Eli Manning, Antonio Gates and Jared Allen headline the 25 semifinalists for football Hall of Fame

Offensive lineman Richmond Webb, who retired following the 2002 season, made it to the semifinal stage for the first time. Guard Steve Wisniewski is a semifinalist for the second time, having reached the stage in voting for the class of 2014.

Manning will look to follow his brother Peyton into the Hall following a standout career with the New York Giants. Manning was picked first overall in the 2004 draft and spent his entire career in New York. He led the Giants to an upset win over the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl following the 2007 season, throwing a game-winning TD pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute.

He led another late TD drive to upset Tom Brady and the Patriots four years later. Manning is one of 13 QBs to win multiple Super Bowls with eight of the nine who are eligible for the Hall getting inducted.

Only Jim Plunkett has not been inducted along with more recent players such as Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Patrick Mahomes, who aren’t eligible.

Manning was a four-time Pro Bowler but never made All-Pro or led the league in a major statistical category in a season but finished his career with 57,023 yards passing and 366 TDs.

His best moments were in those two postseason runs. Manning joined Brady (five), Mahomes (three), Joe Montana (three), Bart Starr (two) and Terry Bradshaw (two) as the only multiple winners of Super Bowl MVP awards.

Gates played only basketball in college before turning into one of the NFL’s top tight ends after being drafted by the Chargers. He became an All-Pro in just his second season in 2004. He was an All-Pro again the next two seasons and went on to have a 16-year career for the team.

Gates finished with 955 catches for 11,841 yards and an NFL record for tight ends with 116 touchdown receptions.

Allen was a four-time All-Pro who finished his career with 136 sacks, including a league-leading 22 in 2011 for Minnesota.

Kuechly and Suggs were among the top defensive players of their era with Kuechly selected as the top defensive player in 2013 and Suggs in 2011.

Kuechly’s career was brief but impactful. The first-round pick by Carolina in 2012 was an All-Pro five times in his eight-year career with seven Pro Bowl nods and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

Over his eight-year career, Kuechly led all linebackers in the NFL in tackles (1,090), takeaways (26), interceptions (18) and passes defensed (66).

Suggs was one of the top pass rushers in the league over his 17-year career, with his 139 sacks ranking eighth best since they became an official stat in 1982.

Suggs had seven double-digit sack seasons in his 16 seasons with Baltimore, including 14 in 2011 when he was selected as the top defensive player in the league and led the NFL with seven forced fumbles.

Vinatieri was one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, making the game-winning field goals in the first two Super Bowl titles during New England’s dynasty.

He helped launch the run with one of the game’s greatest kicks — a 45-yarder in the snow to force overtime in the “Tuck Rule” game against the Raiders in the 2001 divisional round. He made the game-winning kick in OT to win that game and then hit a 48-yarder on the final play of a 20-17 win in the Super Bowl against the Rams.

Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points (2,673) and made field goals (599) over a 24-year career with New England and Indianapolis. He also leads all players with 56 field goals and 238 points in the postseason.