The Pro Football Hall of Fame has revealed its list of 25 semifinalists for the 2025 class, with seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle Richmond Webb among the contenders. “Richmond Webb deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame,” remarked Dan Marino during his 2023 appearance on The Fish Tank podcast.
Marino, the legendary quarterback, is well-versed in Webb’s contributions, having boasted the league’s lowest sack percentage 10 times over his 17-year tenure with Webb safeguarding his blindside throughout the 1990s (164 games). Drafted in the first round in 1990 from Texas A&M, Webb made an immediate impact, yielding only two sacks in his first season and starting all but one of his 164 games with the Dolphins.
He was honored with Pro Bowl selections in each of his initial seven seasons and earned first-team All-Pro recognition twice (1992, 1994) and second-team All-Pro twice (1993, 1995) while with the Dolphins. Webb wrapped up his career with two seasons at the Cincinnati Bengals before signing a one-day contract to retire with the Dolphins, the team that drafted him. On Christmas night in 2006, Webb was inducted into the Dolphins Ring of Honor, becoming its 17th member. Now aiming for Canton, Webb’s credentials speak volumes.
His streak of seven consecutive Pro Bowls is a franchise record, and his 118 consecutive starts rank second in Dolphins history, just behind Jason Taylor (130), who was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Webb was also named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. His face-offs with Bruce Smith, arguably the NFL’s greatest pass rusher and a Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame defensive end, were highly anticipated events, occurring twice annually.
Webb’s primary mission was to shield Marino from Smith. In 18 encounters with Webb, Smith managed to sack Marino only 11 times. Smith concluded his career with 200 sacks over 279 games, and his rate of 0.61 sacks per game against Miami was the lowest he achieved against any team he faced twice a year (AFC East foes the New York Jets, New England, and Indianapolis). “Webb possesses the ideal build for an offensive tackle,” Smith stated in 1999. “He’s in a top-tier class of offensive linemen.” The upcoming step in the modern-era players category is to narrow down the list to 15 finalists in December.
Ultimately, 20 finalists (15 modern-era players, three seniors, one coach, and one contributor) will be presented at the Selection Committee’s annual meeting next year before Super Bowl LIX, where the committee will choose four to eight members for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
