Bengals all-time passing leader Ken Anderson made the Pro Football Hall of Fame senior semifinals for the third straight year, but didn't make the final vote for 2025 induction.
Anderson, the only eligible quarterback with four NFL passing titles not in the Hall, made a list of nine senior candidates culled from the original group of 183 that played their last game in 1999.
Bengals Ring of Honor member Willie Anderson remains in contention for a berth in the modern era group of players whose careers began 25 years ago and ended in 2019.
That 25-player list of semifinalists is being cut to 15 by the 50-member Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors and is to be announced Dec. 28.
The board, of which Bengals.com is a member, meets next month for the final vote of seniors and modern players with inductees announced the week of the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
The three seniors who made it to next month's finals were wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, offensive tackle Jim Tyrer and linebacker Maxie Baughan. They were selected by a senior committee of nine people composed of seven Hall selectors joined by a football historian and Hall of Fame exec.
For the last two years, Ken Anderson made it to a semifinals list of 12 in front of a senior committee of a dozen Hall selectors, many of whom were on this year's committee.
Since the senior voting changed in 2022, Ken Anderson, Sharpe, and Baughan, are the only candidates to reach the semifinals all three years.
Baughan made nine Pro Bowls playing linebacker from 1960-70. Sharpe's seven-year career from 1988-94 was cut short by a neck injury before he made three All-Pro teams. Tyrer, making his first trip to the semifinals, played 13 years in a career that ended in 1974 as a member of the AFL's All-Decade team.
The other semifinalists who didn't make the cut to three were Raiders defensive back Lester Hayes, Dolphins guard Bob Kuechenberg, Chiefs cornerback Albert Lewis, Patriots wide receiver Stanley Morgan and Eagles right tackle Al Wistert.
