On Tuesday, the narrowed-down list of semifinalists to be named into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was revealed. This included Tennessee football legend Jason Witten. He is in his first year of eligibility to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Witten joins an illustrious list of names that includes quarterbacks Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Phillips Rivers, running backs Frank Gore and Fred Taylor, wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Torry Holt, Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward and Reggie Wayne, kicker Adam Vinatieri, offensive linemen Willie Anderson, Lomas Brown, Jahri Evans, Richmond Webb, Steve Wisniewski and Marshal Yanda, defensive linemen Robert Mathis, Vince Wilfork and Kevin Williams, linebackers Luke Kuechly and Terrell Suggs and defensive backs Rodney Harrison, Earl Thomas and Darren Woodson.
The vote will later be reduced to just 15 finalists. Then, at the annual meeting shortly before the Super Bowl, the finalists are reduced from 15 to 10, then 10 to 7. Voters then narrow that list down to five, and anyone who receives 80% or more votes to be inducted is elected. This will feature no more than five, but no fewer than three in the class. If there aren’t three players who receive the 80% mark, it goes to the player with the closest mark.
Tennessee is currently represented by three players from the university in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Doug Atkins, Peyton Manning and Reggie White all got the nod.
Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald and Jason Witten are among the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2026 semifinalists in their first year of eligibility 🏈 pic.twitter.com/HjXh0ep1WS
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 25, 2025
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Witten played in the NFL from 2003-2020 with a one-year retirement in 2018 before returning to the field. He spent every season with the Dallas Cowboys except for his final year with the Las Vegas Raiders.
In this time, Witten was a two-time First-Team All-Pro (2007, 2010), two-time Second-Team All-Pro (2008, 2012), 11-time Pro Bowler, Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year and Bart Starr Award Winner. In his NFL career, he totalled 1,228 receptions for 13,046 yards and 74 touchdowns.
Witten played at Tennessee from 2000-2002 before being selected with the 69th overall pick in the 3rd round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Cowboys. Out of Elizabethton, Tennessee, he was named a First-Team All-SEC player in 2002.
In 31 college games, he produced 74 receptions, 922 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. He was initially recruited as a defensive end to the Vols, but transitioned to tight end early in the fall of his freshman year due to a lack of depth at the position.
In 2017, the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year was unveiled, given to a college player who shows strong leadership qualities on and off the field.
