Maxie Baughan, the late Eagles LB, named a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist
Baughan won an NFL championship with the Eagles, playing for the team from 1960 to 1965.
Maxie Baughan is one step away from becoming a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The organization announced on Tuesday that the 1960 NFL champion Eagles’ outside linebacker is one of the finalists up for possible election to the 2025 class.
Baughan, an Eagles Hall of Famer who spent six seasons in Philadelphia from 1960-65, is one of three finalists in the seniors category, which also includes Sterling Sharpe and Jim Tryer. Ralph Hay is the lone finalist in the contributor category and Mike Holmgren is the only coach.
A maximum of three finalists across the contributors, coaches, and seniors categories can be elected into the next Pro Football Hall of Fame class. In order to be selected, an individual must receive at least 80% approval from the members of the selection committee at their annual meeting next year.
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The Eagles drafted Baughan in the second round, No. 20 overall out of Georgia Tech in 1960. He was a Pro Bowler in all but one of his six seasons with the Eagles. He went on to play a total of 12 seasons in the NFL, including five years spent with the Los Angeles Rams (1966-1970) and, after a short-lived retirement, two games as a player-coach with Washington in 1974.
Baughan earned a total of nine Pro Bowl nods and one first-team All-Pro selection. The native of Forkland, Ala., died last year at 85.
Hours after the Hall of Fame announcement, Baughan’s family announced that after his death, he was diagnosed with stage 3 CTE diagnosis through the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
“Maxie dedicated so much of his life to the game of football,” his wife, Dianne Baughan, said in a statement. “He would be proud to know his contribution to research would teach us how to make the game he loved safer and protect future athletes from suffering.”
The Pro Football Hall of Fame will unveil its 2025 class in February during the week of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.