Four elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 under new rules - smallest number since 2005

[corta765]

Torry Holt being left out is insane. The guy was a true baller and was on the NFL all decade team for the 2000s. Unreal that they keep avoiding him

[BearNorth]

Kuechly played 118 games.  For reference Jim Brown played 119 and Dick Butkus played 118.

 

Patrick Willis got in last year - 10 years after he retired.  He and Kuechly have almost identical stats.

[Roundybout]

15 minutes ago, corta765 said:

Torry Holt being left out is insane. The guy was a true baller and was on the NFL all decade team for the 2000s. Unreal that they keep avoiding him

Does anyone know why this is? I remember Terrell Owens was passed over all the time for character issues. Is Holt the same way?

[DrDawkinstein]

I like the smaller class.

 

I'm shocked Vinatieri didnt get in immediately. I can see him, Manning, and Suggs getting in next year.

 

Kuechly is going to be tough. I get that he has all the accolades, but his career feels short and kind of hidden. Tough to make him part of the "NFL Story". He might be one of those guys that becomes legend and finally gets inducted 20 years from now.

 

I was about to rant about some unfairness, but then I saw that Ryan Fitzpatrick only retired as recently as 2022, so he isnt eligible for another couple years. Looking forward to that one

 

 

4 minutes ago, Roundybout said:

Does anyone know why this is? I remember Terrell Owens was passed over all the time for character issues. Is Holt the same way?

 

I dont think anyone could give a specific answer for sure, but I'd bet it has to do with the WR position. Not so much character issues, but that there are SO MANY great, big name WRs that come through the game. They could probably do an entirely separate HoF just for WRs.

 

12 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

Kuechly played 118 games.  For reference Jim Brown played 119 and Dick Butkus played 118.

 

Patrick Willis got in last year - 10 years after he retired.  He and Kuechly have almost identical stats.

 

Yeah, I feel like it takes LBs longer to get in. They almost have to show up old and grizzled to get the jacket.

[corta765]

9 minutes ago, Roundybout said:

Does anyone know why this is? I remember Terrell Owens was passed over all the time for character issues. Is Holt the same way?

WR's in general have more issues getting in for some reason. I think because there are so many HOF qualified guys it log jams the position something fierce.

 

Unless your a Rice or C Johnson type guy it seems they are struggle. Andre & Tim Brown both took a real long time and they both defined their era when they played.

It is really weird

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Really weak class and the voters still managed to really screw it up.

 

Eric Allen and Jared Allen should not be in.  I can live with Jared (not that Jared), but I can't believe Eric Allen even made it to the finalist round.  

 

Kuechly should have been voted in.  How do you let Zach Thomas in and not Kuechly?  They have virtually identical career accolades and I think Kuechly was actually the better player. 

 

Luke Kuechly
7× Pro Bowl (2013–2019)
5× First-team All-Pro (2013–2015, 2017, 2018)
2× Second-team All-Pro (2016, 2019)

Zach Thomas
7× Pro Bowl (1999–2003, 2005, 2006)
5× First-team All-Pro (1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006)
2× Second-team All-Pro (2001, 2005)

 

 

I realize their is a bias against special teams and I don't believe Steve Tasker belongs in the HOF, but how do you keep Adam Vinatieri out?  He made some of the most memorable kicks of all time.

 

I said before Eli is not a HOF talent but he had HOF playoff moments and 2 SuperBowl wins.  I don't see how you keep him out and just making him wait a year is sill. 

 

As for the WRs, I am ok with not voting in any of them.  If I had to choose one it probably would have been Reggie Wayne. He's 10th all time in receiving yards and 7 of those years he had to share the ball with Marvin Harrison.

[Utah John]

13 hours ago, BigdaddyinOrlando said:

Yeah, that was the most obvious omission. A definite head scratcher for sure. 

 

12 hours ago, djp14150 said:

Pp

 

HOF should never be some stats requirement line

it should not be for players who went to or won a SB

 

I don’t feel Eli should go to the HOF

 

Sterling on the other hand does deserve it.

 

the issue with Luke is he had a shorter career but I do believe he should get in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completely agree with your conclusions.  Eli Manning was a mediocre QB over the duration of a highly inconsistent career.  Absolutely does not belong in the company of the great ones.  The Giants won two SBs with him as QB, big deal. Their defense was what made them successful.

 

Sterling Sharpe and Luke Kuechly both deserve to get in.  They were great for sustained periods of time and had annual awards backing up that consensus.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

16 hours ago, chongli said:

[The changes are attributed to a new intermediary cut from 10 to 7, where three to five are chosen, each requiring 80% of the votes. Before, the cut was from 10 to 5, and the vote for the final 5 was just "yes" or "no". -- I forget where I saw this and am trying to find the link.]

 

Below are the members of the Class of 2025:

 

Eric Allen

Jared Allen

Antonio Gates

Sterling Sharpe (senior)

 

No first-time eligible candidates were chosen and just three of the 15 modern-era finalists were chosen. Only one of the five senior/coach/contributor finalists was chosen.

 

Finalists NOT chosen:

 

First-year eligible modern-era:

 

Luke Kuechly

Eli Manning

Marshal Yanda

Terrell Suggs

Adam Vinatieri

 

Others modern-era finalists:

 

Willie Anderson

Jahri Evans

Torry Holt

Steve Smith Sr.

Fred Taylor

Reggie Wayne

Darren Woodson

 

Seniors category Finalists:

 

Maxie Baughan

Jim Tyrer

 

Coach Finalist:

 

Mike Holmgren

 

Contributor Finalist:

 

Ralph Hay

 

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/pro-football-hall-of-fame-class-of-2025-revealed-at-nfl-honors

 

"The four-person Class of '25 is the smallest to be inducted since 2005 when Dan Marino, Steve Young, Benny Friedman and Fritz Pollard were called to the Hall. Though unusual this century, this is the 19th class in the Hall's 63-year history with four or three members. "

 

https://www.profootballhof.com/news/2025/02/pro-football-hall-of-fame-to-enshrine-four-in-class-of-2025/

 

[changes to the by-laws are in red and bold]

 

"Selection Process

 

ERIC ALLEN,(Opens in a new window) JARED ALLEN(Opens in a new window) and ANTONIO GATES(Opens in a new window) were elected from the Modern-Era Players pool of candidates that this cycle began with 167 nominees who last played professional football in the 2019 season. That list was reduced three times (to 50 nominees, 25 Semifinalists and 15 Finalists) before the annual selection meeting.

The other Finalists this year were Willie Anderson, Jahri Evans, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly, Eli Manning, Steve Smith Sr., Terrell Suggs, Fred Taylor, Adam Vinatieri, Reggie Wayne, Darren Woodson and Marshal Yanda.

During the selection meeting, the list of 15 Finalists was cut to 10, then to 7 before the final vote. In that final vote, a maximum of five and minimum of three individuals could have been elected to the new class, each needing 80% approval from the selectors, who could cast a ballot for five of the remaining seven. By reaching the final 7 but not getting elected (falling short of 80% approval), Anderson, Holt, Kuechly and Vinatieri will advance automatically to the Finalist stage (15 remaining) for the Class of 2026 under the Hall of Fame’s bylaws for the selection process.

STERLING SHARPE(Opens in a new window) was elected from a second pool of five candidates that included the Finalists chosen by the Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee (Sharpe, Maxie Baughan and Jim Tyrer), Coach Blue-Ribbon Committee (Mike Holmgren) and Contributor Blue-Ribbon Committee (Ralph Hay). Under the Hall’s bylaws, from one to three individuals could have been elected from this group; only Sharpe reached the required voting threshold. "

 

 

Some trivia:

 

https://www.profootballhof.com/news/2025/02/pro-football-hall-of-fame-to-enshrine-four-in-class-of-2025/

 

1. Sterling Sharpe and SHANNON SHARPE become the first brothers elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Three father-son tandems are enshrined: TIM MARA(Opens in a new window) and WELLINGTON MARA,. ART ROONEY SR.(Opens in a new window) and DAN ROONEY, and ED SABOL(Opens in a new window) and STEVE SABOL.

 

2. While a class of four is the smallest since 2005, that number has not been uncommon. This is the 19th time in the Hall of Fame’s history a class has been composed of three or four enshrinees since the first four-person class was chosen in 1970.

 

 

I've always said it's too easy to get elected tot he football HOA and too hard to get elected to t he baseball HOA.  I didn't read all the exact criteria changes, but overall less elected every year isn't necessarily a bad thing IMO.

[agilen]

2 hours ago, Utah John said:

 

Completely agree with your conclusions.  Eli Manning was a mediocre QB over the duration of a highly inconsistent career.  Absolutely does not belong in the company of the great ones.  The Giants won two SBs with him as QB, big deal.

Big deal? Dude was Super Bowl MVP twice. Only 5 other players have ever done that. IMO he just didn’t get it this year to protect the “first ballot” status for people like Brady and Mahomes. A 2x Super Bowl MVP is a lock for the HOF.

[mikemac2001]

17 hours ago, BigdaddyinOrlando said:

Yeah, that was the most obvious omission. A definite head scratcher for sure. 

 

questioning that word choice 

[Thrivefourfive]

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the pinnacle of a pro athlete’s individual accomplishments in sports in America. What an honor for these guys. Congrats to all of them!

[Thrivefourfive]

2 hours ago, agilen said:

Big deal? Dude was Super Bowl MVP twice. Only 5 other players have ever done that. IMO he just didn’t get it this year to protect the “first ballot” status for people like Brady and Mahomes. A 2x Super Bowl MVP is a lock for the HOF.

🤣🤣 Guy wins the big one, twice, and wins the best player award for each!

 

Pretty pretty pretty pretty good 

[SinceThe70s]

18 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

How did Luke Kuechly not get in?  Played eight years, 5 first team all pros (two 2nd teams), 7 pro bowls, offensive rookie of the year, and one defensive player of the year. 

 

Also, I don't like to root against a player but Eli getting in as a 1st ballot HOFer would've sullied the honor a little bit imo.  

 

JMO, but I despise the notion that a player might be worthy of the HOF, but not be worthy because it's their first year of eligibility.

 

Which (if any) year would you cast a vote for Eli for HOF?

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

JMO, but I despise the notion that a player might be worthy of the HOF, but not be worthy because it's their first year of eligibility.

 

Which (if any) year would you cast a vote for Eli for HOF?

That's always bothered me too because once you're enshrined it really doesn't matter if it was first ballot or not because you're a HOFer.  A law student who graduates bottom of his class and barely passes the bar is still a lawyer.  We do say first ballot HOFer but I don't see that on any of their busts in Canton.  It was interesting listening to Carucci talk (who couldn't get into specifics) about how when they were debating Eli they felt he wasn't deserving of getting in his first year of eligibility so they've created basically two tiers of levels of greatness. 

 

First ballot means you're the best of the best and you just hear the name and there's no argument.  The one caveat to that is the voters are required to name three modern era players each year.  Anything after that means you're still  very good to great but a tier below the first ballot guys.  I'd love to hear their rationale for why they didn't consider Kuechly a first ballot HOFer and my guess is he didn't have a long enough career.  So I think if Eli gets in it'll be a year when you really have a weak cast of first time eligibles.

 

[SinceThe70s]

4 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

That's always bothered me too because once you're enshrined it really doesn't matter if it was first ballot or not because you're a HOFer.  A law student who graduates bottom of his class and barely passes the bar is still a lawyer.  We do say first ballot HOFer but I don't see that on any of their busts in Canton.  It was interesting listening to Carucci talk (who couldn't get into specifics) about how when they were debating Eli they felt he wasn't deserving of getting in his first year of eligibility so they've created basically two tiers of levels of greatness. 

 

First ballot means you're the best of the best and you just hear the name and there's no argument.  The one caveat to that is the voters are required to name three modern era players each year.  Anything after that means you're still  very good to great but a tier below the first ballot guys.  I'd love to hear their rationale for why they didn't consider Kuechly a first ballot HOFer and my guess is he didn't have a long enough career.  So I think if Eli gets in it'll be a year when you really have a weak cast of first time eligibles.

 

 

100%. Thanks for putting into words the way I look at it.

 

For the record Kuechly passes my sniff test for greatness and  I would have put him in -  but I get the lack of longevity. And I've long thought that Eli is one of the most interesting/debatable candidates. Take away his two SB's and he's not even in the discussion. Ignoring them is ignoring his legacy in the history of the NFL. Fun stuff. 

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

They have been letting too many in so this is good as far as I am concerned

6 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

JMO, but I despise the notion that a player might be worthy of the HOF, but not be worthy because it's their first year of eligibility.

 

Which (if any) year would you cast a vote for Eli for HOF?

I dont, it differentiates the HOFers to a degree which is fine because there are tiers within the HOF.   I mean if Eli gets in, he is equal with Joe Montana?

8 hours ago, agilen said:

Big deal? Dude was Super Bowl MVP twice. Only 5 other players have ever done that. IMO he just didn’t get it this year to protect the “first ballot” status for people like Brady and Mahomes. A 2x Super Bowl MVP is a lock for the HOF.

 

Eli is a unicorn since he was a big game performer a couple post seasons but for the rest of his career he was super inconsistent.  I think he will get in but  will wait a while, not sure if he should but they let a lot in so it will happen.  He made 4 PB's, two of those was as an injury replacement.   Never made any voting of All Pro, MVP, OPOY etc, nothing.

Edited 4 hours ago by Matt_In_NH

[SinceThe70s]

20 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

They have been letting too many in so this is good as far as I am concerned

I dont, it differentiates the HOFers to a degree which is fine because there are tiers within the HOF.   I mean if Eli gets in, he is equal with Joe Montana?

 

Eli is a unicorn since he was a big game performer a couple post seasons but for the rest of his career he was super inconsistent.  I think he will get in but  will wait a while, not sure if he should but they let a lot in so it will happen.  He made 4 PB's, two of those was as an injury replacement.   Never made any voting of All Pro, MVP, OPOY etc, nothing.

 

Obviously not. And I completely disagree that there are tiers within the HOF. Once you're in, you're in. IMO, the tiers are (or should be) the barrier for entry - and I'm with you wrt they let too many in. It dilutes the greatness/achievements of players like Montana.  

[Matt_In_NH]

1 hour ago, SinceThe70s said:

Obviously not. And I completely disagree that there are tiers within the HOF

I understand your sentiment but for me there are tiers.   We dont have to agree..........

[frostbitmic]

I would've voted for Eli just for the fact he beat Brady and the patriots in the SB twice.

 

How was Antonio Gates not a first ballot player ?

 

I'd vote for Torry Holt year after year until he finally gets in.

[SinceThe70s]

39 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

I understand your sentiment but for me there are tiers.   We dont have to agree..........

 

I totally understand your sentiment, I don't consider Lynn Swann and Jerry Rice to be equals -  but I don't think they segregate the lower tier guys from the upper crust in any way. When you're in, you're in. It's what makes the debate about who belongs and who doesn't interesting to me.