Brett Favre, Terrell Owens lead class of 2016 Hall of Fame nominees

It’s hard to believe that Brett Farve has been retired almost five years already. Maybe that’s because it seems as if it took him at least that long to make up his mind and do it.

But it’s true — the legendary quarterback stepped away from the game for good after the 2010 NFL season, making him eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year.

Favre is one of 108 modern-day nominees for the hall’s class of 2016 announced Wednesday. He and receiver Terrell Owens lead a strong list of first-year nominees.

After spending his rookie season as a backup for Atlanta, Favre became a household name with the Green Bay Packers, earning three league MVP awards and leading the team to two Super Bowl appearances and one championship.

After 16 years in Green Bay, Favre retired and unretired twice, spending one season with the New York Jets and two with the Minnesota Vikings before finally calling it a career. And what a career it was, with 508 touchdown passes, 71,838 yards and 6,300 completions — all league records at the time (Peyton Manning has since passed him in touchdown passes).

Owens may be more remembered for his on- and off-field antics, but he was one of the league’s best receivers for much of his 15-year career. He led the NFL in receptions three times and his total of 153 is third-best all time. He is also second all-time in receiving yards with 15,934.

Other first-year eligible nominees are guard Alan Faneca, safety Lawyer Milloy, running backs Brian Westbrook and Clinton Portis, placekicker John Carney and linebackers Keith Bulluck and Mike Vrabel.

The full list of nominees will be narrowed to 25 semifinalists in November and then 15 finalists in January.