Five individuals have become finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025, but one of them is not former Steelers scouting head Art Rooney Jr.
Rooney was one of nine semifinalists in the contributor category, but a special committee chose NFL founder Ralph Hay as the finalist for possible inclusion into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Three former players — linebacker Maxie Baughan, receiver Sterling Sharpe and tackle Jim Tyrer — were nominated as finalists in the senior category. Mike Holmgren, who won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers but lost another to the Steelers in 2005, was advanced as the finalist in the coaches category.
Under new bylaws adopted by the HOF board of directors, only three of those five finalists will be chosen for induction by members of the 49-person Selection Committee. A candidate needs at least 80 percent of the Selection Committee’s vote to be enshrined. That vote will be in January, shortly before the Super Bowl.
Rooney was in charge of the scouting department that helped build the Steelers’ four Super Bowl teams in the 1970s. It was the second year in a row he was one of nine semifinalists in the contributor category.
Instead, a special committee selected Hay, former owner of the Canton Bulldogs, who is credited with organizing owners of professional football teams and forming an association that two years later was renamed the NFL.
First Published: December 3, 2024, 4:37 p.m.
Updated: December 4, 2024, 2:52 p.m.