The Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday (Nov. 20) announced 25 semifinalists for the class of 2025, and three New England Patriots legends made the cut. Let’s look at the full list of semifinalists and whether any former Patriots deserve enshrinement.
3 Former Patriots Named Hall of Fame Semifinalists
Kicker Adam Vinatieri, nose tackle Vince Wilfork, and safety Rodney Harrison were all named semifinalists. Other former Patriots, including Logan Mankins and Ben Coates, didn’t advance past the 50-man cut.
Here are the 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class.
- K Adam Vinatieri
- NT Vince Wilfork
- S Rodney Harrison
- CB Eric Allen
- DE Jared Allen
- T Willie Anderson
- WR Anquan Boldin
- G Jahri Evans
- TE Antonio Gates
- LB James Harrison
- WR Torry Holt
- LB Luke Kuechly
- QB Eli Manning
- LB Robert Mathis
- WR Steve Smith Sr.
- LB Terrell Suggs
- RB Fred Taylor
- DB Earl Thomas
- WR Hines Ward
- RB Ricky Watters
- WR Reggie Wayne
- T Richmond Webb
- G Steve Wisniewski
- S Darren Woodson
- OL Marshal Yanda
Should Adam Vinatieri, Rodney Harrison, and Vince Wilfork Be Hall of Famers?
K Adam Vinatieri
This is a tricky one.
Vinatieri probably will get in someday. He’s the NFL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,673 points and kicked a record 599 field goals, including 29 game-winning kicks. And his postseason heroics need no introduction.
But will he be a first-ballot Hall of Famer? It’s tough to say.
ADAM VINATIERI. 51 YARDS. FOR THE WIN. #DENvsIND pic.twitter.com/9x7xjko7EO
— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2019
Only two primary placekickers are in the Hall of Fame: Morten Andersen and Jan Stenerud, with the latter being the only first-balloter. As the greatest kicker in NFL history, Vinatieri should become the second.
Vinatieri’s Pro Football Reference HOF Monitor Score is 92.70, well above the average of 77 for placekickers.
DT Vince Wilfork
This is the part where we say throw out the PFR scores.
Wilfork’s score is 60.35, well below the 102 average for defensive tackles. However, Wilfork has the 13th-highest score under the average, so he’s pretty close.
But here’s the thing: Wilfork shouldn’t be lumped in with someone like Aaron Donald, who has the highest PFR score for defensive tackles (an absurd 181.68). Wilfork was a true nose tackle, and his weekly dominance often eluded the stat sheet.
He wasn’t a finalist last year despite being a semifinalist, so he likely won’t earn enshrinement in 2025. But Wilfork should get in at some point.
S Rodney Harrison
Rodney Harrison was a finalist last year, so he’s knocking on the door. And, as a two-time champion and two-time first-team All-Pro selection, he was one of the best safeties of the 1990s and 2000s.
But enshrinement has eluded Harrison, perhaps due to his reputation as a dirty player and his PED-related suspension in 2007. Plus, some of the numbers, like his well-below-average 48.28 PFR score, say he’s not a Hall of Famer.
However, Bill Belichick has pushed Harrison’s Hall of Fame candidacy to a near-comical degree, and his opinion counts for something.
“Best safety I’ve coached,” Belichick said of Harrison in 2023. “Fantastic player, person and great competitor. Could do it all. One of the most versatile players I’ve ever coached. He could cover. He really could play corner. He was a great blitzer. A great tackler. He was really hard to block in the running game, as a blitzer and on kickoff coverage. Very explosive.
“Two-hundred twenty pounds, whatever he was. He was a thumper. He was a contact player. Ran well. Very instinctive.
“He did a great job of disguising coverages. Worked well with his teammates, you know, with Eugene [Wilson] and some of the different safeties we had back there through his career. He’s just a heck of a football player. He’s one of the best I’ve ever coached. I mean, he’d certainly be on my all-time team without question.”