Other first-year nominees include a pair of Defensive Player of the Year award winners in Luke Kuechly and Terrell Suggs, as well as four-time Super Bowl champion, and the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, in kicker Adam Vinatieri. Along with the holdover nominees from previous years, there are 167 total modern-era players up for consideration.
That list of 167 will be reduced to 50, which will be announced in mid-October, and then from there, 25 semifinalists will be named later this year. Then, 15 finalists will be named and voted on by the Hall of Fame committee just before Super Bowl LIX, with the Class of 2025 being announced at the NFL Honors show the Saturday before the Super Bowl. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will then be inducted into Canton on Saturday, Aug. 9.
Manning, who spent all 16 of his seasons with the New York Giants, is slated to be one of the most intriguing Hall of Fame nominees in recent memory. As a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback—with both victories over Tom Brady, no less—as well as a two-time Super Bowl MVP, Manning has the accolades that would presumably make him a shoo-in as a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Eight of the nine other quarterbacks who have won multiple Super Bowls have been enshrined, with Jim Plunkett being the exception. Manning has the postseason accomplishments, but his regular season play doesn’t measure up to other Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Manning never made an All-Pro team during his career, with Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman the only quarterbacks already in Canton who also failed to notch an All-Pro selection in their careers.
However, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks each made six Pro Bowls, with Aikman winning a third Super Bowl. Manning made just four Pro Bowls in his career, and Terry Bradshaw (three) is the only other Hall of Fame quarterback with fewer Pro Bowl selections, with the caveat being that Bradshaw won twice as many rings as Manning. The younger brother of Peyton Manning also never led the NFL in any passing category, except for interceptions, which he led in three times.
The three other big names in Kuechly, Suggs and Vinatieri have much more complete resumes that should make the voters’ decisions on them easier. Kuechly played just eight seasons with the Carolina Panthers, but they were as impactful as an eight-year career could be. He was a seven-time Pro Bowler and seven-time All-Pro selection who was named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2012 and Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. Patrick Willis, an inside linebacker with a career profile similar to Kuechly’s, was just inducted into Canton this year, in his fifth year of eligibility.
Like Kuechly, Suggs was also both a Defensive Rookie of the Year winner and a Defensive Player of the Year winner, with most of his career spent as a Baltimore Raven. His 139 career sacks rank eighth most in NFL history, with the seven players ahead of him all in the Hall—four of whom were elected in their first year on the ballot. Suggs won two Super Bowls—one in 2012 with Baltimore, and one in the final game of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
The 12 other first-year nominees include four offensive linemen: Joe Staley, Travis Frederick, Ryan Kalil and Marshal Yanda. Other offensive players include running backs Marshawn Lynch and Darren Sproles, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, and tight ends Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker. On the defensive side of the ball, on the ballot for the first time are defensive backs Earl Thomas, Aqib Talib and Antoine Bethea.
Some of the finalists from last year’s ballot who just missed the cut but return to this year’s ballot include tight end Antonio Gates, receivers Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne, defensive end Jared Allen and safety Rodney Harrison.
Nominees must receive at least 80 percent support from the selection committee for enshrinement. Up to eight modern-era nominees could be elected each year.
