Three longtime Patriots named Semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025
Longtime Patriots Adam Vinatieri, Vince Wilfork, and Rodney Harrison are among 25 Modern-Era Semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.
The biggest cut in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 was announced on Wednesday morning, with the initial list of 167 initial Modern-Era nominees trimmed to 25 Semifinalists. Among those 25 are three longtime Patriots players who won Super Bowls with the team, plus a few other players who had brief stints with the team.
Highlighting the list is the only former Patriot of the 25 in his first year of eligibility – kicker Adam Vinatieri. Vinatieri is one of six first year eligible players to make the cut, along with Luke Kuechly, Eli Manning, Terrell Suggs, Earl Thomas, and Marshal Yanda.
Vinatieri had a 24-year NFL career, spending the first 10 years with the Patriots. During that time he hit some of the biggest kicks in franchise and NFL history, including two Super Bowl game winners as well as two kicks in difficult conditions in the Snow Bowl to tie and win the game. Vinatieri went on to play 14 more years with the Indianapolis Colts and retired after his age 47 season as the NFL’s all-time leading scorer.
If Vinatieri does ultimately get induced, he’d be just the third modern-era placekicker enshrined in Canton. He’d join Jan Stenerud (inducted in 1991) and Morten Anderson (2017).
Two other Patriots are back in the semifinalist round. One of those is defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, who has reached this stage all four of his years on the ballot. However, he’s never made it to the finalist stage.
On talent alone, Wilfork should have a strong case for induction. However, he wasn’t exactly a box score filler because of the nature of his position – something that has impacted defensive tackles getting in in the past (such as another former Patriot, Richard Seymour).
Wilfork’s impact is clear though when looking at the team’s he played on as a whole. During his time in New England the Patriots were regularly one of the best run defending teams in the league. When he missed 12 games in 2013 their rank against the run dropped all the way to 30th from ninth the year before. Wilfork was also incredibly durable during his career, playing at least 13 games in all but one of his 13 NFL seasons.
While the committee doesn’t vote by position, what may help Wilfork is the fact that there are not many defensive linemen with him in the Semifinalist group. He’s the only defensive tackle, with defensive ends Jared Allen and Robert Mathis also on the ballot.
Finally there’s safety Rodney Harrison, who is a semifinalist for the third year in a row and fourth overall after seven years of not getting off the initial list. Last year he reached the finalist round for the first time.
We’ve written extensively about Harrison’s Hall of Fame case in the past. His absence stands out given his resume in terms of both statistics (among all other things, he was the first player in NFL history with both 30 career sacks and 30 career interceptions, a feat since only matched by first-ballot Hall of Famer Ray Lewis), individual accolades (a three-time All-Pro, and member of the Patriots’ and Chargers’ 50th Anniversary teams), and team accolades (he’s a two-time Super Bowl Champion).
Despite that, Harrison has never gotten the nod. Could this be his year? He’s one of three safeties in this year’s Semifinalist group along with Earl Thomas and Darren Woodson.
While those three highlight the group of Patriots on the list, there’s a few others who had shorter stints with the team. Running back Fred Taylor and linebacker James Harrison both appeared in a handful of regular season games in New England, while wide receivers Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne were with the team briefly in training camp.
The next step for all 25 Semifinalists is now making it to the Finalist round. At that point the list of players will be cut from 25 to 15. Those 15 will go onto the final ballot along with the Finalists from the Seniors, Coach, and Contributor categories (Patriots owner Robert Kraft is among the Semifinalists in the Contributor category). From there the selection committee will choose between four and eight individuals to become the Class of 2025, which will be announced in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
Among former Patriots not to move on to this round of voting, running back Corey Dillon, wide receiver Wes Welker, tight end Ben Coates, guard Logan Mankins, linebacker Willie McGinest, and cornerback Aqib Talib highlight the players who will have to wait until next year to start the process again.
