Malcolm Jenkins, former safety for the Philadelphia Eagles, will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025. The announcement was made by Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie after a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns, where Jenkins had been invited to participate as a photographer.
Jenkins will be honored alongside Bucko Kilroy during a ceremony scheduled for November 28, when the Eagles play against the Chicago Bears. Lurie said in a statement, “Malcolm and Bucko are most deserving of our team’s highest honor, having played integral roles on the 1948, 1949, and 2017 championship-winning teams. Along with seven of his teammates, Bucko is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade Team of the 1940s – an era in which he helped lead the franchise to back-to-back NFL Championships in 1948 and 1949.
“A captain on our first Super Bowl-winning team in 2017, Malcolm was a tenacious player who was beloved by his teammates and coaches for the thoughtful leadership and veteran presence he provided. We proudly congratulate both men, along with their families, and look forward to officially inducting them into the Eagles Hall of Fame in November.”
Jenkins expressed surprise at receiving the news: “I thought we were just catching up. No idea. It caught me off guard, where I was lost for words for a second, which is not usually a thing for me. It’s a huge honor,” Jenkins said.
“It’s confirmation that what I did meant something and had impact beyond what I did on the field. It was about the people that I interacted with and how those people then changed. It’s a great testament not only to me, but to everybody that I had a chance to interact with.”
Jenkins joined Philadelphia as a free agent in 2014 after playing five seasons with New Orleans. He earned three Pro Bowl selections while with the Eagles—second only to Brian Dawkins among safeties in team history—and started all 96 regular-season games over six years. He rarely missed time on defense or special teams drills.
Known for his versatility on defense, Jenkins recorded over 100 tackles each season during his tenure in Philadelphia. His career stats with the team include 5.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, 11 interceptions (four returned for touchdowns), and 77 pass deflections.
As captain during Super Bowl LII—the franchise’s first championship win—Jenkins contributed both on and off the field through community work focused on underserved youth via his foundation. He was recognized as the Eagles’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2019 and received the Byron “Whizzer” White Award from NFLPA in 2017.
Reflecting on his career beyond football achievements alone, Jenkins said: “Sometimes we’re afraid to do things other than play football. You don’t know if there’s a reward in it. We know very much that if I play well on the field, I will be rewarded. But when it comes to who you are as a teammate, who you are in the community, and potentially just who you are beyond this game, I think I never saw it as something that got in the way of football. I always saw it as something that would enhance it.”
“Being out in the community, fighting for social justice, made me a better leader in here. Dealing with all of those things that I was involved with really made my game better and it forced me to be a more dynamic human being, which made me a more dynamic player. I was always proud of my legacy being bigger than the field and that in remembering me, you can’t separate the two. It’s hard to talk about me and only talk about the field, or only talk about the work off the field.”
Jenkins’ performance style matched well with Philadelphia’s culture during his six seasons there; he leaves behind both statistical accomplishments and community contributions now recognized by this latest honor.
