Eli Manning, Antonio Gates and Luke Kuechly are three of the semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 is starting to take shape.
Two months after an extensive list of 167 nominees was revealed and one month after it was trimmed to 50, the list has been narrowed down to just 25 semifinalists for the modern-era ballot.
There are six first-year players who made the cut, plus 17 who were semifinalists last year. The remaining two players have reached this stage after coming up short last year.
Here are all the modern-era player semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 (* = first-year candidate):
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OFFENSE (14)
- Quarterback (1): Eli Manning*
- Running back (2): Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters
- Wide receiver (5): Anquan Boldin, Torry Holt, Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne
- Tight end (1): Antonio Gates
- Offensive line (5): Willie Anderson, Jahri Evans, Richmond Webb, Steve Wisniewski, Marshal Yanda*
DEFENSE (10)
- Defensive back (4): Eric Allen, Rodney Harrison, Earl Thomas*, Darren Woodson
- Linebacker (3): James Harrison, Luke Kuechly*, Terrell Suggs*
- Defensive line (3): Jared Allen, Robert Mathis, Vince Wilfork
SPECIAL TEAMS (1)
- Placekicker (1): Adam Vinatieri*
Holt leads the way among returning candidates, with this being his 11th time as a semifinalist. Ward and Woodson are semifinalists for the ninth time, while Taylor is here for his sixth try.
NFL
The next step in the process is to cut the list down to 15 finalists later this year. Eventually, 20 finalists will be presented next year ahead of Super Bowl LIX: 15 modern-era players, three seniors, one coach and one contributor. Between four and eight members will be selected from that group, with the group recognized at "NFL Honors" in February and enshrined in Canton, Ohio, next August.
Aside from the above 25 players, plenty of big names were cut from the initial list of nominees. Here are some of the top players who missed out in 2025 (sorted by position):
- Rich Gannon
- Donovan McNabb
- Steve McNair
- Shaun Alexander
- Tiki Barber
- Corey Dillon
- Eddie George
- Chris Johnson
- Marshawn Lynch
- Chad Johnson
- Wes Welker
- Vernon Davis
- Jeff Saturday
- Joe Staley
- Simeon Rice
- Tedy Bruschi
- Willie McGinest
- Mike Vrabel
- Kam Chancellor
