Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren stands on the field during a Ring of Honor ceremony during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, in Seattle. (Tom Hauck / Getty Images)
Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren was not elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday night despite being a finalist.
The four-person class included defensive end Jared Allen, cornerback Eric Allen, tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe. It's the smallest Hall of Fame class since 2005.
In addition to the 15 modern-era nominees that yielded the selections of Allen, Allen and Gates, Holmgren was one of five finalists chosen by the Hall of Fame’s Blue-Ribbon Committee. Of those five finalists, only a maximum of three would actually be elected to the Hall of Fame. Committee members could only vote for three of the five candidates and an 80 percent threshold was needed to be elected.
If no one reached the 80 percent threshold, the one receiving the most votes would gain entry. Sharpe was the one candidate to earn entry through the coaches, contributors and seniors category.
The backstory:
Holmgren, 76, retired from coaching at the end of the 2008 season after 10 years coaching the Seahawks. Holmgren led Seattle to six playoff appearances in 10 seasons, which included five straight playoff berths and an appearance in Super Bowl XL in the 2005 season.
Holmgren is one of just seven coaches to take two different teams to the Super Bowl, and one of just nine coaches with at least three Super Bowl appearances. Holmgren won Super Bowl XXXI with the Green Bay Packers in 1996, and lost to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII in 1997. Two years later, Holmgren made the move to Seattle to take over the Seahawks.
Holmgren’s 13 playoff victories are tied for seventh-most in NFL history with all six coaches ahead of him either already in the Hall of Fame (Tom Landry, Don Shula, Joe Gibbs, Chuck Noll), or will be eventually (Bill Belichick, Andy Reid).
His 161 career victories are 21st all-time, but both the Packers and Seahawks were struggling organizations when Holmgren arrived.
Holmgren was also an integral part of the San Francisco 49ers championships in the 1980s as the offensive coordinator to head coach Bill Walsh. Holmgren then had influence himself in the coaching ranks as assistant coaches such as Andy Reid, Jon Gruden and Steve Mariucci all had successful head coaching stints. Both Reid (Kansas City) and Gruden (Tampa Bay) have also won Super Bowls.
Also with Holmgren in the Blue-Ribbon Committee category were:
Ralph Hay was the nominee from the contributor category. Hay was the owner of the Canton Bulldogs and called the meeting that led to the creation of the National Football League in 1920.
Linebacker Maxie Baughan, wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, and offensive tackle Jim Tyrer were the three player candidates from the seniors' category.
Baughan played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams for 11 seasons from 1960-70. Baughan was selected to nine Pro Bowl teams during his career, which is among the most in league history. Only seven linebackers have made more Pro Bowls: Ray Lewis, Junior Seau, Derrick Brooks, Mike Singletary, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Schmidt, and Bobby Wagner.
Sharpe played just seven seasons in the NFL before a neck injury forced his retirement. Under Holmgren in Green Bay, Sharpe became just the sixth receiver in league history to lead the league in catches (108), yards (1,461) and touchdowns (13) in a single season. When he retired, Sharpe's 595 receptions were the most over the first seven seasons of a career in NFL history, and his 8,134 receiving yards were second only to Jerry Rice.
Tyrer was a six-time All-Pro and member of the AFL's All-Decade Team for the 1960s, playing almost all of his career for the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Tyrer was regarded as the best offensive lineman of the era and was a finalist for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1980. However, Tyrer killed his wife, Martha, and committed suicide that September and didn't advance in the voting process.
The Source: Announcement from the Pro Football Hall of Fame at NFL Honors.
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