The Class of Football

by Adam Schefter

  In 1986, he beat me for a sack. Although I hated giving up sacks, I didn’t mind because it was to him, although I swore not to let it happen again, and it didn’t.

  I want to go on the record as saying that my brother Clay Matthews was without a doubt the best all around linebacker I’ve ever played with or against. There were some who may have been better at one discipline of linebacking, but none better all around. He played outside, inside, played the run well, covered backs, wide receivers, tight ends, rushed the passer, and excelled at all of them.

  In an era of specialization, he was on the field every play and holds the record for most games played by a linebacker. The only negative surrounding my induction into the Hall of Fame is that my brother isn’t already in here.

  All I can say is I look forward to the day when he’s standing up here getting inducted because he’s very deserving. He taught me about hard work, discipline, dedication, and the mind-set necessary to excel. He was not only a role model, a big brother, but a best friend, and I thank God for him. I love you, my brother.

  Charlie Sanders

  Detroit Lions Tight End

  Class of 2007

  Sanders finished with 336 career receptions for 4,817 yards and thirty-one touchdowns. He was selected to seven Pro Bowls and named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s.

  Coach McKee was my first junior high school coach. He inspired me the most. It wasn’t so much what he did but what he said.

  I was preparing to attend Dudley High School, our senior high school, and Coach McKee calmly walked up to me and asked me, “Are you going to try out for the football team?” Without hesitation, I responded, “Yes.” He looked at me with a gleam in his eye, smile on his face, and he said, “I don’t think you’re tough enough.”

  As I look back, I don’t think he doubted me; I think he wanted to see if I doubted myself. I have since learned that growth is a mental obstacle you overcome and not just a physical accomplishment you attain.

  I am not that self-proclaimed Hall of Famer who desired to be in sports. I am a guy that liked a challenge and challenged myself with the understanding that winning is finishing. To my fellow brothers in the NFL, pre-, during, and some post players, that I have put the nails in the house that I had the opportunity to play in, I thank you for your sacrifice.

  I wrote a poem in 1976 that I think is fitting for my brothers. I realized that I was mentally preparing for a season that my body did not want to cooperate with. The poem is called “The NFL: Just Passing Through.”

  Here today, gone tomorrow.

  If you don’t accept it, it’s a life of sorrow.

  Trying to use our God-given talent,

  Being brave like a knight, bold and gallant.

  Those who can make it feel lucky indeed.

  It’s God’s own way of letting you succeed.

  Our efforts we extend in hopes to win.

  Some play their hearts, others just pretend.

  So give your all and nothing less.

  Today we win, tomorrow we rest.

  You’re not just my teammate, but my very best friend.

  Let’s play together until the end.

  Today we hang together, just you and me.

  For tomorrow is a day we may never see.

  My life was written by the one I hold the highest. Like most, I question the bad and I take in the good. There have been times that I have looked back at my life and asked, What if? What if I could change one, two, maybe three things without disturbing the whole picture? What would that be?

  You haven’t heard me mention anything about the one person who was very important in my life: my mom. My daughter, Charese, came up to me in Cleveland as we prepared to go to a fight by my daughter, Mary Jo [a professional boxer]. She said, “Dad, thanks for being my dad, because if you were not, we wouldn’t be able to go to places we go and do the things we do.”

  Without hesitation I looked at her and I said, “Don’t thank me, thank your grandmother.” She said, “But, Dad, I don’t know my grandmother, I never have.” My response: “That’s just my point.”

  You see, my brothers and I lost my mother when I was only two. Of all the things I’ve done in football, and there have been a lot, there’s one thing that I really, really regretted. Many times I’ve seen athletes, college, professional, often look into a television camera and say, “Hi, Mom.” I always thought that was special and always something I’d want to do but couldn’t.

  So I take this time right here, right now in Canton, Ohio, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame to say, “Hi, Mom. Thank you for the ultimate sacrifice. This day belongs to you, for it was written.” I want to thank everyone for helping me enjoy the best day of my life and may God bless you.

  Emmitt Thomas

  Kansas City Chiefs Cornerback

  Class of 2008

  Kansas City’s all-time interception leader with fifty-eight, Thomas had a single-season career best twelve in 1974. He went on to become a successful assistant coach.

  My personal road to Canton is very simple. I love playing football. I never wanted to cheat the fans, my organization, my teammates, or my coaches by not giving my best at all times. It wasn’t a complex program; it boiled down to desire, preparation, and effort—how I played the game, and that’s now how I teach it. Respect for the opponent, respect for my coaches and teammates, and respect for what it took not to just be average but to be the best football player I could be. I owed it to the fans. I owed it to Mr. Lamar Hunt, and, finally, I owed it to myself.

  Every member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a special story how his career began. Some began in a dramatic fashion. Others spawned from a very humble beginning—much like the story I’m about to tell you. I lost my mother when I was eight years old. I could tell you that the situation shaped and molded and had a significant influence on a young man who was desperately trying to find his way.

  I learned early on that the good Lord always has a plan. His plan for my sisters, my brother, and for me during those trying days was my grandparents, who became the Teflon protecting guardian angels to all of us. My late grandfather, Lewis Fyles Sr., is still my hero. I remember those long hot summer nights sitting on the porch listening to baseball games and prizefights and other sporting events. It was during these times that he taught me life’s greatest lesson. He taught me about honor, commitment, love, religion, hard work, and respect.

  Growing up, I was resentful and angry at other families around us because they seemed fully intact. I’d often lay awake at night wondering why our family had to be different. But I came to the stark realization that the good Lord wanted us to be reared and raised under the guiding hands of my grandfather, who in his own right was a giant of a man.

  He’s the big reason I’m standing here today at this summit of pro football’s biggest shrine, and as a tribute to him, I asked the Pro Football Hall of Fame to let me enter the hallowed halls of Canton as Emmitt Earl Fyles Thomas.

  They were kind enough to accommodate my request. Thank you, Pro Football Hall of Fame. As every member of the Hall of Fame can attest, no one gets here without a lot of help and support. I’ve learned some valuable lessons in my life. And one of them is in every relationship that you have, there are opportunities to learn, get better, and grow.

  To all the mothers and fathers out there who are raising children, I offer you this: You’re looking at a man that has a lot of blemishes, abrasions, and scars dealt to him by life’s highs and lows, but you’re also looking at a man who stood tall in the arena, never quit even though it looked like the game was over on many, many occasions.

  And the last forty-three years of my life involved with the NFL have taught me through faith, hard work, determination, and a willingness to help someone else somewhere lead a better life, we all have a chance to rise from the most modest circumstances and become a Hall of Famer—just like this old undrafted free agent country boy from Angleton, Texas.

  As I go to my seat, I’
d like to leave you with these final thoughts. Our talent is God’s gift to us. How we use that talent is our gift to Him. My sincere hope and prayer that God finds my gift back to Him a worthy one. May God bless you and keep you. Continue the good fight of faith.

  CHAPTER 3

  HISTORY

  SOMEHOW, A SELECT GROUP OF MEN BUILT TEAMS, A league, and the public’s trust, all at once. Through time and work, they invented the new national pastime.

  George Halas, Paul Brown, Curly Lambeau, many others—these are now considered football’s founding fathers, as important to the sport’s history as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are to American history.

  They saw what others didn’t. They envisioned what others couldn’t. They took a game played in Ohio, and grew it into an across-the-country sensation. Yet were they alive today, even they likely would be dumbfounded at their creation.

  They created a sport. They created history.

  George Halas

  Chicago Bears Owner

  Class of 1963

  A charter enshrinee, Halas led the Staleys and Bears to 324 wins. He was the only person associated with the NFL throughout the league’s first fifty years. He coached the Bears for forty seasons, winning six NFL titles.

  A few weeks ago, a few of our grandchildren visited the Bears’ training camp and I was talking to them about this trip to Canton to participate in the dedication of pro football’s Hall of Fame. Somehow the conversation got around to an earlier trip that I made to Canton some forty-three years ago when we met in Ralph Hay’s showroom, his automobile showroom, and founded the National Football League.

  I told them some of the informal aspects of that meeting and among them being that there was a lack of chairs, and also that we had to sit on the running board of the car. That prompted my nine-year-old grandson to say, “What is a running board, Grandpa?” My fourteen-year-old grandson said running boards are those things that you see on those funny old cars in that television series known as The Untouchables.

  That little incident demonstrated to me how things can change or disappear until a chance remark or a question, a child’s question, stirs your memory.

  Earl “Curly” Lambeau

  Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cardinals,

  and Washington Redskins Coach

  Class of 1963

  A charter enshrinee, Lambeau posted a 229–134-22 coaching record that included six NFL championships. He founded the pre-NFL Packers in 1919.

  I am deeply grateful and very happy to be honored here today. Forty-one years ago I came to Canton to get a franchise for Green Bay, Wisconsin. The franchise was issued by Joe Carr at that time and it cost $50, and the last time I looked, the Packers are still in the league. Thank you.

  Mel Hein

  New York Giants Center

  Class of 1963

  A charter enshrinee, Hein was a sixty-minute regular for fifteen years and an All-NFL selection in eight consecutive years.

  Most of us got in last night, and most of us got together for a little while to compare notes and talk over old times. I’ve knocked heads against most of these fellows, and you should have heard some of the stories that were told last night, and if any of you people doubt that we’re not great, you should have been there.

  That’s the way it is with football, whether you’re in high school, college, or the professional ranks. The longer you’re away from the sport, the greater you become. And it thrills me to death to think how great I’ll be when I’m one hundred years old.

  Sammy Baugh

  Washington Redskins Quarterback

  Class of 1963

  A charter enshrinee, Baugh was a six-time NFL passing leader, and the NFL passing, punting, and interception champion in 1943.

  I feel as the other men on the program who have been up here do. I’m very honored to be inducted into Pro Football’s Hall of Fame. But to me, the people who should be honored are the owners who stayed with it back in those days when they weren’t making money.

  They were losing money with pro teams. They still loved the game and thought enough of it to stay there and lose their money until the game became what it is today. A player didn’t have much to lose. When you start putting your own money up and not having anything in return, friend, you’ve got a little courage then.

  Bronko Nagurski

  Chicago Bears Fullback Linebacker/Tackle

  Class of 1963

  A charter enshrinee, Nagurski rushed for 2,778 yards in nine seasons and was an All-NFL selection five times.

  In the past I’ve been asked many times if I wouldn’t like to return to football. Well, I could tell you right now if I had to face what I’ve got sitting behind me, nothing could ever get me off the farm.

  Otto Graham

  Cleveland Browns Quarterback

  Class of 1965

  Graham threw for 23,584 yards and 174 touchdowns. He guided the Browns to ten division or league crowns in ten seasons.

  I’ve had many honors in my day, but I have to admit, this has to be the tops of all of them. I honestly don’t think I belong here, but I’ll be darned if I’ll give this bust back. The greatest honor though for me personally is having Paul Brown come back to give this award to me. In my opinion, he is the greatest football coach ever, and one of my very dearest friends.

  Bill Dudley

  Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions,

  and Washington Redskins Halfback

  Class of 1966

  Dudley won NFL rushing, interception, and punt return titles in 1946. He was All-NFL in 1942, 1946, and 1947.

  There’s not much that one, who the game of football has meant so much to as yours truly, can say at this moment. Football has been a part of my life for the past thirty-five or forty—well, the past forty-five years—and I hope it’s a part of my life for as long as I live, and particularly this Football Hall of Fame. I feel humble, very humble, to be considered to be a member as well as to be considered a part of pro football because it’s great today, it was great years ago when it was first started here in Canton, and it’ll be greater tomorrow.

  Paul Brown

  Cleveland Browns Head Coach

  Class of 1967

  Brown built the Cleveland dynasty with a 167–53-8 record, four AAFC titles, and three NFL crowns. He returned to coaching with the Cincinnati Bengals after induction, from 1968–75.

  Presented by Browns Quarterback Otto Graham

  It’s a very distinct pleasure for me to be back in Canton, just a couple of years after I was honored, being inducted into the Hall of Fame by Paul himself. And, of course, now that I’m coaching, it’s pretty hard to get time off to come back and do things like this. In fact, I had to call practice off today in order to get here. This is something Paul Brown would have never done, I guarantee you this. He just doesn’t believe in those kinds of things and that’s why he was successful, and I probably won’t be.

  I must admit that I was a normal American red-blooded boy football player that always didn’t like my coach and I used to cuss him out like every boy did. I could never understand why he did some things, but I can tell you very honestly now that I’m coaching, I even outdo Paul Brown. And I am very happy that I played under him.

  Paul Brown

  I want to thank Otto for coming back to do this. I’ve said many times that he’s really not only the greatest player I ever had, but really the basic reason we won so many times. All football players have the same spirit of just the one thing that counted—just whether we win.

  I also would like to say this to the people of Canton. I had a rather personal interest in this Hall of Fame and it being in this area. I can remember the meetings that were held real early before this was realized. This was just a piece of ground they were going to pick out, and we’d meet out at Congress Lake and try to figure out whether we could get it to Canton. And I must say, it belongs here.

  For any little part that I had in trying to sell the National League people in that, I’m so
very glad that I did it. It makes me so very proud that I might have helped a little bit.

  Bobby Layne

  Chicago Bears, New York Bulldogs, Detroit Lions, and

  Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback

  Class of 1967

  Layne passed for 26,768 yards and 196 touchdowns. He also ran for 2,451 yards. His late touchdown pass won the 1953 NFL title game.

  This is the greatest moment of my life. I’ve dreamed of this a long, long time and it’s here and, of course, I’m nervous. I feel like I am even now for all the safety blitzes I had to face.

  Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch

  Los Angeles Rams Running Back

  Class of 1968

  A key part of the Rams’ revolutionary “three end” offense, Hirsch caught 387 passes for 7,029 yards and sixty touchdowns.

  Presented by Rams Coach Hampton Pool

  Football is best appreciated, I think, when we keep our eyes on the field instead of in the statistics books. I think it is best appreciated when you are in the stadium on Sunday afternoon, for you’re there with all the excitement. And if you’ve ever seen Elroy perform on Sunday afternoon, you’ll agree with me.

  First you saw that peculiar gate of his, that way of running, that got him his nickname. His legs were like the pistons of a car—that is a car with a tank full of Jack Daniels. Then there is his nickname. There have only been two baseball players who had a nickname as good as Elroy’s—Jerome Hanna “Dizzy” Dean and George Herman “Babe” Ruth. But no one upon being introduced to Elroy has ever asked “Crazy Legs” who? Anymore than they would ask “Papa Bear” who? You just know who.

  Elroy has frequently made a spectacle of himself. Most of you will remember, I’m sure, Elroy’s movie, Crazy Legs. I know you older folks will, and most of you youngsters have probably seen it frequently on the late show on TV. Like Elroy, it is still running. But Crazy Legs was the first movie Hollywood ever made about professional football, and it was a good movie, and I think it had a lot to do with making professional football popular.