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Ken Stabler's long Hall of Fame wait might end, after his death

It's strange, but once a great player dies there often becomes a sudden push to get him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler was a Hall of Fame finalist in 1990, 1991 and 2003. He didn't get in. He didn't get nominated as a senior candidate the first few years he was eligible. Then the great and colorful "Snake" died on July 8 and suddenly he ended up as a senior candidate for this year's class.

Stabler has a great chance to get in; he's one of two senior finalists with guard Dick Stanfel.  A maximum of two senior candidates can be elected. The last five senior candidates, and 10 of the last 11 and 18 of the last 21, have been voted into the Hall. Stabler is very likely to make it this year.

And that would be a wonderful yet tough moment for Stabler's family because he's not around anymore to enjoy it.

“I think his fans got cheated,” Stabler’s oldest daughter Kendra told Bill Williamson of TodaysPigskin.com. “He would have given such a great speech [at the enshrinement ceremony]. He was such a great storyteller. I’m just sad the fans won’t get that experience.”

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The family is ready. Stabler's three daughters are in San Francisco waiting for the call, Williamson wrote. They've decided to have former Raiders coach John Madden present Stabler if he gets elected, the story on Today's Pigskin said.

But yes, "cheated" seems to be a good word. This should have been a moment Stabler  one of the most colorful characters in NFL history  was here for, that his family could have celebrated with him.

“Even though he was 69, with bad knees,” Alexa Stabler told Williamson, “he’d be rocking-and-rolling all night.”

Stabler's candidacy has been debated because he didn't put up great stats and didn't have a long prime. But he was great during that prime. The Raiders were one of the best teams of the 1970s, Stabler won an NFL MVP award in 1974 and was named as the second-team quarterback on the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-Decade team. According to AL.com, of the 16 all-decade team quarterbacks going back to the 1940s, every one who is eligible for the Hall of Fame is already in except for Stabler and Brett Favre, who is a virtual lock to be elected Saturday in his first year of eligibility.

Many fans have lobbied for Stabler for years, and their wait probably will end Saturday. It's just too bad it had to happen after Stabler's death.

There are 15 modern-day finalists. Only five can make it. Favre will be voted in when the committee meets Saturday. Terrell Owens has a good chance but it's not a lock. It would seem there's a good chance that Marvin Harrison's wait will finally end and he'll be voted in. Players like Pace, Warner and Greene will generate a lot of debate and it's a decent bet that the class will be filled out by two of them, and maybe all three get in if someone like Harrison or Owens has to wait another year. Here are the finalists:

QB Brett Favre

QB Kurt Warner

RB Terrell Davis

RB Edgerrin James

WR Marvin Harrison

WR Terrell Owens

OT Orlando Pace

OT Joe Jacoby

OG Alan Faneca

LB Kevin Greene

S John Lynch

S Steve Atwater

K Morten Andersen

Coach Tony Dungy

Coach Don Coryell

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!