It's a big weekend for NFL Network.
The pro football league's in-house has a Thanksgiving night game fraught with playoff implications and for the first time will air the announcement of the 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2010.
NFL Network will kick off its coverage of the New York Giants visiting the Denver Broncos at Invesco Field at 8 p.m. Both teams are 6-4 and vying for playoff positions in the National and American Football Conferences, respectively.
The game's lead-in, Thursday Night Kickoffpresented by Sears at 6:30 apm. will be highlighted by a roundtable discussion among network commentators Joe Theismann, Rod Woodson and Michael with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
On Saturday, Nov. 28 at 1 p.m., the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Road to Canton will serve as the forum for the announcement of the contenders for the 2010 Hall of Fame Class, which figures to be topped by the league's all-time receiving leader Jerry Rice.
Paul Burmeister hosts the 60-minute show and leads a panel discussion analyzing who made the final 25 and who didn't. Joining Burmeister are longtime Dallas Morning News NFL writer and Hall of Fame voter Rick Gosselin; former Philadelphia Daily News writer and NFL Films writer-producer Ray Didinger, who had a Hall of Fame vote for 15 years; and longtime Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Joe Horrigan.
Also on the Road to Canton special, NFL Films president Steve Sabol presents an essay entitled "Terrell Davis vs. History" in which he compares Davis's career to the performances of three Hall of Fame running backs who had short careers: Ernie Nevers, Gale Sayers, and Doak Walker. In addition, Sabol hosts a roundtable with NFL Films' most storied cinematographers -- Bob Angelo, Donnie Marx, Hank McElwee and Bob Smith -- to tell the stories behind their most iconic shots of the Hall of Famers.
Woodson, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2009, hosts a segment in which he breaks down the candidates at defensive back and wide receiver.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2010 will be announced Feb. 6, 2010 on NFL Network.
