HOFame selectors get it right - for now
Seniors: Tyrer, Sharpe, Baughan; Coach Holmgren, Contributor Hay
🏈🏈🏈🏈
(Editor’s Note: This is part of a series on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s quest to select the Class of 2025 with a new process and personnel. Written by Frank Cooney, a Seniors Blue Ribbon Selection Committee member in his 32nd year as a selector.)
🏈🏈🏈🏈
With more voting and the inevitable noise — comments, complaints, and outrage — yet to come, here is where the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 stands after a cutdown announcement Tuesday in Canton, Ohio.
First, we offer five finalists, who were chosen in a series of cutdown votes by their Blue Ribbon Selection Committees:
🏈Contributor finalist: Ralph Hay, league co-founder.
We’ll start here because, after all, the league itself started with him more than a century ago. More to come on this long-overdue blast from the past, whose inclusion caused a furor from a short-sighted group of Recency Biasts. His candidacy may not hold up during the reduction vote to three from a list that includes three players and a coach. That would be unfortunate. If he doesn’t go in now, when does he do so?
The other eight Semifinalists in the Contributor category this year were K.S. “Bud” Adams, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Robert Kraft, Art Modell, Art Rooney Jr., Seymour Siwoff, Doug Williams and John Wooten.
🏈Coach finalist: Mike Holmgren
Sturdy choice with an overall record of 174-122 with Packers and Seahawks and two Super Bowl appearances, one win. One hell of a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator before that. And way before that, a quarterback at San Francisco’s Lincoln High who kicked the crap out of my Balboa High. We still love ya, Coach. Congrats.
The eight other Semifinalists in the Coach category this year were Bill Arnsparger, Tom Coughlin, Chuck Knox, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert, Mike Shanahan, and Clark Shaughnessy.
Three senior finalists (alphabetically):
Linebacker Maxie Baughan, wide receiver Sterling Sharpe , and offensive tackle Jim Tyrer. Much more to come on this category, including Tyrer's historical, perhaps controversial, inclusion.
It is an excellent threesome that addresses long-overdue recognition and shows the courage of conviction to adhere to HOF bylaws by selecting Tyrer.
Here is a closer look at the final three senior players:
Three Senior player finalists
The remaining bar to clear is approval from at least 80 percent of the members of the full Selection Committee at their annual meeting next year. The meeting takes place in advance of the class unveiling during Super Bowl LIX week in New Orleans.
🏈Maxie Baughan: Linebacker (1960–1970, 1974)
A nine-time Pro-Bowler, Baughan played linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles (1960–65), the Los Angeles Rams (1966–1970) and was part of George Allen’s “Over the Hill Gang” with the Washington Redskins (1974). Players and coaches raved about Maxie, but he could not get through the doorway at the Hall of Fame.
🏈Sterling Sharpe: Wide Receiver (1988–1994)
Sharpe made five Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro teams during a seven-year career with the Green Bay Packers cut short by injury. His 18 touchdown receptions in his final season are still good for third-best in league history. Career totals include 8,134 yards and 65 touchdowns. His career ended with a neck injury after seven years of putting up Jerry Rice-like numbers. Did he make enough of an impact in those seven years? The subcommittee says yes.
🏈Jim Tyrer: Tackle (1961–1974)
This is one of the most dramatic stories in Hall of Fame selection history. Tyrer was a strong first-ballot candidate in 1980, and during the period that his candidacy was being discussed, he shot and killed his wife and himself. It took years to realize he was plagued by CTE, the horrific brain disease caused by concussions. He was a great player, citizen, and family man until he spiraled downward because of the disease. He should not be kept out of the Hall of Fame because of something caused by playing football — and damned well.
Tyrer was considered one of the dominant offensive tackles of his era. He was selected as a member of the AFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1960s and played in nine AFL All-Star Games in a career that spanned 13 years with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs (1961–1973) and — like Baughan — one season in Washington (1974). He won a ring as a member of the Super Bowl IV champion Chiefs and was part of three AFL championship teams with the Texans/Chiefs.
All that said, there is already pushback due to the murder-suicide, which, again, technically should not be part of the thought process as we consider ONLY what happens on the field. That is an edict that has been disregarded previously over lesser concerns. Sources tell me four people — I assume selectors — already declared that they cannot vote for Tyrer.
Cut: Hayes, Lewis, Anderson, Morgan, Keuchenberg, Wistert
But it isn’t over. For the first time, the finalists from these categories will compete directly against each other under revised bylaws the Hall’s Board of Directors approved earlier this year. In its release Tuesday, the Hall claims that revision of the process will “help ensure the exclusivity of inclusion in the game’s most elite fraternity.”
Lost along the way in the Senior cutdown were several popular players, including quarterback Ken Anderson, defensive back Albert Lewis, and wide receiver Stanley Morgan (eliminated in cut to three), along with defensive back Lester Hayes, offensive linemen Bob Keuchenberg and Al Wistert (trimmed in cut from nine to six).
Craig, Powell stopped, and Plunkett sacked
Some popular senior players did not cut from 31 to nine. They include running back Roger Craig, who finished as a clear-cut favorite in several surveys ( a runaway No. 1 in a poll of 1,221 Hall of Football subscribers), wide receiver Art Powell, a 2024-class finalist, dinged when he did not receive 80 percent “yes” votes, offensive tackle Joe Jacoby, a 2024 semifinalist and cornerback Everson Walls, a finalist in his last year of Modern-Era eligibility (2018).
We itemize the cutdowns below.
Another casualty sure to stir up reaction was quarterback Jim Plunkett, confirmed by Hall of Fame executives as the most popular candidate on social and mainstream media for years. This was the furthest he advanced, probably because quarterback Eli Manning is a first-ballot candidate. It is a mildly complex rationale. Each won two Super Bowls but finished with only a .500 record. That’s the starting point.
So … let the second-guessing begin, not that it matters. It makes for popular, regionalized venting by myopic journalists, social media mavens, and talk show programs grabbing at low-hanging fruit to appease the locals.
But wait, there’s more!
Modern-era players
Reduction voting is ongoing for Modern-Era Players — those whose career ended after the 2000 season — with this category currently in the Semifinalist stage.
The 25 players still under consideration for the Class of 2025 are … big inhale:
Quarterback Eli Manning; running backs Fred Taylor and Ricky Watters; wide receivers Anquan Boldin, Torry Holt, Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward and Reggie Wayne; tight end Antonio Gates; offensive linemen Willie Anderson, Jahri Evans, Richmond Webb, Steve Wisniewski and Marshal Yanda; defensive backs Eric Allen, Rodney Harrison, Earl Thomas, and Darren Woodson; linebackers James Harrison, Luke Kuechly and Terrell Suggs; defensive linemen Jared Allen, Robert Mathis and Vince Wilfork; and kicker Adam Vinatieri.
Exhale.
Eli Manning: a polarizing candidate
We predict that Manning’s candidacy will be a polarizing topic of debate. On one hand, he already has boisterous backers who insist he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. On the other hand, we have selectors who believe he does not belong in the Hall of Fame at all.
Maybe we will see that Plunkett-Manning comparison next year.
Selectors will reduce the number to 15 Finalists, with those names announced Dec. 28 right here on the Hall of Football after the Hall of Fame gave NFL Network first shot again. I wonder what financial gain the Hall gets for giving release rights to the NFL Network. Just curious.
When the Selection Committee meets to choose the Class of 2025, a minimum of three and a maximum of five Modern-Era players will comprise the new class along with the finalists (one, two, or three) from the pool of Coach/Contributor/Senior candidates.
Reading between the lines, this means there could be as few as one senior player if the selectors vote for coach Holmgren and contributor Hay. In this scenario, with those three categories yielding three out of five candidates, the little-known Hay may succumb to the popularity of the players and coach. It’s tough to be a co-founder who disappeared a century ago. But what the Hay?
Leading up to Baughan, Sharpe and Tyrer as finalists, here is how the cutdowns played out:
SIX SENIOR SEMIFINALISTS (The three finalists and … )
🏈Ken Anderson: Quarterback (1971–1986)
A four-time pro-bowler who started at quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1971 to 1986. League MVP for the 1981 season. He finished his career with 32,838 passing yards and 197 touchdowns.
🏈Albert Lewis: Defensive back (1983–1998)
As one of his era's top cover corners, Lewis intercepted 42 passes in a 14-season career with the Kansas City Chiefs (1983–1993) and the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders (1994–1998). Also blocked 11 kicks on special teams.
🏈Stanley Morgan: Wide Receiver (1977–1990)
Morgan was a prolific wide receiver for the Patriots who led the NFL in yards per catch for three straight seasons (1979–81), averaging a gaudy 19.2 yards per reception over his 14-year career. Yet, he never seemed to receive the respect to go with his impressive stats. Why was that? I want to hear from Seniors Selector Ron Borges.
Morgan made four Pro Bowls with the New England Patriots and posted the most yards per reception (19.2) in NFL history among players with more than 500 career receptions. He is still New England’s all-time leader in receiving yards (10,352). He played his final NFL season with the Indianapolis Colts.
NINE SENIOR SEMIFINALISTS — ALL THOSE ABOVE PLUS:
🏈Lester Hayes: Cornerback (1977–1986)
He was half of the best cornerback tandem in NFL history, along with Hall of Famer Mike Haynes, who insists Hayes belongs in the HOF. We are often reminded of his 13 interceptions in 1980. But he had five more in the playoffs to help the Raiders become the first wild-card Super Bowl champion. (He had five more that were nullified by a penalty, three not on him, so that is 21 interceptions worth counting). Don’t tell me about stickum. Hall of Fame Raiders receiver Fred Biletnikoff used it. And those sticky gloves everybody uses now are behind the proliferation of one-handed catches.
Known as “The Judge,” Hayes was a five-time Pro Bowler for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, spending his entire 10-year career with the organization. Hayes intercepted 39 passes in his career.
🏈Bob Kuechenberg: Guard/Tackle/Center (1970–1983)
A member of the Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame and a six-time Pro Bowler, Kuechenberg spent the entirety of his 14-year career as a member of the Dolphins. He won two Super Bowl rings. I enjoyed getting an annual phone call from Coach Don Shula who implored selectors to induct “Kooch.”
🏈Al Wistert: Tackle/Defensive Tackle (1943–1951)
Member of the All-Decade Team of the 1940s, “Big Ox” helped the Philadelphia Eagles to two NFL championships (1948-49) and was selected to the first-team All-Pro unit four consecutive seasons (1944–47).
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈
This year's reduction voting is being completed via online platforms with oversight from Ernst & Young LLP. EY’s Agreed-Upon Procedures included validating the completeness of the ballots and tabulating the ballots in accordance with the bylaws established by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 will be announced during the “NFL Honors” show Feb. 6, at Saenger Theater in New Orleans, and they will be enshrined in August in Canton.
Watch for more analysis on Hall of Fame this week
In my opinion, Boldin, Wayne and Suggs are no brainers, with Smith Jr, Watters, and others strong candidates as well.