Eli Manning headlines list of finalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame
The NFL has announced its finalists for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame, headlined by two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and a pair of Defensive Player of the Year award winners Terrell Suggs and Luke Kuechly.
The list includes 15 modern-era finalists who made it past the group of 25 to reach the final stage for voting to receive induction. This features five players in their first year of eligibility and nine candidates who were finalists last year.
The other two candidates who made it in their first year of eligibility are kicker Adam Vinatieri and former Baltimore Ravens star guard Marshal Yanda. Meanwhile, former star wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. earned a spot in his fourth year of eligibility.
Gates reached after being a first-time finalist for the 2024 class, where he fell just shy of enshrinement. The other eight players to join him for candidacy for the 2025 class include wide receivers Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne, defensive end Jared Allen, offensive linemen Willie Anderson and Jahri Evans, running back Fred Taylor, and defensive backs Darren Woodson, Eric Allen, and Rodney Harrison.
Among the finalists, Manning may hold the most intriguing case to earn a Hall of Fame induction. He was a four-time Pro Bowler, but he never led the league in any major statistical category in a single season.
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However, he shined most in the playoffs that featured two runs to the Super Bowl where he topped Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in each instance. He is among a select group with Brady (five), Joe Montana (three), Patrick Mahomes (three), Terry Bradshaw (two), and Bart Starr (two) to win multiple Super Bowl MVP awards.
The selection committee will vote next month to finalize the class to three to five modern-era players who will be announced during the week of the Super Bowl in February.
