CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers legends Luke Kuechly and Steve Smith Sr. are among the 50 players eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of 2025.
Kuechly and Smith are two of three players remaining who played for the Panthers, as did defensive end Jared Allen, who finished his career in Carolina in 2015. Kuechly is eligible for the first time this year.
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 modern-era players was cut to 50 on Wednesday. The list will be cut twice more to 25 semifinalists and 15 finalists. The finalists will be discussed before the Super Bowl.
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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.
"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."