Legendary Eagles linebacker named Hall of Fame seniors finalist originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Maxie Baughan, who made the Pro Bowl in five of his six seasons with the Eagles, is among five finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the combined contributor, coach and senior committee category, the Hall announced Tuesday.
Baughan was the Eagles’ 2nd-round pick out of Georgia Tech in 1960 and was a huge part of the NFL Championship defense as a rookie linebacker. He spent his first six years with the Eagles, playing alongside Chuck Bednarik and future Eagles head coach Marion Campbell and making the Pro Bowl in all six years here other than 1962. He had seven interceptions as an Eagle and 18 in 11 years with the Eagles and Rams.
In all, Baughan made nine Pro Bowls. He was a 1st-team all-pro in 1964 and a 2nd-team all-pro six times. The only linebacker in Eagles history named to more Pro Bowl teams than Baughan is Bednarik, who made seven.
With the Eagles struggling in the mid-1960s, Baughan requested a trade, and the Eagles shipped Baughan to the Rams after the 1965 season for defensive tackle Frank Molden and linebacker Fred Brown.
Molden and Brown combined to start 12 games in their entire Eagles careers. Baughan played under Hall of Famer George Allen with the Rams and was also reunited with former Eagles teammate Tommy McDonald – also a Hall of Famer – in Los Angeles. He went on to make four more Pro Bowls in his first four years with the Rams.
Only six linebackers in NFL History – including Lawrence Taylor, Ray Lewis and Mike Singletary – have made more Pro Bowls than Baughan.
After his playing career, Baughan turned to coaching and after a couple years at his alma mater, Georgia Tech, he got his start in the NFL on Ted Marchibroda’s Baltimore Colts staff in 1975. Marchibroda would go on to become Campbell’s offensive coordinator in 1984.
Baughan then spent three years coaching under Monte Clark with the Lions before spending a few years at Cornell. He returned to the NFL with the Vikings under Jerry Burns in 1990 and 1991, the Bucs under Sam Wyche from 1992 through 1995 and the expansion Ravens from 1996 through 1998 back in Baltimore again under Marchibroda.
Baughan, who was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2015, died last year in Ithaca, N.Y. He was 85.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame changed its by-laws last year, combining three categories into one. The five non-modern-era candidates come from those three categories – AFL founder Ralph Hay in the contributor category, Mike Holmgren in the coaching category and Baughan, Sterling Sharpe and Jim Tyrer in the seniors category.
The selection committee will meet early next year and each member will be able to vote for up to three of those five finalists. Only those receiving at least 80 percent of the vote will be inducted into the Hall of Fame with a maximum of three going in. If none of the candidates receives 80 percent, then the one getting the most votes goes in.
The 2025 Hall of Fame Class will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, next August.
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