Ex-Packers Mike Holmgren and Sterling Sharpe are (somewhat) competing for same spot in Hall of Fame

After the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2024 in August, it announced alterations to the voting process that may not have made a significant ripple at the time. But as we get closer to an announcement for the Class of 2025 with two prominent ex-Green Bay Packers in the equation, it’s notable that the two are somewhat competing with each other for the same invitation to Canton.

Though it’s also not that simple. Former Packers coach Mike Holmgren and his ex-player, wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, both could be enshrined in Canton. Or, neither could make the cut. But the process lays out some interesting nuances, including a scenario where one’s induction keeps the other out.

Holmgren introduced the Sunday Night Football game between the two teams he led to Super Bowls, Seattle and Green Bay, as part of the NBC coverage of Green Bay’s 30-13 win. He led the Packers back to prominence in the early 1990s, starting in 1992, when Sharpe was in the midst of a seven-year run leading the team in receiving.

Sharpe suffered a career-ending injury at the end of the 1994 season, an injury that short-circuited what was almost certain to be a Hall of Fame career (and still might be, anyway).

But the Packers kept building under Holmgren, on their way to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances after the 1996 and 1997 seasons, with a title in the first campaign. Holmgren later went to a third Super Bowl when the Seahawks finished runner-up in 2005.

But there’s a new detail within the voting process that has identified Holmgren and Sharpe as “finalists” for induction. Three Seniors candidates (including Sharpe), one “contributor” and one “coach” (Holmgren) will all be considered by the Hall of Fame selection committee, and only a maximum of three can get in.

Any candidate must hit 80% “yes” votes from the committee, but no more than three candidates can earn induction from that pool of five. That means they could all get 80%, but the three with the highest vote total will get in, and the other two must wait at least another year. If none get 80%, only one top finisher will get the nod.

Who votes for the Hall of Fame?

The final voting committee features one media representative from each pro football city (and two from New York and Los Angeles, the markets with two teams), plus up to 17 at-large selectors who are active members of the media or those intricately involved in pro football. There’s also one representative from the Pro Football Writers of America. Green Bay Press-Gazette and PackersNews columnist Pete Dougherty is on the committee. All appointments are reviewed annually and freshly approved by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors.

The committee meets before the Super Bowl to elect new inductees. They consider 20 names under the current format: 15 Modern-Era finalists (players at this point who finished their career later than 2000) and the five from the combined Seniors-contributor-coach categories.

Modern-Era players also must get 80% of the vote, but no fewer than three players from that group will be selected, and no more than five. If recent history is the guide, a full allotment of five players will indeed get selected.

What were the changes made this offseason?

The Hall of Fame process separated coach and contributor into two different categories for the first time. The nine person “Blue Ribbon” committee for each group then forwarded one name onward in the process; that’s Holmgren and Ralph Hay, respectively. Hay was the former owner of the Canton Bulldogs from 1918-22 and is credited with organizing owners of pro football teams in his show room in 1920 to form an association that later became the NFL.

The Seniors committee, for the third year in a row, forwarded three names: Sharpe, former Eagles linebacker Maxie Baughan and 1960s offensive tackle Jim Tyrer. This was supposed to be the final year of a three-year expansion with three such names; previous Seniors committees were permitted to forward just one name for consideration. Though unclear, it doesn’t seem likely that the process will revert to one name in 2026.

It’s new that, in the group of five, the maximum number of inductees is three. Previously, the Seniors and the coach/contributor candidates were evaluated with the same 80% threshold but weren’t part of any quota. All forwarded candidates could get the nod and frequently did. But again, prior to the past two seasons, it was standard for only one Seniors finalist and one coach/contributor to reach the overall selection committee in the first place.

It bears mentioning, though, that last year was unusual. Coach/contributor finalist Buddy Parker, a two-time NFL champion head coach with the Lions, did not achieve the 80%. Two of the three Seniors nominees (Steve McMichael and Randy Gradishar) did get inducted, but the third (Art Powell) did not.

Before last year, and not counting an unusual 2020 setup that involved a large Centennial class, you’d have to go back to 2012 to find a player forwarded as a finalist who wasn’t given approval (Dick Stanfel), and he was subsequently inducted in 2016.

Going into last year, 40 of 44 Senior finalists since 1998 had been inducted, and three of the four who didn’t were inducted in a subsequent year. This new wrinkle in the process guarantees more names in the discussion but also guarantees that someone gets left out from this group of finalists.

The Hall of Fame also added screening committees for both Modern Era and Seniors players, and their task is to limit a list of candidates to 50 before the Blue Ribbon groups narrow the list to finalists, which are then forwarded on to the Hall of Fame Committee. Yes, that’s approval of three different committees, though there is some crossover (seven of the nine Blue Ribbon committee members are also on the full selection committee).

One last interesting change: Coaches can become eligible one season after leaving NFL coaching, a change from a previous five-year waiting period. You’ll see why that matters in the short term, below.

What are the chances Sterling Sharpe and Mike Holmgren get approved for the Hall of Fame

Sharpe had twice before been identified as a “semifinalist” in this process, so he’s been on the doorstep. It speaks well of his candidacy, but it’s often not obvious which personnel get the ultimate nod given the difficulty of comparing eras and positions in football. As noted above, getting to the finalist stage isn’t a slam dunk, but it’s been close to one.

Holmgren has also been a semifinalist, and there’s an impressive list of coaches against whom he is competing, including Mike Shanahan, the man who beat Holmgren for the Super Bowl crown after the 1997 season and won another Super Bowl the following year. Fellow semifinalists George Seifert and Tom Coughlin also won multiple Super Bowls. So he’s already surviving a tough batch of semifinalists to get this far, and that also speaks highly of his candidacy.

The Hall of Fame’s change to coach eligibility — allowing coaches who have just retired to become eligible quickly — also opens the door for Patriots legend Bill Belichick, whose decision to coach at North Carolina seemingly ends his NFL tenure. Belichick wasn’t eligible for this class but also didn’t formally retire; if he’s indeed eligible in 2026, it stands to reason all other coaches will need to try again in 2027. Belichick, of course, is a slam dunk.

Then there’s the question of whether the Seniors committee goes back to just one finalist in the years ahead, which would narrow the opportunities for Sharpe. Though, if the Hall of Fame maintains its current format beyond 2025, three Seniors finalists does make sense. The Hall of Fame has said “there is no expiration date for any of the changes” it outlined in August, but this process has changed many times in recent years.

When will the Hall of Fame class get announced?

The Class of 2025 will get revealed at the “NFL Honors” show in New Orleans on Feb. 6, three days before the Super Bowl.

Sterling and Shannon Sharpe would make history as first brothers inducted

No set of brothers have ever been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sterling introduced his brother Shannon, a tight end for the Broncos who was inducted in 2011.

Eli Manning, a semifinalist this year among the Modern Era players, could join his brother Peyton at the same time. The 15 finalists for the Modern Era group will be announced Dec. 28.

Current Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt is on a Hall of Fame trajectory and poised to join his older brother J.J., both graduates of Pewaukee High School, in due time.

The older Watt is eligible in the class of 2028.