The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 added four players to the football shrine’s lineup, but it didn’t increase the SEC’s roster among the game’s greats – but one of the conference’s members still had reason to celebrate.
Sterling Sharpe joined Eric Allen, Jared Allen and Antonio Gates to form the Class of 2025, which was announced on Thursday night during the “NFL Honors” awards program.
Inducted for his work as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers, Sharpe reached the NFL from South Carolina, becoming the first former Gamecocks standout to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But Sharpe’s time at South Carolina ended with a 30-13 loss to LSU in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 31, 1987, and the Gamecocks did not play their first season in the SEC until 1992.
Seven players made it to the final ballot from which Eric Allen from Arizona State, Jared Allen from Idaho State and Gates from Kent State were chosen. Among the four players not picked for enshrinement was former Auburn standout Willie Anderson.
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Three players were senior candidates, with Sharpe advancing into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Left one step short was Maxie Baughan, who starred at Georgia Tech when the Yellow Jackets played as SEC members.
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That left the SEC’s representation in the Pro Football Hall of Fame at 32 players.
Eight of those players are Alabama alumni, giving the Crimson Tide two more Pro Football Hall of Fame members than any other SEC program.
A rundown of the current SEC football members’ former players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
Alabama members: 8
End/safety/place-kicker Don Hutson: Green Bay Packers 1935-1945. Inducted in 1963.
Quarterback Bart Starr: Green Bay Packers 1956-1971. Inducted in 1977.
Quarterback Joe Namath: New York Jets 1965-1976, Los Angeles Rams 1977. Inducted in 1985.
Guard John Hannah: New England Patriots 1973-1985. Inducted in 1991.
Center Dwight Stephenson: Miami Dolphins 1980-1987. Inducted in 1998.
Tight end Ozzie Newsome: Cleveland Browns 1978-1990. Inducted in 1999.
Outside linebacker Derrick Thomas: Kansas City Chiefs 1989-1999. Inducted in 2009.
Quarterback Ken Stabler: Oakland Raiders 1970-1979, Houston Oilers 1980-1981, New Orleans Saints 1982-1984. Inducted in 2016.
Arkansas members: 3
Flanker Lance Alworth: San Diego Chargers 1962-1970, Dallas Cowboys 1971-1972. Inducted in 1978.
Defensive lineman Dan Hampton: Chicago Bears 1979-1990. Inducted in 2002.
Safety Steve Atwater: Denver Broncos 1989-1998, New York Jets 1999. Inducted in 2020.
None of the Arkansas’ Pro Football Hall of Fame alumni played in the SEC. The Razorbacks joined the conference in 1992. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former coach Jimmy Johnson also played football in Arkansas’ pre-SEC era and are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Auburn members: 2
Center Frank Gatski: Cleveland Browns 1946-1956, Detroit Lions 1957. Inducted in 1985.
Outside linebacker Kevin Greene: Los Angeles Rams 1985-1992, Pittsburgh Steelers 1993-1995, Carolina Panthers 1996, 1998-1999, San Francisco 49ers 1997. Inducted in 2016.
Florida members: 2
Defensive end Jack Youngblood: Los Angeles Rams 1971-1984. Inducted in 2001.
Running back Emmitt Smith: Dallas Cowboys 1990-2002, Arizona Cardinals 2003-2004. Inducted in 2010.
Georgia members: 5
Halfback Charley Trippi: Chicago Cardinals 1947-1955. Inducted in 1968.
Quarterback Fran Tarkenton: Minnesota Vikings 1961-1966, 1972-1978, New York Giants 1967-1971. Inducted in 1986.
Running back Terrell Davis: Denver Broncos 1995-2001. Inducted in 2017.
Cornerback Champ Bailey: Washington Redskins 1999-2003, Denver Broncos 2004-2013. Inducted in 2019.
Defensive lineman Richard Seymour: New England Patriots 2001-2008, Oakland Raiders 2009-2012. Inducted in 2022.
Kentucky members: 2
Quarterback/place-kicker George Blanda: Chicago Bears 1949-1958, Houston Oilers 1960-1966, Oakland Raiders 1967-1975. Inducted in 1981.
Center Dermontti Dawson: Pittsburgh Steelers 1988-2000. Inducted in 2012.
LSU members: 6
Halfback Steve Van Buren: Philadelphia Eagles 1944-1951. Inducted in 1965.
Quarterback Y.A. Tittle: Baltimore Colts 1948-1950, San Francisco 49ers 1951-1960, New York Giants 1961-1964. Inducted in 1971.
Fullback Jim Taylor: Green Bay Packers 1958-1966, New Orleans Saints 1967. Inducted in 1976.
Center Kevin Mawae: Seattle Seahawks 1994-1997, New York Jets 1998-2005, Tennessee Titans 2006-2009. Inducted in 2019.
Safety Johnny Robinson: Dallas Texans 1960-1962, Kansas City Chiefs 1963-1971. Inducted in 2019.
Guard Alan Faneca: Pittsburgh Steelers 1998-2007, New York Jets 2008-2009, Arizona Cardinals 2010. Inducted in 2021.
Mississippi State members: 0
MSU has four alumni who have been chosen for the Pro Bowl more than three times, and two are playing in the NFL currently – Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay.
Missouri members: 2
Tight end Kellen Winslow: San Diego Chargers 1979-1987. Inducted in 1995.
Cornerback Roger Wehrli: St. Louis Cardinals 1969-1982. Inducted in 2007.
Neither of Missouri’s Pro Football Hall of Fame alumni played in the SEC. The Tigers joined the conference in 2012.
Oklahoma
Defensive tackle Lee Roy Selmon: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976-1984. Inducted in 1995.
Wide receiver Tommy McDonald: Philadelphia Eagles 1957-1963, Dallas Cowboys 1964, Los Angeles Rams 1965-1966, Atlanta Falcons 1967, Cleveland Browns 1968. Inducted in 1998.
Quarterback Troy Aikman: Dallas Cowboys 1989-2000. Inducted in 2006.
Oklahoma played its first SEC season in 2024, so none of the Sooners in the Pro Football of Fame played in the conference.
Ole Miss members: 3
Tackle Frank “Bruiser” Kinard: Brooklyn Dodgers 1938-1944, New York Yankees 1946-1947. Inducted in 1971.
Guard Gene Hickerson: Cleveland Browns 1958-1973. Inducted in 2007.
Linebacker Patrick Willis: San Francisco 49ers 2007-2014. Inducted in 2024.
South Carolina members: 1
Wide receiver Sterling Sharpe: Green Bay Packers 1988-1994.
The Class of 2025 selection doesn’t count on the SEC’s Pro Football Hall of Fame total. Sharpe’s final season with the Gamecocks came in 1987, and South Carolina’s first season in the SEC occurred in 1992.
Tennessee members: 3
Defensive end Doug Atkins: Cleveland Browns 1953-1954, Chicago Bears 1955-1966, New Orleans Saints 1967-1969. Inducted in 1982.
Defensive end Reggie White: Philadelphia Eagles 1985-1992, Green Bay Packers 1993-1998, Carolina Panthers 2000. Inducted in 2006.
Quarterback Peyton Manning: Indianapolis Colts 1998-2011, Denver Broncos 2012-2015. Inducted in 2021.
Texas
Quarterback Bobby Layne: Chicago Bears 1948, New York Bulldogs 1949, Detroit Lions 1950-1958, Pittsburgh Steelers 1958-1962. Inducted in 1967.
Running back Earl Campbell: Houston Oilers 1978-1984, New Orleans Saints 1985-1985. Inducted in 1991.
Safety Bobby Dillon: Green Bay Packers 1952-1959. Inducted in 2020.
Defensive tackle Steve McMichael: New England Patriots 1980, Chicago Bears 1981-1993, Green Bay Packers 1994. Inducted in 2024.
Texas played its first SEC season in 2024, so none of the Sooners in the Pro Football of Fame played in the conference.
Texas A&M members: 1
Safety/punter Yale Lary: Detroit Lions 1952-1964. Inducted in 1979.
Texas A&M’s Pro Football Hall of Fame alumnus never played in the SEC. The Aggies joined the conference in 2012.
Vanderbilt members: 0
Only one Vanderbilt alumnus has been chosen for the Pro Bowl more than twice – offensive tackle Will Wolford, with three selections. One former Vanderbilt has been an AP All-Pro first-team choice – punter Jim Arnold.
Plus Billy Shaw
Adding up the Pro Football Hall of Fame members to this point leaves the total at 31. That’s because there’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer who played in the SEC, but his alma mater is no longer a member of the league. Guard Billy Shaw, inducted in 1999 for his career with the Buffalo Bills from 1961 through 1969, came from Georgia Tech, an original member of the SEC in 1933 that played its final SEC football season in 1963. Georgia Tech has Pro Football Hall of Fame members from before and after its SEC era. Halfback Joe Guyon played in the NFL from its inaugural season in 1920 through 1927 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson played for the Detroit Lions from 2007 through 2015 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
