2025 NFL Hall of Famers: Where Were They Drafted?

He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 30th overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft (a second-rounder back in those days), and he wasted little time making a massive impact, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 1989.

Allen would finish his 14-year NFL career with six Pro Bowl nods, playing all 16 games in all but two of those seasons. He spent seven years in Philly, three with the New Orleans, and his final four with the Oakland Raiders, finishing with 54 career interceptions and nine defensive touchdowns.

DE Jared Allen

A dominant pass rusher at Idaho State, Allen put up huge numbers for the Bengals while earning first-team All-American honors twice at the Division I-AA level. That earned him enough interest from the NFL to see him drafted in the fourth round in 2004, where he was picked by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Allen would spend 10 of his 12 NFL seasons between the Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings, wrapping up his incredible career with short stints for the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers. He racked up 136 career sacks, earning first-team All-Pro honors four times and leading the league in sacks twice.

Allen is the second-highest drafted player in Idaho State history (offensive lineman Rick Scribner was a third-rounder to the Green Bay Packers in 1977), and he's still the most recent Bengal to be selected at all.

TE Antonio Gates

Not only was Gates not drafted, he didn't even play college football. He starred on both the gridiron and the hardwood in high school, but after initially enrolling at Michigan State to continue playing both sports, Gates transferred elsewhere after it became clear that then-Spartans head coach Nick Saban wanted him to focus solely on football.

After multiple stops at other programs, Gates would finish up his college basketball career at Kent State, but as a 6-foot-4 power forward, his upside as an NBA prospect was limited. He dusted off the football cleats and worked out for the San Diego Chargers, signing as an undrafted free agent.

Eight Pro Bowls and 116 touchdown receptions later, Gates is one of the best tight ends in NFL history.

WR Sterling Sharpe

The lone first-round selection in this year's Hall of Fame class, Sharpe was a top-10 pick by the Green Bay Packers in 1988. He was the most prolific wide receiver in South Carolina history, setting numerous school records and achieving first-team All-America status for the Gamecocks in 1987.

Sharpe spent all seven of his NFL seasons in Green Bay, earning first-team All-Pro honors three times and going to the Pro Bowl five times. He led the NFL in receptions three times (1989, 1992, 1993), touchdown receptions twice ('92, '94), and receiving yards once ('92).

A neck injury cut Sharpe's fantastic career short, but the spectacular numbers he put up over that seven-year stretch were still worthy of Canton. Already a member of the Packers' Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, Sharpe makes it a hat trick with his gold jacket.