A handful of players not elected to the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame’s Class of 2020 move now from the modern-era category to the senior class ... and some of them you know. But some you may not.

Like offensive lineman Chris Hinton.

Normally, it’s good when you don’t hear about an offensive lineman. It means he hasn’t committed a penalty, missed a block or been beaten for a sack. But in this instance, it’s disappointing we get nothing but crickets when Hinton’s name is mentioned.

Because he’s better than that.

In 20 years as a modern-era candidate for the Hall, he was never more than a semifinalist … and that happened once (2017). But the guy was named to seven Pro Bowls, was a five-time All-Pro (including twice as a first-teamer), the first offensive lineman to appear in the Pro Bowl as a rookie, the first offensive lineman named to the Pro Bowl at three different positions (left guard, left tackle and right guard) and one of the first two persons named to the Indianapolis Colts’ Ring of Honor.

What he wasn’t was an NFL champion, and that’s a curse.

Ask the Falcons’ George Kunz or Mike Kenn. Both were accomplished offensive linemen. Both belong in Canton. And both played for Atlanta teams that stunk.

Neither has been discussed as a Hall-of-Fame finalist.

Now fast-forward to Chris Hinton. During his 13-year career he played for three teams – Indianapolis, Atlanta and Minnesota – that were a combined 57-70 and finished above .500 four times. Worse, he played collegiate football at Northwestern where the Wildcats were 4-40 during his career.

Nevertheless, Hinton was the fourth pick of the 1983 draft, chosen by the Denver Broncos and traded away one week later for the first choice of the draft – quarterback John Elway. Granted, quarterback Mark Herrmann and a future first-rounder (that became offensive lineman Ron Solt) were part of that deal, too, but Hinton was the headliner … and teammates never let him forget it, reminding him that he cost them a Hall-of-Fame quarterback.

“Yeah,” Hinton shot back, “but you wouldn’t have had anybody to block for him.”

Elway played in five Super Bowls. Hinton played in none. In fact, he went to the playoffs only three times, and, yes, that matters. Sixty-eight percent of all players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame have championships on their resumes.

“Hands down,” he once told us on the Talk of Fame Network, “if I played for the 49ers or the Redskins I’d be in the Hall of Fame. If I played for championship teams and accomplished what I did I would probably have more All-Pro seasons. As a voter, it’s tough to wrap your arms around a player you guys didn’t see.”

He’s right about that. But there’s more working against Chris Hinton than NFL titles. He believes – and, frankly, so do I -- that had he settled in at one position and spent his career there he might have gained more attention. Instead, he was shuttled among three spots ... and was a Pro Bowler at all three.

But he was never an all-decade choice at any, and, so, we find him today among the dozens of qualified candidates buried in the senior category … otherwise known as purgatory. It’s a familiar story and one repeated with each year, and his is no less poignant than others. Chris Hinton deserved to be considered as a modern-era finalist precisely because he played for bad teams … yet was named All-Pro five times.

“To be very honest with you,” he told the Talk of Fame Network, “I think I played out of position most of my career. I was more of a natural guard. I was more of a physical, run-blocking guy, vs. the tackles. Really, I think I played out of position 10 of the 13 years (I was in the NFL).”

Nevertheless, he was decorated wherever he went.

In fact, when then-New England offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was asked two years ago to name the best lineman he'd seen he tapped danced around an answer before saying that Chris Hinton should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Scarnecchia coached Hinton in the 1980s.

“Chris Hinton of the Colts was the league’s premier offensive tackle,” Sports Illustrated’s Paul Zimmerman wrote in 1989. “Scouts watch him pull to lead on sweeps for Eric Dickerson and say, ‘Wow, what a guard he’d make.’ “

I look at him and wonder why he was never a Hall-of-Fame finalist. But he wasn’t. So now he’s lost among a litany of deserving senior candidates, and it’s possible we never hear his name again in connection with Canton.

That’s just the way it is. But it isn’t the way it should be.

Follow on Twitter @ClarkJudgeTOF