CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly is among 167 modern-era players nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2025 class.
Kuechly is joined by 15 other former Panthers on the list, including Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith Sr., Muhsin Muhammad, Wesley Walls, Jordan Gross, Ryan Kalil, Jared Allen, Eugene Robinson, Jeremy Shockey and John Kasay.
Smith, the most prolific receiver in Panthers history, was a semifinalist for the 2024 class. It was the third time he was named a semifinalist for the hall. The list of 167 players will be cut to by 50 a special committee in October. The list will be cut twice more to 25 semifinalists and 15 finalists.
Should Kuechly make it into the hall on his first try, it would mark back-to-back first-ballot inductions for the Panthers, as Julius Peppers was elected in 2024.
From the first time he stepped on the field as a rookie until his retirement in 2017, Kuechly left no doubt that he was among the very best in the NFL. Kuechly was a five-time All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler, was the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team.
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The knock on his career may be longevity. Kuechly was forced to retire after a series of head injuries. Darin Gantt, a longtime reporter who covered the Panthers for over a decade before joining the organization, says Kuechly's elite level of play should be enough to make up for a short career.
"I just look at the way he dominated his position over time," Gantt said. "When someone is a five-time All-Pro, two-time second-team All-Pro, seven of the eight years, everyone in the game agreed he was one of the two best people to do the thing he did.
"I don't think there's that stigma anymore about players who only played for a brief amount of time, as long as they played at a super high level and Luke Kuechly obviously did that."