Seattle Seahawks

Marshawn Lynch a Hall of Famer? Seahawks icon headlines 16 1st-time nominees for Canton

Beast Mode in Canton?

A week and a half after giving new Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald a neck rub on the sidelines during a game, Marshawn Lynch headlines 16 first-time nominees among 167 modern-era players nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.

The retired, ultra-popular Seahawks icon is in his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame. He retired for good five years ago. His second go-round with Seattle ended with the 2019 season.

The Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, announced its nominee list on Wednesday.

Earl Thomas, an original member of the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” secondary on what became the NFL’s best defense for a Super Bowl champion Seattle team 10 years ago, joins Lynch as a first-time nominee in his first year Hall-of-Fame eligibility.

Shaun Alexander, another Seahawks Super Bowl running back, is again up for nomination.

The next step of the selection process is a screening committee reducing the 167 nominees to 50. That list of 50 will come out next month.

Former Seahawks Kam Chancellor and Marshawn Lynch talk before the NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Seattle.
Former Seahawks Kam Chancellor and Marshawn Lynch talk before the NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Seattle. Brian Hayes/The News Tribune bhayes@thenewstribune.com

The full Hall of Fame selection committee of 50 persons will then pare the list of 50 nominees to 25 semifinals late this fall. Another vote by the selection committee will determine the 15 finalists. The selection committee will then debate and discuss those finalists at the Super Bowl the week of the NFL championship game in February.

The Hall of Fame will then determine the three, four or five modern-era inductees to the Hall of Fame Class of 2025, and announce them the night before the Super Bowl.

Former Seahawk running back Marshawn Lynch and head coach Pete Carroll share a laugh before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Seattle, Wash.
Former Seahawk running back Marshawn Lynch and head coach Pete Carroll share a laugh before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Seattle, Wash. Brian Hayes bhayes@thenewstribune.com

This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 10:48 AM.

Gregg Bell
The News Tribune
Gregg Bell is the Seahawks and NFL writer for The News Tribune. He is a two-time Washington state sportswriter of the year, voted by the National Sports Media Association in January 2023 and January 2019. He started covering the NFL in 2002 as the Oakland Raiders beat writer for The Sacramento Bee. The Ohio native began covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season of 2005. In a prior life he graduated from West Point and served as a tactical intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, so he may ask you to drop and give him 10. Support my work with a digital subscription
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