Chiefs star with very controversial legacy could make Hall of Fame in 2025

The NFL could be adding one more Kansas City Chiefs great from their AFL days to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. However, the player in question has been denied entry before due to one of the most shockingly cruel acts ever perpetrated by an NFL player.

The NFL announced five finalists for the 2025 NFL Hall of Fame class, including three senior player nominees. This class includes ex-Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe, old Eagles and Rams star linebacker Maxie Baughan, and former Chiefs stud left tackle Jim Tyrer.

If Tyrer ends up receiving 80 percent of the vote, he will be elected to the Hall of Fame. While his play certainly merits it, Tyrer has long been kept out of the Hall of Fame due to an abhorrent murder-suicide that has justifiably ruined his legacy on the field.

On September 15, 1980, following a series of poor business investments that left him financially ruined, Tyrer shot and killed his wife Martha before turning the gun on himself. He was only 41 years old. Voters will once again need to consider if someone who did an act as heinous as that should be honored.

Former Chiefs LT Jim Tyrer named finalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Based solely on his performance on the field, Tyrer should be in Canton. A three-time AFL champion and Super Bowl IV winner, Tyrer was named a Pro Bowler/AFL All-Star nine times and All-Pro eight times (six First Team nods) during his 14-year career.

Tyrer, who played in 180 straight games, was Len Dawson's blindside protector and is often compared with Willie Roaf in debates over the best tackle in Chiefs franchise history.

Former Raider Ben Davidson called Tyrer "easily the best blocker" he ever played against, while Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea named him the "preeminent left tackle in all of football." Those testimonials have not proven to be strong enough to overshadow his personal life.

The Hall of Fame has stated in the past that only on-field play should be considered when electing players. Furthermore, their refusal to remove OJ Simpson from the Hall despite his transgressions and defense of that decision shows that they are committed to honoring the best players, taking that term as literally as possible.

However, the Hall can't tell voters to forget something as unforgivable as what Tyrer did. If they were voting on play alone, Tyrer would have been in already. Even as the game starts to wrestle with the impacts of repeated head trauma and CTE, which could have impacted Tyrer's life after slamming his giant head into vicious defenders for 14 seasons, some things are beyond the pale.

Irrespective of his play on the field warranting him getting in, can a voter be faulted for having hesitation over putting a proven murderer in the Hall of Fame? Would it be a good look for the league to elect someone who possibly saw their mental capacity diminished by repeated head trauma and give them a hero's welcome?

The Hall of Fame has a very complicated decision to make in the coming days, and it may force some difficult conversations to take plays inside of Chiefs Kingdom and across the football landscape.