ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis football fans hoped this would finally be the year for Rams legendary wide receiver Torry Holt to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Unfortunately it did not come to pass.
On Thursday, during the NFL Awards, the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class was announced, with the class including tight end Antonio Gates, receiver Sterling Sharpe, longtime Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen, and six-time Pro Bowl cornerback Eric Allen.
Among the names that were snubbed this year included Holt, longtime New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, former Carolina Panthers All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly and longtime Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne.
For Holt, it will mark the seventh consecutive year he fell short of reaching the Hall of Fame and joining his fellow 'Greatest Show on Turf' compatriots Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace, Issac Bruce and Dick Vermeil.
In all seven years, Holt, who was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and retired with the 10th most receiving yards in NFL history, was named a finalist and fell just short of induction.
Matt Pauley and Bernie Miklasz reacted to Holt's continuous snub from the Hall of Fame on Friday's edition of 'The Gashouse Gang'.
"The optics of (Sterling Sharpe) going in when Torry Holt is available and not going in is terrible," said Pauley.
Pauley and Miklasz both note that Sharpe got in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the senior category, making Sharpe's induction not quite 'apples to apples'.
"They weren't technically competing against each other for votes," said Miklasz. "They're on separate ballots."
However, Miklasz, who covered Holt during his days as a then-St. Louis Rams, thought this year was the year Holt was going to make it.
"I have a lot of contacts on the committee, I never thought until this year he had a great chance to make it," said Miklasz. "It was going to be a matter of time and this was the time."
Miklasz blames Holt's snub on the recent rules changes when it comes to the voting process of the Hall of Fame.
"Bottomline is Torry Holt didn't make it because they changed the rules because they want to cut down on the number of Hall of Famers that they admit from the Modern Era ballot," said Miklasz.
"In the past, Holt lost out to some really great Modern Era candidates. This time, Holt lost out to no one. He lost out because of the change to the process."
Miklasz fears that Holt could now become a forgotten Hall of Fame candidate, especially when next-years first time eligible include Arizona Cardinals legendary receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
"Torry Holt does not have a constituency, LA Rams fans do not care," said Miklasz. "My experience unfortunately is if I try to talk, write, do videos about 'The Greatest Show on Turf' Rams, I get like criticism."
"Too many people in our market associate that team for some psychotic, bizarre reason with what the NFL did in terms of moving Rams, the Kansas City Chiefs and all that. So I don't even think Holt got a as strong constituency in St. Louis as he should. So who's going to lead the fight for him?"