The Class of Football

by Adam Schefter

  I thank God for the help of my father, Walter Irvin, whom I lost at the age of seventeen. He was my hero and he loved, I’m telling you, he loved the Dallas Cowboys. I woke up this morning smiling, knowing that my father would not be here in the flesh but that he is in heaven watching and celebrating with his all-time favorite coach, Coach Tom Landry.

  Before my father made his journey to heaven, I sat with him. His final words to me were, “Promise me you will take care of your mother. She’s a good woman.”

  As you’ve heard, my mother raised seventeen children, most of who are here tonight. There were challenges. But she would never complain. She always walked around the house and said, “God has promised me that my latter days will be better than my former days.”

  My mom and my aunt Fannie, her oldest sister, they are part of my travel squad now. As we travel, all they want is a nice room and an open tab on room service. When my workday is done I get to come by their room and we tell stories and we laugh and we have fun. We always end the night with them telling me, “Baby, this is what God meant when he said, ‘Our latter days will be better than our former days.’”

  I can’t tell you how it makes me feel to know that God uses me to deliver His promise. I love you, Mom.

  You know the Bible speaks of a healing place. It’s called a threshing floor. The threshing floor is where you take your greatest fear and you pray for help from your great God. I want to share something with you today. I have two sons. Michael, he’s ten, and Elijah, he’s eight. Michael and Elijah—could you guys stand up for me? That’s my heart right there. That’s my heart. When I am on that threshing floor, I pray. I say, “God, I have my struggles and I made some bad decisions, but whatever you do, whatever you do, don’t let me mess this up.”

  I say, “Please, help me raise them for some young lady so that they can be a better husband than I. Help me raise them for their kids so that they could be a better father than I.” And I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than Dad. I sat right here where you are last year and I watched the Class of 2006: Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, Rayfield Wright, John Madden, and the late great Reggie White represented by his wife, Sara White. And I said, “Wow, that’s what a Hall of Famer is.”

  Certainly I am not that. I doubted I would ever have the chance to stand before you today. So when I returned home, I spoke with Michael and Elijah. I said, “That’s how you do it, son. You do it like they did it.” Michael asked, he said, “Dad, do you ever think we will be there?” And I didn’t know how to answer that. And it returned me to that threshing floor. This time I was voiceless, but my heart cried out. “God, why must I go through so many peaks and valleys?”

  I wanted to stand in front of my boys and say, “Do it like your dad, like any proud dad would want to. Why must I go through so much?” At that moment a voice came over me and said, “Look up, get up, and don’t ever give up.”

  You tell everyone or anyone that has ever doubted, thought they did not measure up or wanted to quit, you tell them to look up, get up, and don’t ever give up.

  Roger Staubach

  Dallas Cowboys Quarterback

  Class of 1985

  Staubach led the Cowboys to four NFC titles and victories in Super Bowls VI and XII. When he retired, his 83.4 quarterback rating was the league’s all-time best.

  Presented by Cowboys Coach Tom Landry

  In any profession, there are two ways to make a winner—how he performs his job and, more important, how he performs as a human being. Roger Staubach is an All-Pro in both categories.

  Roger Staubach

  One of the sportswriters at the press conference today mentioned the fact that Joe [Namath] was about ready to have a little one, and O. J. [Simpson] was going to have a little one, and I had a grandchild, and he said, “You are really a competitor, Roger, what are you and your wife going to do about that?” I said, “I’m not a competitor with you guys anymore. I’m in the Hall of Fame with you guys now. That’s as far as my wife and I are going.”

  It was a pretty neat deal when I got married. I married a nurse. I didn’t know I was going to be a professional football player at the time, but it sure came in handy. She was a good one. She was a good nurse, but more than that, she was a loving wife, and it’s tough.

  It’s tough to leave a home and go out and play professional football when things aren’t right at home. Boy, it’s extra tough. Well, I never had that problem. I had someone who loved me and I loved her very much. She is up here, too, with my teammates and with my coaches.

  Fran Tarkenton

  New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings

  Quarterback Class of 1986

  At retirement, Tarkenton held the NFL records for attempts (6,467), completions (3,686), yards (47,003), and touchdowns (342). In his first NFL game, Tarkenton threw for four touchdowns.

  Presented by Vikings President Max Winter

  The great thing he did was, he was an innovator. A new concept was born as he became the quarterback. He was a fellow that showed the quarterbacks who stayed in the pocket behind the center, and either passed to a running back or threw a pass from the pocket, how to scramble, how to score, how to win. He was the greatest scrambler and emulators galore now come from all teams that want to emulate Tarkenton’s ability and record.

  Fran Tarkenton

  Mr. Winter mentioned something about scrambling. I did a little bit of that during my day. I really didn’t want to do that, but if you look up here at some of the past enshrines, you see Doug Atkins, Deacon Jones, and Ray Nitschke, and they were trying to kill me, ladies and gentlemen. That pocket got crowded and I wanted to get out and I did, and I turned into a very elusive fast man because of that.

  When I look back over eighteen years of professional football, four years of college football, four years of high school football, which I believe comes to twenty-six years and a lot of losses, a lot of wins, a lot of disappointments, a lot of high points, and you think you will never get over the losses and the wins that take you to the highest point. And you think, “Boy am I pretty good,” and finally you overcome all that, too. And you see what came out of twenty-six years of playing.

  What comes out are the most important things—not the wins, not the losses, not the awards, not the publicity, and not the money, Lord knows wherever that went. What lives are the experiences of the people you played with, the Jim Marshalls, the Mick Tingelhoffs, the Carl Ellers, the Bob Tuckers, the Spider Lockharts. Those are the things that live in your heart and stir your soul and move you on. Those are the things that live in your heart and those are the important things.

  My little mother of seventy-three years young, who is stronger than all of us on this stage, who what little competitive fire I’ve got, I got it all from her because she is a fighter. Every year I didn’t get into the Hall, she would always say, “I hope I can live to see the day when you do.” Mom, you did.

  To one who is not here—and I’m going to try to get through this gang without crying, but I’m not sure I can, so please bear with me. A little five-foot-six man who happened to be a preacher man, who wasn’t a man of great stature, he wasn’t on television, and he didn’t make a lot of money, he didn’t own any businesses. But that man was a great man and a great father, because when I fell down and disappointed him, instead of kicking me around and telling me I was a no-good so-and-so who wasn’t like they used to be, he pulled me up through my deepest sorrows and disappointments and hugged me and told me he loved me and let me understand what love is all about.

  That little five-foot-six man, who didn’t know whether the football was blown or stuffed, loved to watch his son play football, and he died watching me play football when we played in the famous “Hail Mary” game against the Dallas Cowboys in a playoff game. He had just finished his sermon in Savannah, Georgia. That little man is not with us here today in person, but I know he is looking on, and I know he is proud.

  Jack Lambert
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  Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker

  Class of 1990

  Lambert was considered the leader of Pittsburgh’s vaunted “Steel Curtain” defense. He was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1976 and was voted to nine Pro Bowls.

  It goes without saying that one does not come to stand on these steps without the guidance, the direction, and the support of others.

  In the short time I’m allotted today, I would like to start with my mother, Joyce. When I was growing up, she was undoubtedly my biggest fan and supporter. I can’t ever remember playing in an athletic event that my mother did not attend.

  I can still see my mom late at night after a football game, scrubbing and soaking the grass stains out of my pretty white football pants. Mom thought it was very important that her son have the whitest pants on the field.

  My father, Jack, I get my athletic ability and temperament from my father’s side of the family. Most of the time we spent together was throwing the baseball back and forth or playing tackle football.

  Back before the days of NFL Properties, my dad had enjoyed buying football helmets and painting them the colors of NFL teams. The helmet he chose to paint for his son at that time was the Pittsburgh Steelers.

  Bud Grant

  Minnesota Vikings Coach

  Class of 1994

  Grant led the Vikings to eleven division championships, four Super Bowls, and a 168–108-5 coaching record.

  My dad always referred to me as “The Kid.” My father was very important in my life, and was interested in sports, and got me interested in sports.

  I remember the night Joe Louis knocked off Max Schmeling, my dad and I jumped up and down as we listened to the radio; it was great. But something really changed in Superior [Wisconsin] in 1939. The New York Giants came to Superior to train.

  They trained in 1939, 1940, and 1941. As a kid, I hung around the Giants, and my dad had a concession stand at the ballpark, got to know Steve Owen. My dad kept saying, “Hey, my kid is going to play for you someday.”

  Every year Steve Owen would come back and measure me a little bit bigger. My dad would say, “The kid is going to make it; he is going to play for the Giants.” Steve would say, “Keep working on him, keep feeding him, and I am sure he will.”

  Well, the war came, and a couple of years we prepared to go to war, but the Giants came back in 1948. Now the kid was a little bigger, and Steve was looking at me a little more convinced that someday I would play in the National Football League. And my dad said, “The kid is going to make it.”

  My dad used to tell me stories about the NFL because two players born in Superior that played in the NFL are presently in the Hall of Fame. Tuffy Leemans came from Superior and played with the New York Giants, and Ernie Nevers, one of the original Hall of Famers, came from Superior.

  So there was a background even in a town of thirty thousand way up in Northern Wisconsin, way up in Lake Superior. The radio didn’t carry the games, and we would get the Chicago paper once in a while. My dad would tell me the stories of [Hall of Famers] Red Grange, Johnny “Blood” McNally.

  I asked him where did Johnny “Blood” get a name like that. He said he was a tough guy; he broke his nose every game, and the blood would stream down his face. John “Blood” McNally is here today. [Hall of Famer] George Trafton, great center—always these guys were the toughest guys in football.

  George had a finger missing. I asked, “How did he lose that finger?” My dad said they bit it off in the bottom of a pile. I didn’t believe that so I asked George that one day, how he lost his finger. He said he stuck it in a .45 in Chicago and they blew it off, so I didn’t know what to believe.

  Bronko Nagurski from Minnesota—my dad would tell me stories about Bronk. Of course living close to Green Bay, Curly Lambeau was a legend. Don Hutson was the greatest receiver of all time, my dad would tell me. If you ever want to be a receiver, do what Don Hutson did.

  Of course we didn’t have any film so we didn’t know what Don Hutson did; we just read about it. Sammy Baugh, many stories about him. Raised on all that. Those were my dad’s heroes.

  And I am here with my dad’s heroes. So I go back a long way, back to the 1930s, following NFL players. And I am here with Tuffy and Red, Johnny Blood, Bronko, Curly, Crazy Legs, Night Train, Bulldog. You can’t imagine what an honor it is and if my mother were here today—she is ninety-three years old, she couldn’t make it—I would look at her face and see the pride she would have that only a mother could have.

  And if my father were here—he was different than I was, a very gregarious guy—he would stand up and he would say, “The kid made it, he finally made it!”

  And one other thing my father told me a long time ago: if you are ever asked to speak at such an auspicious occasion, with so many great speakers, make sure you stand up good and tall so they can see you; and talk good and loud so they all can hear you; make a short speech so they all will listen to you; and then sit down so they all will like you.

  Randy White

  Dallas Cowboys Defensive Tackle

  Class of 1994

  White missed only one game in fourteen seasons. He was co-MVP of Super Bowl XII and a nine-time Pro Bowl selection.

  Presented by Steelers Defensive Tackle and Cowboys Assistant Coach Ernie Stautner

  Through all my career, all I heard was I was too small. All you had to do was draw a line in front of me and tell me I couldn’t cross it. Years later when I was coaching the Dallas Cowboys, onto the field walks this kid. Draw a line in front of Randy White and you were in real trouble. Nobody could stop him from crossing.

  Randy was a blue-collar worker on a country-club team. He didn’t read the Wall Street Journal. All he wanted to do was play football and to be the best at what he was doing. Even his own teammates didn’t want to practice in front of Randy because he didn’t know what practice speed was. Everyone on the field was his enemy.

  [Cowboys defensive back] Charlie Waters nicknamed Randy “The Manster” because, as Charlie put it, anybody that can play the way Randy does has got to be half man, half monster.

  Randy also had a great sense of humor. One day after a very tough and grueling road trip, I came into the locker room and there was Randy looking terrible. I asked him what was wrong and he said, “God, I really feel bad. That was a tough road trip. I’m constipated.”

  So I told Randy to go see the trainer. The next day I came in and Randy was there and he looked even worse. I asked him if he’d seen the trainer and he said, “Yeah, I saw him and he gave me a suppository, but I don’t think it really helped me at all. Besides, I had the darndest time swallowing it.”

  Randy White

  The guy that just introduced me, Ernie Stautner, is in the Hall of Fame. I tell you, he’s the guy that showed me how to get into the Hall of Fame.

  Ernie used to tell me, “Randy, as a player, when you’re out there on the field and you feel something and you know there is a play that’s going to happen, you go ahead and go for it.” But he also told me, “Randy, you better be right a lot more times than you’re wrong or we’ll both be in trouble with Coach Landry.”

  Ernie really taught me how to do it, he really did. And I appreciate the fact that a lot of times he gave me a lot of freedom out there on the field to use the knowledge and what I had and my ability on the field. But besides everything that Ernie did for me on the field, I also wanted to tell you that Ernie Stautner is one of the best friends that I’ve had my whole life.

  And I’m pretty proud of my daughter, Jordan. When I retired from football, Jordan was ten years old. And the media guys came in there and they were doing an interview. Well, they asked Jordan a question. They said, “Jordan, what do you feel about your dad retiring from football?”

  And Jordan said, “Well, I never really watched the games anyway. I just sat there and drank Cokes and ate popcorn. But you know, that’s my dad. And I love him whether he plays football or doesn’t play football.”

  And I’ll
tell you what. To me, that’s what it is all about right there.

  Lee Roy Selmon

  Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defensive End

  Class of 1995

  A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Selmon posted 78.5 sacks, 380 quarterback pressures, and forced twenty-eight fumbles.

  Presented by His Brother, Buccaneers Teammate Dewey Selmon

  For me, it goes back to 11–19-53, the day I was born. As I was born, my parents probably said to themselves, “Dewey will be lonely, he needs a playmate.” Eleven months later I had one. They are a devoted, loving, Christian family that takes care of their sons.

  I grew up with Lee Roy. For thirty-one years, he was my celibate wife. We would do everything together. In fact, on the night of his senior prom, it was I who took him there. At that point, his good looks had not developed and I was his best date. But as time went on, good looks would come and he would rule at Oklahoma University.

  Lee Roy Selmon

  People have said that I know your parents must be proud of you, but I want you to understand that I am more proud of them. Everything that I have been taught in football and in life came from them—those words about commitment and determination and hard work, never quitting, sharing, and caring. Those types of characteristics were born in a household of Lucious and Jessie Selmon. Those characteristics were not only taught to me but to all nine of their children.

  And they had nine good reasons to leave, but they didn’t. They were committed and they hung in there with us. This is a lesson that we can all take with us. It’s a lesson that we have all taken with us from that household.

  I was very fortunate as Dewey mentioned. I’m the youngest of all nine, and I often wondered with Dewey being the eighth child and only being eleven months younger than him if I was a planned child. I never asked Mom and Dad, but I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad they did what they did that got me here.