While the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class includes four very deserving members, it will not include two notable former players that did not get the call to Canton, Ohio on their first year of eligibility.
Former Giants quarterback and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and former Panthers linebacker and 2013 Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly will not be part of this year’s induction class. When asked about not getting the call, Manning expressed his happiness for the former players who will be getting inducted this summer while adding that it will not alter his outlook on his career. Kuechly expressed the same sentiments when he was recently asked about not being selected in his first year of eligibility.
“You look at that class, I got to play with Jared Allen,” Kuechly said on Up & Adams. “That was super cool for me. When you grow up playing football, you’re always thinking of the guys that you’d love to play with. … Antonio Gates was a guy that I grew up watching, him and Philip Rivers, played against him my rookie year. And then Sterling Sharpe and all those guys, they just deserve to be in there, you know? And I think that’s really what it comes down to.
“It’s less about, oh, hey, you didn’t get in,” Kuechly continued. “It’s more about, like, look at the guys that did get in that deserve it. I think it’s cool, especially guys like Eric Allen that had such a great career and had to wait so long to get in. You look at his stats … all this guy did was play forever and intercept every ball that came his way. So those guys deserve to get in.”
Kuechly acknowledged that while he isn’t losing sleep over not being part of this year’s induction class, he would obviously love to earn a bronze bust and a gold jacket at some point down the road.
“You you showed the clip of (Raiders defensive end) Maxx Crosby,” Kuechly said. “He said it best. I want to win a Super Bowl and I want to go into the Hall of Fame. So yeah, it would be awesome. Your time will come if it comes. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.”
Longevity is undoubtedly the main thing that prevented Kuechly from being inducted in his first year of eligibility. He retired after eight seasons in the NFL due to the effects of concussions that he had previously sustained.
While his career was relatively short (by Hall of Fame standards; the average NFL career is just 3.3 years), Kuechly’s list of accomplishments is undoubtedly worthy of enshrinement. In eight seasons, Kuechly was a seven-time Pro Bowler, a five-time All-Pro, the 2012 Defensive Rookie of the Year (ironically, that was the only season where he wasn’t a Pro Bowler), a Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team, which is a very big title to have from a Hall of Fame standpoint. He played a key role on the Panthers‘ 2015 NFC championship team that went 15-1 during the regular season.
Kuechly’s career is eerily similar to Patrick Willis, a fellow former inside linebacker who was inducted in his fifth year of eligibility. Like Kuechly, Willis played eight seasons and was a seven-time Pro Bowler, a five-time All-Pro, a former Defensive Rookie of the Year and a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team. Willis also was the best player on a defense that won an NFC title.
Like Willis, Kuechly will likely get inducted at some point relatively soon. Until then, it appears that Kuechly will take the high road whenever he is asked about his Hall of Fame prospects.
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Author: Bryan DeArdo
February 13, 2025 | 4:35 pm
