Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, former Defensive Players of the Year Luke Kuechly and Terrell Suggs and prolific tight end Antonio Gates are among the finalists for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
The Hall on Saturday announced the names of the 15 modern-era finalists who advanced from a group of 25 to the final stage of voting. The group includes five players in their first year of eligibility, nine who were finalists last year and wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., who made it this far for the first time in his fourth year of eligibility.
The selection committee will vote next month to pick a class of between three and five modern-era players that will be announced the week of the Super Bowl.
Five others are under consideration for enshrinement: Maxie Baughan, Sterling Sharpe and Jim Tyrer in the seniors category, Mike Holmgren in the coaches category and Ralph Hay as a contributor. Between one and three of those nominees also will get inducted into the Hall.
Manning, Kuechly and Suggs are finalists in their first year of eligibility along with postseason kicking star Adam Vinatieri and former Baltimore Ravens guard Marshal Yanda.
Gates was a first-time finalist for the 2024 class and is back at this stage along with defensive end Jared Allen, who played parts of two seasons for the Chicago Bears (2014-15); wide receivers Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne; offensive linemen Willie Anderson and Jahri Evans; defensive backs Darren Woodson and Eric Allen; and running back Fred Taylor.
Manning will look to follow his brother Peyton into the Hall after a standout career with the New York Giants. Manning was picked No. 1 in the 2004 draft and spent his entire career in New York. He led the Giants to an upset win over the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl after the 2007 season, throwing a game-winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute.
He led another late TD drive to upset Tom Brady and the Patriots again four years later. Manning is one of 13 quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowls, with eight of the nine who are eligible for the Hall having been inducted. Only Jim Plunkett has not been inducted, other than more recent players Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Patrick Mahomes, who aren’t yet eligible.
Manning was a four-time Pro Bowl selection but never made All-Pro or led the league in a major statistical category in a season. He finished his career with 57,023 passing yards and 366 touchdowns.
His best moments came during those two postseason runs. Manning joined Brady (five), Mahomes (three), Joe Montana (three), Bart Starr (two) and Terry Bradshaw (two) as the only multiple winners of the Super Bowl MVP award.
Kuechly and Suggs were among the top defensive players of their era, with Kuechly selected as the top defensive player in 2013 and Suggs in 2011.
Kuechly’s career was brief but impactful. The first-round pick by the Carolina Panthers in 2012 was an All-Pro five times, with seven Pro Bowl nods and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Over his eight-year career, Kuechly led all NFL linebackers in tackles (1,090), takeaways (26), interceptions (18) and passes defensed (66).
Suggs was one of the top pass rushers in the league over his 17-year career, with his 139 sacks ranking eighth since they became an official stat in 1982.
Suggs had seven double-digit sack seasons in his 16 seasons with the Ravens, including 14 in 2011 when he was selected as the top defensive player in the league and led the NFL with seven forced fumbles.
Gates played only basketball in college before turning into one of the NFL’s top tight ends after the San Diego Chargers drafted him. He became an All-Pro in his second season in 2004. He was an All-Pro again the next two seasons and went on to have a 16-year career with the team.
Gates finished with 955 catches for 11,841 yards and an NFL record for tight ends with 116 touchdown receptions.
Vinatieri was one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, making the game-winning field goals in the first two Super Bowl titles during the Patriots dynasty.
He helped launch the run with one of the game’s greatest kicks — a 45-yarder in the snow to force overtime in the “Tuck Rule” game against the Oakland Raiders in the 2001 divisional round. He made the game-winning kick in OT to win that game and then hit a 48-yarder on the final play of a 20-17 win in the Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams.
Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points (2,673) and made field goals (599) over a 24-year career with the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. He also leads all players with 56 field goals and 238 points in the postseason.
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