49ers great Craig, again rejected from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Roger Craig has been rejected again.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced three seniors who have advanced as finalists for the Class of 2025. And once again, Craig didn’t make the cut.
Craig didn’t even make it to the list of nine semifinalists eligible for the final three spots.
The three finalists for the Class of 2025 in the senior category are Maxie Baughan, Sterling Sharpe and Jim Tyrer.
Mike Holmgren was named a finalist in the coach category. Holmgren advanced to George Seifert and Mike Shanahan, who also came to attention.
Holmgren was an assistant coach on two 49ers teams that won Super Bowls. He won a Super Bowl while serving as head coach of the Green Bay Packers for seven seasons (1992-1998). He then coached the Seattle Seahawks from 1999 to 2008, including one Super Bowl appearance.
Ralph Hay was chosen as a finalist among the entrants. Hay is credited with organizing the first meeting of football owners in the showroom of his car dealership in Canton, Ohio, in 1920 as the first step toward the formation of the National Football League.
For the first time, the finalists from the senior, coach and contributor categories will compete directly against each other. The Hall of Fame states that the review of the process “will help ensure the exclusivity of induction into the game’s most elite fraternity.”
Each member of the full selection committee may vote for only three of the five finalists from the senior, coach and contributor categories. Only those who receive at least 80 percent of the vote are inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
If none of the five individuals receive 80 percent approval, the one who receives the most votes from the 49-member committee will be elected to the Class of 2025, according to current bylaws.
The Hall of Fame is currently in the process of narrowing the pool of modern inductees. Twenty-five semi-finalists were recently named. Fifteen of these individuals will go on to become finalists. Those names will be announced on December 28 via the Hall of Fame and on the NFL Network. Ultimately, a minimum of three and a maximum of five modern players will be chosen in the Class of 2025.
Craig’s career ended after the 1993 season. He has received overwhelming support among the 49ers fan base, but his career achievements have not swayed the majority of those who vote for the Hall of Fame.
Craig was a finalist only once, while he was a modern prospect despite being the first player in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards receiving and rushing in the same season.
His exclusion from the Hall of Fame has been a sore point among 49ers fans for decades.
Craig was a four-time Pro Bowl player and three-time Super Bowl champion. He rushed for 8,189 yards and 56 touchdowns in his career, while also catching 566 passes for 4,911 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Craig’s teams advanced to the playoffs in each of his 11 seasons in the NFL. He played eight seasons with the 49ers, two with the Minnesota Vikings and one year with the Los Angeles Raiders.
Instead, Baughan, Sharpe and Tyrer were the candidates to progress to the next stage among the seniors.
Baughan was a nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker with Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Rams. Sharpe was a three-time All-Pro during a seven-year career with the Green Bay Packers.
Tyrer was considered the best offensive tackle of his era. He made nine Pro Bowls, was a six-time All-Pro and was a member of one Super Bowl title and three AFL championships with the Kansas City Chiefs. Tyrer played his last match in 1974.
In 1980, Tyrer shot and killed his wife and then died by suicide by turning the gun on himself. He was a finalist for the Hall of Fame only once as a modern-era candidate. It is suspected that Tyrer suffered from CTE in the years after his retirement.
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