The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 was revealed Thursday night at NFL Honors, three days before Super Bowl LIX.
Below are the members of the Class of 2025:
Eric Allen
One of the most prolific pickers in NFL history, Allen enters the Hall of Fame in his 19th year of eligibility and second as a finalist. His wait was longer than his pro career, which lasted 14 seasons and spanned three franchises. Allen was a second-round pick of the Eagles in 1988 and flew around the Philly secondary for seven years, reaching six Pro Bowls and earning a first-team All-Pro nod in his sophomore campaign in 1989, when he racked up eight interceptions. The cornerback's standout season came in 1993, when he led the league with four pick-sixes and logged a career-high three forced fumbles and two sacks; Allen finished eighth in Defensive Player of the Year voting that year. Allen wrapped up his career in New Orleans and Oakland. His penultimate campaign with the Silver and the Black in 2000 saw Allen, then 35 years old, tally another six picks and return an NFL-high three for scores. The now-Hall of Fame DB finished his career with 54 interceptions and nine defensive TDs in 217 games played. Allen remains the only player in league history with at least three interceptions returned for TDs in two separate seasons.
Jared Allen
Allen and his calf-roping celebration are Canton-bound. A four-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl pass rusher, Allen has parlayed a 12-year career filled with sack cellies and eccentric hairdos into a gold jacket. The defensive end secured the honor in his fifth year of eligibility and as a finalist. Allen started his career in Kansas City, finishing fifth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting after earning nine sacks in his first year out of Idaho State. After an NFL-best 15.5-sack, 19-TFL season earned him an All-Pro nod in 2007, Allen was traded to the Vikings for a haul and then extended with what was at the time the richest contract for a defensive player. He more than lived up to the deal. Allen racked up at least 11 sacks in each of his six seasons in Minnesota and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2011 after tallying 22 sacks, still the second most in NFL history behind Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt's 22.5. After finishing his career in Chicago and Carolina -- coming up just short of a Super Bowl title -- Allen enters the Hall with 136 career sacks (12th all time) in 187 games played. Though he came up short of the single-season sack mark, Allen does have the distinction of being tied for the most safeties in NFL history (4), a quirky milestone for one of the 21st century's most outlandish characters.
Antonio Gates
One of the greatest Chargers of all time in San Diego and Los Angeles, Gates has found a new home in Canton. The undrafted talent out of Kent State became a top-tier tight end in two decades with the Bolts, proving to be one of the most consistent and reliable producers in the NFL for Philip Rivers, alongside whom Gates played nearly his entire 16-year career. A three-time first-team All-Pro in the first four years of his career, Gates was an instant contributor in San Diego and quickly established himself as one of the top end-zone threats in the league. He reached eight straight Pro Bowls from 2004-2011, catching at least seven TDs in each campaign. Frequently portrayed as a former collegiate basketball player, Gates made a habit throughout his career of boxing out undersized defensive backs -- and even linebackers -- en route to 955 receptions and 11,841 receiving yards. Gates' 116 career touchdowns and eight seasons with at least eight receiving TDs are the most among tight ends in NFL history; additionally, he is the Chargers' all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving TDs. In Gates' second year of eligibility and as a finalist, the gates to the Hall of Fame have opened.
Sterling Sharpe
The lone finalist from the Seniors, Coach and Contributor categories to make the Hall in 2025, Sharpe knows a thing or two about maximizing his opportunities. An NFL pro for just seven seasons, the three-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver still enters Canton as a highly decorated player. Sharpe led the league in receptions three times in his seven seasons, all with the Packers, including his historic 1992 campaign, during which he paced all pass catchers in catches, receiving yards and touchdowns. One of Brett Favre's favorite targets in Green Bay, Sharpe would have had an even more prolific career if not for a neck injury discovered after the 1994 season, his last in the NFL. Sharpe went out with a bang, catching a league-high 18 TDs in '94, but he just missed out on a Super Bowl title, which the Packers claimed without him during the 1996 campaign. After retiring as a member of the Green and Gold, Sharpe is now the the second member of his family to earn a gold jacket; his brother, Shannon, a champion tight end for Denver and Baltimore, was inducted in 2011. Sterling's election is therefore a historic one, as he and Shannon are the first pair of brothers to be enshrined in the Pro Football Football of Fame. Football is family, forever.
The four-person Class of '25 is the smallest to be inducted since 2005 when Dan Marino, Steve Young, Benny Friedman and Fritz Pollard were called to the Hall. Though unusual this century, this is the 19th class in the Hall's 63-year history with four or three members. A four-member class is now the smallest allowed under the Hall's current bylaws.
The selection committee may elect up to five Modern-Era Players for the Class of 2025; each must receive a minimum positive vote of 80% for election. Just three were selected this year.
Sharpe was the lone man from the five Seniors and Coach/Contributor finalists to be elected. Voting on these finalists is done separately as its own group distinct from the Modern-Era Players; a minimum of one person and a maximum of three from these combined categories may be elected under the Hall's revised bylaws.