Tiki Barber, Gates, Peppers among 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Semifinalists | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Emily Beck
Published Mar 24, 2026
Julius Peppers, Antonio Gates and Tiki Barber are among the headliners from the list of 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2024 induction class.
For Peppers and Gates, they've advanced this far in their first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, and both are strong candidates to make the final cut. Barber, meanwhile, is a semifinalist for the first time since retiring from the NFL in 2006.
Pro Football Hall of Fame @ProFootballHOF🚨 NEWS🚨 <br><br>The Pro Football Hall of Fame is proud to announce 25 Modern-Era Semifinalists for the Class of 2024.<br><br>Full Story: <a href=""> <a href="">
Peppers was a nine-time Pro Bowler and a three-time All-Pro across 17 seasons, and his 159.5 sacks are unofficially the fifth-most all time. The Hall of Fame named him to its All-Decade teams for the 2000s and 2010s.
NFL Legacy @NFLLegacyLeft side? Strong side?<br><br>Either way, Julius dominated. <a href="">@juliuspeppers_</a> <a href="">
Gates joined Peppers on the All-2000s team. An eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, the 6'4", 255-pound tight end helped to usher in a new era for the position.
Both have the résumés to be first-ballot Hall of Famers.
Barber might have a steeper climb. He closed his career on a high, rushing for 5,040 yards and 27 touchdowns over his final three seasons, and his penultimate campaign saw him finish fourth in the MVP voting and third in the Offensive Player of the Year ballot.
Three Pro Bowl appearances and ranking 27th all time in rushing yards (10,449) may not be enough to catapult Barber to Canton, Ohio, though.
Elsewhere on the list of remaining nominees, Torry Holt will hope this is the year he finally gets the call. The former St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver is a semifinalist for the 10th time.
Holt twice led the NFL in receiving yards and finished with 13,382 for his career. He has watched fellow "Greatest Show on Turf" stars Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and Isaac Bruce receive a gold jacket, making his omission a little puzzling to this point.
NFL @NFLThe only WR on the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team not in the Hall of Fame? Torry Holt.<br><br>Could that change soon? (via <a href="">@NFLLegacy</a>) <a href="">
Hines Ward and Darren Woodson are looking at their eighth appearance as semifinalists, while Fred Taylor, Reggie Wayne and Patrick Willis are five-timers.
You don't envy the Hall of Fame selection committee's task of winnowing the list to 15 finalists and then ultimately selecting who will be enshrined in Canton.
