49ers great Craig once again excluded from Pro Football Hall of Fame originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Roger Craig has been snubbed once again.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced three seniors who advanced as finalists for the Class of 2025. And once again, Craig didn’t make the cut.
In fact, Craig didn’t even advance to the list of nine semifinalists under consideration for the final three spots.
The three senior Class of 2025 finalists are Maxie Baughan, Sterling Sharpe and Jim Tyrer.
Mike Holmgren was named a finalist in the coaching category. Holmgren advanced over George Seifert and Mike Shanahan, who were also under consideration.
Holmgren was an assistant coach on two 49ers teams that won Super Bowls. He won a Super Bowl while head coach of the Green Bay Packers for seven seasons (1992-98). He then coached the Seattle Seahawks from 1999 to 2008, which included an appearance in the Super Bowl.
Ralph Hay was chosen as a finalist among the contributors. Hay is credited with organizing the first football owners’ meeting 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 in the senior, coach and collaborator 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 will be able to vote for only three of the five finalists in the senior, coach and collaborator categories. Only those who obtain at least 80 percent of the votes will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
If none of the five individuals receive 80 percent approval, the one receiving the most votes from the 49-member committee will be elected to the Class of 2025 under the current bylaws for the election.
The Hall of Fame is currently in the process of narrowing its modern-era candidate pool. Twenty-five semi-finalists were recently named. Fifteen of those people will advance to become finalists. Those names will be announced Dec. 28 through the Hall of Fame and on NFL Network. Ultimately, a minimum of three and a maximum of five modern-era players will be chosen for 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 accomplishments have not swayed the majority of those voting for the Hall of Fame.
Craig was a finalist only once while being a modern era candidate despite being the first player in NFL history to have 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 Bowler and three-time Super Bowl champion. He rushed for 8,189 yards and 56 touchdowns in his career and also caught 566 passes for 4,911 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Craig’s teams advanced to the playoffs in each of the 11 seasons he played 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 who advanced 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 game in 1974.
In 1980, Tyrer shot and killed his wife and then committed suicide by turning a gun on himself. He was a Hall of Fame finalist only once as a modern-era candidate. Tyrer is suspected of suffering from CTE in the years after his retirement.
Download and follow the 49ers Talk podcast
This embedded content is not available in your region.