Thomas was the league’s most valuable player in 1991, when he gained more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage. When he retired in 2,000, he ranked sixth all-time in career yards from scrimmage (16,532), with 12,074 yards rushing. Only Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders ran for more yards in the 1990s.

He joins Jim Kelly, who made the Hall of Fame in 2002, from the Buffalo teams that won four straight AFC titles before losing in each Super Bowl.

“Like I’ve always said, we didn’t win a Super Bowl, but this is my Super Bowl gift to the Buffalo Bills fans,” Thomas said.

He will join his fellow Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders in Canton; they played together for one season at OSU.

Matthews, the only player in his first year of eligibility, spent 19 seasons with the Oilers/Titans franchise, playing more games than any positional player in NFL history when he retired in 2001. He did it as a guard, tackle and center. Matthews never missed a game because of injury.

“I never had to grow up, could play like I was a kid, played till I was 40, and now you are telling me I am in the Hall of Fame,” he said by phone from Texas. “I hadn’t been nervous about it until I saw my family and they were ready to melt down.”

Wehrli was a five-time All-Pro cornerback who played 14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, starting as a rookie in 1969. He once intercepted three passes by Roger Staubach in a win over Dallas and made the league’s 1970s all-decade squad.

“Something like this puts a cap on it. It’s a dream come true,” Wehrli said, speaking by phone from St. Louis. Wehrli made it in his last year of eligibility before going into the seniors’ pool, from which Sanders and Hickerson were elected.

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Sanders spent a decade with the Lions and made seven Pro Bowls.

“This has been a journey,” he said. “The last few days have been very nerve-racking, not only for me but my family and, I know, a lot of my friends. This is a blessing.”

Hickerson played 15 seasons for the Browns as the lead blocker for three Hall of Famers — Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly, Bobby Mitchell — and has been eligible for 29 years.

“I am honored to be joining such an elite group of individuals and to be remembered as one of the best linemen of all time,” Hickerson said.

He was so good that Jim Brown, perhaps the greatest player in NFL history, called him “one of the best pulling guards that ever played.”

“He had unbelievable speed and mobility and was the best lineman we had. He blocked downfield, something guys today can’t do. Nobody knows blockers better than the guys who ran behind him, and ... he was the best blocker on a good blocking team,” Brown said.

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