Steve Smith Sr and Luke Kuechly are 2025 Hall of Fame finalists

Two Panthers greats get their shot at Canton

Steve Smith Sr and Luke Kuechly are finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025. They could join Julius Peppers as former Carolina Panthers legends who have earned their places in Canton.

Smith’s place in the Hall of Fame is something that has been hotly debated amongst the Panthers fandom since before he left the Panthers in 20013 and before he retired in 2016. The former third round pick from the 2001 NFL Draft needs little introduction or defense here, Suffice it to say that the only thing his resume is short on is Super Bowl rings. The Hall of Fame honors individual achievement and the Super Bowl is the ultimate team achievement, but voters do unfortunately give heavy weight to players who have rings.

The same qualification can be added to Kuechly’s case. He was one of the best to ever play the middle linebacker position and easily the best in the league while he was active. He retired relatively young from football at just 28 to try to mitigate the risk of further concussions. It probably also didn’t help that the Panthers were entering a five-years-and-counting long rebuild.

Smith and Kuechly are both first time finalists, with this being Smith’s third year of eligibility in the famously log-jammed position of wide receiver and Kuechly’s first year of eligibility.