Lee Roy Jordan is being considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Two College Football Hall of Fame center/linebackers with Alabama football roots are among 60 players who have made a move toward the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class.

On Thursday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the players still under consideration for nomination as senior candidates for the class of 2025, including Maxie Baughan of Bessemer High School and Lee Roy Jordan of Excel High School and Alabama .

In a new format this year, each member of the Seniors Screening Committee voted for 50 players from a list of 182 nominees, and the top 50 players plus ties will still be considered for nomination.
A nine-member Seniors Blue Ribbon Committee will select three senior candidates as finalists to be considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class.

To become a top candidate, the candidate must not have played in the last 25 seasons. For this year’s class, the senior candidates played their entire NFL careers prior to the 2000 season.

As part of last year’s selection process, Baughan was one of twelve semi-finalists for the senior exam. But the top candidates were linebacker Randy Gradishar, defensive tackle Steve McMichael and wide receiver Art Powell.

The 20th pick in the 1960 NFL Draft, Baughan played his first six seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, spent the next five with the Los Angeles Rams and, after serving as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, returned to play in two games playing player-coach of the Washington Redskins in 1974.

The Eagles won the NFL championship in Baughan’s first professional season in 1960, when he was selected to the Pro Bowl.

Baughan earned a Pro Bowl invitation in nine of his first 10 NFL campaigns. He earned first-team All-Pro honors as a linebacker by The Associated Press in 1964 and 1969 and was selected to the AP second-team six other times.

Baughan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988 for his career at Georgia Tech, where he was a consensus All-American in 1959.

Jordan was a modern finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 1988. Fred Biletnikoff, Mike Ditka, Jack Ham and Alan Page were the modern nominees inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in this class.

Of the modern finalists from the Class of 1988, Jordan is the only one not enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. While Parker High School’s Buck Buchanan, Bob Griese, Leroy Kelly, Tom Mack, Art Shell and Lynn Swann didn’t make it this year, they were ultimately elected.

The sixth player selected in the 1963 NFL Draft, Jordan spent his entire 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

Jordan received Pro Bowl recognition in 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973 and 1974.

His 19 playoff appearances included the fifth, sixth and 10th Super Bowls, and he also appeared in two NFL championship games prior to the league’s Super Bowl era. The Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins 24-3 in Super Bowl VI on January 16, 1972, with Jordan at middle linebacker.

Jordan’s 32 interceptions are the most for an Alabama alumnus in the NFL, and his 174 NFL regular-season starts rank fifth on the Crimson Tide list.

At Alabama, Jordan was a unanimous All-American selection in 1962. He helped Alabama win coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s first national championship in 1961 and finished his Crimson Tide career with 31 tackles in a 17-0 win over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on January 1, 1963.

Jordan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Los Angeles Rams linebacker Maxie Baughan (55) causes Green Bay Packers split end Carroll Dale to fumble during an NFL playoff game on December 23, 1967 in Milwaukee.(AP photo)

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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