The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced 167 modern-day inductees for the 2025 induction class on Wednesday, including 16 first-timers. Among the first-time picks are Marshawn Lynch, quarterback Eli Manning, linebacker Luke Kuechly and linebacker Adam Vinatieri.
Four offensive linemen are among the 16 selected. Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who died in 2021 of complications from epilepsy at age 33, is the first posthumous candidate.
Let’s take a look at the CVs of some of the key names revealed on Wednesday.
Marshawn Lynch’s Hall of Fame resume
Lynch was the leading rusher of his era while playing for the Seattle Seahawks. He played 12 seasons in the NFL for the Seahawks, Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders, making five Pro Bowls and two All-NFL teams. He twice led the NFL in rushing touchdowns and won the Super Bowl with the Seahawks in the 2013 season.
Lynch is a member of the Hall of Fame’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s. He is 29th on the NFL’s all-time rushing list with 10,413 yards and 17th all-time with 85 rushing touchdowns.
Picture of Eli Manning Hall of Fame resume
Manning played 16 seasons in the NFL, all of them as the quarterback of the New York Giants. If he makes the Hall, he will do so on the strength of his two Super Bowl rings. Manning led the Giants to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in the 2007 and 2011 seasons with upsets over Tom Brady’s New England Patriots.
The Giants beat the top-seeded and previously undefeated Patriots as the 5th seed in Super Bowl XLII in one of the greatest upsets in NFL history. Manning’s fourth-seeded Giants advanced again from the wild-card game to beat Brady’s top-seeded Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.
Manning’s case outside of his two rings isn’t strong. He was not one of the great quarterbacks of his era that included Brady, his brother Peyton, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Manning’s Giants went 14 seasons without a Super Bowl, a streak that did not include another playoff championship. They finished 117-117 in regular season games Manning started.
Manning has made four Pro Bowls and no All-Pro teams and has never received a vote for league MVP. After playing in the passing game, Manning ranks 12th all-time in both touchdowns (366) and interceptions (244) thrown. He led the league in scoring three times.
Photo by Adam Vinatieri Hall of Fame resume
Vinatieri retired as the greatest hitter of all time. There is no dispute about his collection of high kicks.
Vinatieri played 24 NFL seasons with the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. He won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and a fourth with the Colts. He is a three-time All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection who led the league in three-time field goal accuracy and connected on 83.8% of his kicks in his career. He is the NFL’s all-time leading scorer ahead of Hall of Fame quarterback Morten Andersen.
Vinatieri’s postseason heroics make his case. The story of the Patriots dynasty cannot be written without Vinatieri, who kicked game-winning field goals in the final minutes of two Super Bowls.
Vinatieri helped jump-start the Patriots’ streak with a 48-yard field goal as time expired to beat St. Louis. Louis Rams, 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots wouldn’t have made it to the Super Bowl had Vinatieri failed to kick a 45-yard field goal in the wind and snow with 1:11 left on the “tuck rule” play. infamous. Vinatieri then hit a 23-yarder in the same cold conditions to secure a 16-13 overtime victory over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC playoffs.
Two years later, Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal in the final seconds of New England’s 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Luke Kuechly’s Hall of Fame resume
Kuechly doesn’t have the Super Bowl tools of the top draft picks. But he is one of the greatest defenders of his generation and arguably the greatest player in Carolina Panthers franchise history despite a career that lasted just eight seasons.
The ninth pick of the 2012 NFL Draft, Kuechly won Defensive Rookie of the Year while leading the NFL in tackles. A year later, he was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. He made the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams that season and every year for his entire career. He was named first-team All-Pro five times and led the league in tackles twice.
He is a member of the Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team for the 2010s. Keuchly would have earned more praise, but he retired at age 28 after a career that included numerous head injuries and surgeries.
Here is the full list of first-time nominees for the Hall of Fame:
Quarterback
Eli Manning
Running back
Marshawn Lynch
Darren Sproles
A wide receiver
Demarius Thomas
A solid finish
Vernon Davis
Delanie Walker
An annoying phone call
Travis Frederick
Ryan Kalil
Joe Staley
The new Marshall
Linebacker
Luke Kuechly
Terrell Suggs
Protective backs
Earl Thomas
Aqib Talib
Antoine Bethea
Kicker
Adam Vinatieri
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