Small Hall: Only four in 2025 Class

Was this intentional consequence of new procedures?

Sterling Sharpe — Only senior inductee

(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. The Hall of Football is not affiliated with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Opinions expressed are those of Hall of Football [HallofFootball.substack.com])

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NEW ORLEANS — If less is more, then the Pro Football Hall of Fame made the most of this year’s new process and personnel by selecting only four new inductees to the Class of 2025, the smallest group in 20 years.

The 2025 Class was announced Thursday night (Feb. 6) as part of the NFL’s Red Carpet Honors Award Show at the Saenger Theater. The Hall of Fame reveal was one of numerous announcements, including league MVP and Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Selection discussion for the 2025 Hall of Fame class was one of the most controversial in history, with more intense debate than usual over who should be inducted — and, perhaps more dramatically, who should not.

The Class of 2025 : Eric Allen, cornerback; Jared Allen, defensive end; Antonio Gates, tight end and Sterling Sharpe, senior wide receiver.

This is the 19th time the Hall enshrined a four-member class since its inaugural launch in 1963. The most recent foursomes until now were in 2004 and 2005. Only three were inducted in the two smallest classes — 1973 and 1976.

This year’s group may be small because last August the Hall's board of directors changed the bylaws "to help ensure that membership in the Hall of Fame remains elite." It is unclear if the Class of 2025 achieved that goal just because it is small.

With a burgeoning, star-filled list of Hall of Fame prospects on the near horizon, and an overcrowded seniors group, a small Hall only exacerbates an already daunting challenge. We will get back to that later.

First, let’s celebrate the Class of 2025.

Here is a snapshot of the newest members of the Gold Jacket fraternity:

🏈🏈Eric Allen, cornerback (1988–2001)

Eric Allen — just in time

Eric Allen, best known for his electric play with the Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders, was rescued with only one year left as a modern-era candidate before becoming a senior.

“This is the ultimate honor, and back when I was playing in Philadelphia I first thought I had a shot at the Hall,” Allen told Hall of Football Thursday. “If teams would throw my way four times I would intercept one.”

He finished his career with 54 interceptions, including eight pick-sixes, tied for eighth in NFL history. After playing in New Orleans, Allen was headed to the 49ers so he could play twice a year against the Saints, who had cut him loose.

“But I made a stop in Oakland,” he said. “The great Willie Brown, a legendary Hall of Fame cornerback, picked me up at the airport and during the ride, he convinced me to become a Raider. When we arrived at the team facility I was talking to this young guy in the lobby who was very enthusiastic. Later I went to the head coach’s office and the young guy was Coach Jon Gruden. We have been great friends ever since.”

🏈🏈Jared Allen, defensive end (2004–2015)

Jared Allen

Jared Allen, known mainly as a trouble-making defensive end with the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings, was a finalist in all five years of his modern-era eligibility.

🏈🏈Antonio Gates, tight end (2003–2018)

TE Antonio Gates

Gates was a college basketball player who signed with the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers as an undrafted free agent and became an immediate star. He was in only his second year of HOF eligibility, after a career with the Chargers that many thought would earn him a first-ballot induction last year.

🏈Sterling Sharpe, wide receiver (1988–1994)

WR Sterling Sharpe

Sharpe, brother of Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, was a first-time semifinalist, let alone finalist, after a combined 26 years of modern and senior-era candidacy. His hurdle was that he played only seven seasons before a neck injury ended his career.

When Denver's running back, Terrell Davis was enshrined in 2017 after a seven-year career, Sharpe should have quickly followed as a modern-era inductee rather than fall into what is known as the Seniors Abyss. Sharpe was extracted this year despite new procedures overturning recent rules attempts to favor seniors.

Davis flashed brightly over three years, including rushing for over 2,000 yards in 2008. But Sharpe was dazzling his entire seven seasons, amassing Jerry Rice-like stats throughout.

We will drill deeper into the bios of the four inductees at the bottom of this story.

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The process

Behind the curtain: Selection play-by-play, held via Zoom in January

1. The ballot: Three senior players, one coach, one contributor. Selectors (49 total) voted for three of the five. Only those candidates who received 80 percent of the vote were inducted.

Jim Tyrer, Sr. OT: Eliminated in vote for three

Maxie Baughan, Sr. LB: Eliminated in vote for three

Mike Holmgren, Coach: Eliminated in vote for three

Ralph Hay, Contributor: Eliminated in vote for three

🏈Sterling Sharpe, Sr. WR: Inducted🏈

15 MODERN-ERA FINALISTS

2. Selectors (49) made incremental cuts to 10, seven, and five. To be inducted, a player had to receive 80 percent of the votes in the cut from seven to five. Selectors were not told the result of the cut to five. Listed in chronological order of elimination.

Eli Manning, QB (2004–2019): Eliminated in cut to 10

Steve Smith Sr., WR (2001–2013): Eliminated in cut to 10

Terrell Suggs, LB/DE (2003–2018): Eliminated in cut to 10

Fred Taylor, RB (1998–2010): Eliminated in cut to 10

Reggie Wayne, WR (2001–2014): Eliminated in cut to 10

Jahri Evans, G (2006–2016): Eliminated in cut to seven

Darren Woodson, S (1992–2003): Eliminated in cut to seven

Marshal Yanda, G/T (2007–2019): Eliminated in cut to seven

Willie Anderson, T (1996–2007): Eliminated in cut to five

Torry Holt, WR (1999–2008): Eliminated in cut to five

Luke Kuechly, LB (2012–19): Eliminated in cut to five

Adam Vinatieri, PK (1996–2005): Eliminated in cut to five

🏈Eric Allen, CB. (1988-1994): Inducted🏈

🏈Jared Allen, DE (2004–07): Inducted🏈

🏈Antonio Gates, TE (2003–2018): Inducted🏈

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Annual action, reaction

Each year the announcement of a new Hall of Fame class is met with more complaints about who did NOT get in than cheers for the inductees. It’s a reflex. It’s clickbait that talks about some local hero who was “snubbed” but conveniently ignores whom he should replace.

This year, we fully expect the strongest reactions will be due to the absence in the class of senior offensive tackle Jim Tyrer, senior linebacker Maxie Baughan, coach Mike Holmgren, and, for reasons that defy credibility, quarterback Eli Manning.

Tyrer, Baughan, and Holmgren were eliminated in the new group of five vote that is separate from the Modern-Era process. Manning, a first-year eligible, was eliminated in the meetings’ first cut, from 15 to 10.

The reflex this time was primed by a greater-than-usual pre-selection buildup.

First, the Hall changed the selection process, re-forming the Senior, Coach, and Contributor committees and adding anonymous, 11-person screening committees to review the full lists of nominees in the Modern-Era Players, and Seniors, Coach and Contributor categories separately.

From the perspective of most selectors, the more disturbing change was in the non-Modern-Era process. Selectors had one shot to choose from a list that included three seniors, a coach, and a contributor — head to head. Each selector voted for three from that group of five, and only candidates who received 80 percent would be inducted.

In this case, the three senior players were Tyrer, Baughan and Sharpe. The coach was Mike Holmgren and the contributor was Ralph Hay, who helped co-found the league more than a century ago.

Only Sharpe survived that process.

HOF selection changes II

This was the second time in four years of classes that “significant changes” were made. Both times, they seemed to be good-faith reactions to feedback.

In 2022, changes increased the potential number of senior players from one to as many as three in an attempt to induct more well-qualified players who fall into the ever-growing Abyss. That was in response to pleas from selectors, who wanted to extract players from that abyss faster than new ones were being added.

This year’s changes seem to be a reaction to the crescendo of complaints — some by Hall of Famers — regarding what many feel are classes with too much quantity and insufficient quality.

However, the new process made it more challenging to gain entry, which mandated 80 percent of the vote, especially for a senior player who is up against two other players, as well as a coach and a contributor.

The new process eliminated the longtime 80 percent thumbs-up requirement to be inducted. Instead, candidates in the group of five and the modern era had to receive 80 percent of the vote. It seems this is where candidates who might have been thumbed in during previous years failed to make that 80 percent.

This is where math grabs the process with a firm grip.

Since the goal is to induct the "elite," 80 percent means 80 percent. That means to be enshrined this year, a candidate would need 40 of the 49 votes (81.632 percent) to be elected. The Hall confirmed that there was no rounding up, so 39 of 49 (79.591 percent) is not enough.

With 49 voters holding five spots each, there is total of 245 votes. They could split them evenly, and each of the seven candidates would end up with 35 votes, five short of what's needed for enshrinement. If three players get the required 40 each, the other four would be averaging 31.3 votes each. Every vote above 40 cuts into that margin.

That demonstrates how the margins are razor-thin.

Back to the future?

In the fairly recent past, we saw some outstanding players get close, only to fail to reach the 80 percent threshold during the thumbs-up era. From 1999 to 2006, 12 modern or senior candidates were on the brink but were not selected, including Howie Long, Lynn Swann (twice), Jack Youngblood, Michael Irvin, Harry Carson (twice), Bob Hayes, Rayfield Wright, Bill Parcells, George Young and Bob Kuechenberg. Some circled back and gained entry another year, others are still waiting.

We may return to that tight portal with the new rules.

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Dramatic Back Story on the Class of 2025

🏈Jim Tyrer

Tyrer became one of the most controversial candidates in the history of Hall of Fame selections. Based on his performance with the Kansas City Chiefs (1961–73), he is regarded by many as the best eligible player not in the Hall of Fame.

However, even as he was being considered as a first-ballot inductee in 1980, Tyrer killed his wife and himself. This year was the first time since 1980 that the HOF selectors discussed him. His resurgence was due to the realization that CTE — which Tyrer incurred while playing football — was certainly the cause of a horrific end that did not reflect his life.

Although HOF rules state that selectors must consider ONLY what happens on the football field, we all knew this was going to be personal for many. His four children continue to advocate for their father’s induction.

🏈Eli Manning

Manning quarterbacked the New York Giants for 16 years and was a first-year eligible for the Hall of Fame. Manning did quarterback the Giants team that defeated the New England Patriots twice in the Super Bowl. We knew his worthiness for the HOF would be based on that because the rest of his career was, well … meh.

We knew this would be a big issue, and at first I grappled with it by telling the story of another quarterback not in the HOF who won two Super Bowls and had an unusual tie to the Manning family.

Manning made the cut from 25 to 15, so he was discussed in the meeting, presented energetically by Bob Glauber, with a strong assist from Gary Myers, both of whom covered the quarterback’s 16-year career. They insisted Manning deserved to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

We mentioned this stat, which we have shared on Hall of Football previously: Glauber and Myers were AP voters for All-Pro throughout Manning’s career. Not only did Manning never make All-Pro, but he never received a single vote of the 798 cast (for 19 quarterbacks) in those 16 years. That means Glauber and Myers had 64 chances to give Eli at least one first-or second-team All-Pro vote but did not. So the plea to make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer was significantly tainted.

🏈Recency bias

For years, many selectors expressed concern over recency bias, which favors players eligible in the first few years and ignores viable candidates as they go through their 20 years of modern eligibility, then slip into the crowded Seniors Abyss.

This year’s original list of 15 finalists raised a red flag because five were first-year eligible candidates — Kuechly, Yanda, Vinatieri, Suggs, and Manning,

But by the time we were voting for five after the cut to seven, only Kuechly and Vinatieri remained, along with Willie Anderson, Holt, and the three who would become modern inductees, Eric Allen, Jared Allen, and Gates.

Interestingly, no first-year eligibles made it. Also, Eric Allen was inducted with only one more year of modern-day eligibility remaining. So perhaps some selectors heeded concerns about recency bias.

However, sentenced to the infamous Seniors Abyss were linebacker Cornelius Bennett, defensive end Neil Smith and tight end Ben Coates, none of whom were ever “in the room” for discussion during his 20 years of modern-era eligibility. Three more viable candidates have one year remaining to at least be discussed — guard Steve Wisniewski, tackle Erik Williams, and running back Ricky Watters.

This is why the cutdown from 25 to 15 is huge, because only the 15 get discussed.

🏈Why Small Hall is concerning

Those who made it to seven but were not inducted will automatically make the list of 15 finalists next year, for the Class of 2026. They would be Willie Anderson, Holt, Kuechly, and Vinatieri.

That leaves only 11 spots open and starts to squeeze out other modern returnees hoping for a shot, such as Wisniewski, Erik Williams and Watters. Those who did not make the cut from 10 to seven should also be strong return candidates —guards Jahri Evans and Marshal Yanda, and safety Darren Woodson. Is there room for them?

And this is before we meet the first-year eligibles for the Class of 2026, including quarterbacks Drew Brees and Philip Rivers, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, running backs Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy, and wide receiver Julian Edelman, …and more.

Looking ahead one more year, the newcomers for the Class of 2027 include Adrian Peterson, Rob Gronkowski, Ben Roethlisberger, Richard Sherman, Antonio Brown and Cam Newton …

Yep, the hits just keep on coming.

This blitz of talent will certainly make it extremely crowded, especially if the Small Hall trend continues.

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Presenting the Class of 2025

🏈🏈ERIC ALLEN

Times as Finalist: 2 | Year of Eligibility: 19
Position: Cornerback

Ht: 5-10, Wt: 184

NFL Career: 1988–1994 Philadelphia Eagles,

1995–97 New Orleans Saints, 1998–2001 Oakland Raiders

Seasons: 14, Games: 217

College: Arizona State

Drafted: 2nd Round (30th Overall), 1988

Born: Nov. 22, 1965, in San Diego

Selected in second round (30th pick overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles … Made immediate impact as rookie, totaling five interceptions to earn a spot on the PFWA’s All-Rookie Team … Followed up with an eight-interception season in 1989 and was recognized with first-team All-Pro honors and a spot on Pro Bowl roster … Intercepted at least three passes in his first seven seasons and 10 times in 14-year career … Led NFL with four pick-sixes in 1993 season … After seven seasons in Philadelphia, he spent three years in New Orleans, then finished career with four seasons in Oakland … Led team (or shared lead) in interceptions seven times – four with Eagles and three with Raiders … Returned eight interceptions for touchdowns in his career … Chosen to play in six Pro Bowls … Named to Philadelphia Eagles 75th Anniversary Team in 2007 and inducted into team’s Hall of Fame in 2011.

🏈🏈JARED ALLEN

Times as Finalist: 5 | Year of Eligibility: 5
Position: Defensive End

Ht: 6-6, Wt: 270

NFL Career: 2004–07 Kansas City Chiefs, 2008–2013 Minnesota Vikings,

2014-15 Chicago Bears, 2015 Carolina Panthers

Seasons: 12, Games: 187

College: Idaho State

Drafted: 4th Round (126th Overall), 2004

Born: April 3, 1982, in Dallas

Buck Buchanan Award winner and Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year out of Idaho State … Fourth-round draft pick (126th overall) by the Kansas City Chiefs … 12-year NFL career, started 181 of 187 career games … Member of the Carolina Panthers’ 2015 NFC Championship team … Started in Super Bowl 50; amassed one tackle and one QB hit … Led the NFL in sacks twice (2007, 2011) … 2007 Kansas City Chiefs Team MVP … NFL Alumni Player of the Year, 2009 … Career stats: six interceptions, a fumble recovery for TD, 58 passes defensed and 136 sacks … Tied NFL record for career safeties, four … Five Pro Bowl nods … Named first-team All-Pro four times 2007–09, 2011.

🏈🏈ANTONIO GATES

Times as Finalist: 2 | Year of Eligibility: 2

Position: Tight End

Ht: 6-4, Wt: 255

NFL Career: 2003–2018 San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers

Seasons: 16, Games: 236

College: Kent State

Drafted: Undrafted, 2003

Born: June 18, 1980, in Detroit

Played in 15 games during rookie season after going undrafted in 2003 with San Diego Chargers … In second season, had career-high 13 receiving touchdowns … Known for being a clutch player, totaling 39 touchdowns on third down, third most (tied) all-time … 116 career receiving touchdowns are most among tight ends and seventh most all-time … Finished career setting Chargers all-time marks in receptions, yards and touchdowns … Eight seasons with eight-plus receiving touchdowns, the most ever by a tight end … His 21 career multi-touchdown games are most all-time among tight ends … Career totals: 955 receptions, 11,841 yards and 116 touchdowns … Elected to eight straight Pro Bowls (2004–2011) … Earned first-team All-Pro honors in three seasons (2004–06), second team twice (2009, 2010) … Member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s.

🏈🏈Sterling Sharpe

Times as finalist 1: Year of eligibility 26

Position: Wide Receiver

Ht: 6-0, Wt: 207

NFL Career: 1988–1994, Green Bay Packers

College: South Carolina

Drafted: 1st round (7th Overall), 1988

Born: April 16 in Chicago

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.

Enshrinement week

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 will be enshrined in August (anticipated date: Aug. 2). Other events include the Hall of Fame Game (teams to be determined; expected date of July 31) and the enshrinees’ Gold Jacket Dinner. Detailed information will be provided at ProFootballHOF.com.

The Hall of Football is not affiliated with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Opinions expressed are those of the Hall of Football [HallofFootball.substack.com])