ClutchPoints
After the Pro Football Hall of Fame released its list of 2025 finalists, there was a chance for former Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but instead, he got snubbed.
Some fans claimed Eli Manning got snubbed, but Kuechly not being inducted might’ve been the biggest miss of the night — including Josh Allen’s MVP.
One of the larger arguments against Kuechly is his lack of longevity in the NFL, lasting just eight seasons in the league before retiring.
Now, although he didn’t claim that concussions were the reason for his retirement, there’s logic to that idea. Kuechly suffered three concussions in his last three seasons, giving cause for concern about how his brain would heal after such abuse.
Something seen across the NFL — especially with players who are years and years removed from the game — is that concussions can have gnarly long-term effects on the player who withstood them.
And even if concussion data shows that the league is improving with brain injuries, they’re still happening more than they should.
It might’ve been easier to brush off the headaches and push forward during his playing days, but concussions have proven to be a beast of an injury to overcome in the future.
And for Kuechly, he seemingly decided the concussions weren’t worth the long-term effects, deciding to retire at the age of 28.
Now, when looking at his career with the Panthers, it’s almost impossible to understand how he didn’t get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
In fact, Brett Kollmann — a big-time sports media content creator — was one of the people most baffled by the snub, as expressed on his social media page.
“Wait LUKE KUECHLY somehow didn’t make the Hall of Fame,” Kollmann wrote. “Luke Kuechly. Are you serious.”
And he was far from the only one shocked by Kuechly getting snubbed.
Another big sports content creator — and noted Panthers fan — Matt Sponhour kept it short when giving his opinion on Kuechly’s snubbing on X.
“If Luke Keuchly had the exact same accolades but played another 5 years he probably would have made it,” Sponhour wrote.
As seen by Sponhour’s post, something that seemed to bring a lot of confusion to the table was how Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was inducted into the Hall of Fame while Kuechly wasn’t.
Now, one thing to keep in mind is that they weren’t in the same class, so it wasn’t like one beat out the other.
Urlacher — a staple in Bears history — was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018, earning first-ballot honors.
While Kuechly can still make the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the future, not being inducted in his first year of eligibility takes some of the shine away.
Kuechly will be thankful to make the Hall of Fame when he...
