip If Craig had an Achilles heel, it was his tendency to loose the ball. He fumbled 42 times during the regular season. Unfortunately the worst play of his career came late in the 1990 NFC Championship. With the 49ers a few minutes away from a victory that would have sent them to a third consecutive Super Bowl, Craig fumbled. The Giants recovered and drove to a game-winning field goal with no time left. It was his final play as a 49er.

Who is he contending with on the seniors list: Oakland Raiders receiver Cliff Branch, and there is going to be some sentiment there. Branch died last Aug. 3 . He had expressed optimism that this might he crack the hall.

Beyond that there are only two other running backs: Verne Lewellen, who played for the Packers and New York Yankees from 1924-32, and Cecil Isbell, who played for the Packers from 1938-42. Deliberations of the candidates will be in January.

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