Eric Allen, the masterful cornerback drafted by the Eagles in 1988, is once again a semifinalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Allen has been a semifinalist five times now – each of the last five years - and last year was a finalist for the first time.
Ricky Watters, who made two Pro Bowls for the Eagles in the mid-1990s, also made the cut for the fifth time.
Allen, who retired after the 2001 season, is in his 19th year of eligibility. Players become eligible five years after they retire and have a 20-year window of eligibility before their fate rests with the Hall of Fame Seniors Committee. So Allen is running out of chances.
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The Hall of Fame voters have continually snubbed Allen despite overwhelming credentials.
Allen had 58 interceptions and nine touchdown returns in a brilliant 14-year career. He’s one of only seven players in NFL history with nine interception returns for touchdowns – only Charles Woodson and Aqib Talib had more as cornerbacks – and one of only three players in NFL history with at least 58 INTs and nine TD returns.
His 58 interceptions are tied for 8th-most all-time by a cornerback, and he’s the only cornerback ever with 58 interceptions and nine touchdown returns.
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Buddy Ryan drafted Allen in the second round of the 1988 draft after he saw him run 90-plus yards across the field to make a tackle late in a game when Arizona State was getting blown out.
Allen had five interceptions as a rookie and eight more in Year 2, when he made his first of six Pro Bowls and was named 1st-team all-pro. He had 34 interceptions in seven years with the Eagles and shares the franchise record with Bill Bradley and Brian Dawkins.
He added five more INTs in three years with the Saints and 15 in four years with the Raiders
During the 13-year period from 1988 through 2000, only Hall of Famer Rod Woodson had more interceptions than Allen – 58 to 57 – and nobody had more pick-6’s.
There are 45 defensive backs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Only four of them had 58 career interceptions and nine interception returns for touchdowns in their entire career. And only two of those four – Aeneas Williams and Deion Sanders – reached those milestones as full-time cornerbacks.
Yet the game’s greatest honor has continued to elude Allen, who wasn’t just a ballhawk against the pass but a tough, willing run defender.
Last year was the farthest Allen has advanced through the Hall of Fame selection process, but he was not among seven Hall of Famers voted into Canton by the selection committee.
Allen is the only cornerback among the 25 semifinalists this year. There are three other defensive backs – safeties Earl Thomas, Rodney Harrison and Darren Woodson.
The only other modern-day semifinalist with Eagles ties is running back Ricky Watters, who spent the 1995 through 1997 seasons here and has also been a semifinalist five times – 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Watters rushed for 10,643 yards and 78 touchdowns in 10 seasons with the 49ers, Eagles and Seahawks. He also scored 12 postseason touchdowns, 8th-most all-time and 5th-most among running backs.
Despite playing here only three seasons, Watters ranks seventh in franchise history with 3,794 rushing yards, seventh with 31 rushing touchdowns and eighth with 5,112 scrimmage yards.
He made Pro Bowls after the 1995 and 1996 seasons and is one of only three Eagles running backs – along with Wilbert Montgomery and LeSean McCoy – to make consecutive Pro Bowls in the last 50 years.
The next step for Allen and Watters will come when the list of 25 semifinalists is reduced to 15 finalists in December. The selection committee will meet in New Orleans before the Super Bowl to determine the Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
The Class of 2025 will be inducted in Canton, Ohio, next August.
There are 21 former Eagles in the Hall of Fame, but only seven – Brian Dawkins, Reggie White, Harold Carmichael, Tommy McDonald, Chuck Bednarik, Pete Pihos and Steve Van Buren – spent more than half their career with the Eagles.
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