Alphonse Leemans
Ladies and gentlemen, thirty-five years—that’s what it took me, and it’s worth every bit of it. I have met the finest people in the world. It has been a long haul and a lot of injuries on the way. But I assure you today, after seeing what I have seen, it is worth every bit of those bumps….
My induction today is going to make a little bit of history. Two of us came from a small little place in Alouise, Wisconsin. One was NFL Hall of Famer Ernie Nevers and now Tuffy makes it….
Then I came along and I was drafted with the New York Giants—not the number one pick but the second pick. And I was picked by a young seventeen-year-old boy who is now the president and one of my finest friends, Wellington Mara. I was his first pick and he is my first pick, and I played under another Hall of Famer and a wonderful man, the late Steve Owen….
I am so happy for my family. I mean, I have got to be a success; I have about fifteen or sixteen relatives and my in-laws out there. And I want to say that I am probably the proudest guy in the world and I am so happy that today I never before allowed anyone to call me Alphonse. But you can call me Alphonse today.
Lance Alworth
San Diego Chargers and
Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver
Class of 1978
An All-AFL player in seven seasons, Alworth caught 542 passes for 10,266 yards and eighty-five touchdowns.
Presented by Raiders Owner Al Davis
It is truly an emotional and inspirational experience to be a member of the National Football League, to come here to the Hall and to walk through its exhibits, to stand in the shadows of the great men whom we idolized as young people and in whose glory we all share. It brings a realization of the great debt we owe to them and we leave here every year with a firm resolution that we will never forget that debt.
My life has been years of glory sprinkled with a few days of defeat, but today is a day of glory for me because it is a great honor to serve in this role. I have shared great moments in Lance Alworth’s life as well as his sharing great moments in my life.
In 1960, while the great National Football League prospered, a new league called the American Football League was formed, dedicated to uphold the tremendous traditions of professional football that is so brilliantly espoused in this great Hall of Fame. We had a goal. We wanted to make our new young league the finest in all of professional football.
We had money, we had fine brilliant people, fine organization, coaches, scouts, small fan appeal, but above all, we needed great players. In the struggle to sign great players, our league was most fortunate in January of 1962 at the Sugar Bowl, under the goalposts, to sign Lance Alworth for the San Diego Chargers. Lance Alworth said money was not a factor, I want to grow with the young league and the young team.
No one questioned Lance’s being destined for greatness, for he was born with physical talent. It was up to him to utilize that talent, and did he ever put it to use. Under the guidance of Sid Gillman, great coach and innovator, Lance with his exploits captured the imagination of football fans throughout the country and gave credibility to the new league with his wide-open exciting football. Pro players in both leagues pointed to Lance as the best at his position, being the first American Football League player whom the NFL people referred to as the point of comparison in judging athletes. In other words, that kid is like Lance Alworth.
The record books show that Lance Alworth was one of the most productive players of all times. He broke the great Don Hutson’s record and caught at least one pass in ninety-six straight regular-season games. He was All-Pro seven straight seasons, played in seven all-star games. At the twilight of his career, he joined the Dallas Cowboys and caught their first TD pass in their initial Super Bowl win over the Miami Dolphins. Lance compiled these records against man-to-man coverage, zone, bump-and-run coverages when few had ever seen those, double coverage, triple coverage, and he did it in the years rule makers did not try to restrict the defense.
The records did not tell what really set him apart. He was beloved by his teammates, and I know. He was honored by his foes, and I know. He was admired by the players because he had courage and he had an indomitable spirit, and confidence and a killer instinct that made him the most feared player of our time.
Lance Alworth, the chills go through my body as I hear that roar and I think of all those special people. I can see the faces of many of them as if it were only yesterday. Some of those legendary heroes—Lamar Hunt, George Blanda—are here today. Some have become doctors, dentists, teachers, lawyers. Some are in sports, entertainment, Congress. Others are in less fortunate situations today and sadly some have passed away. But I know wherever they are today, a sense of pride will swell in all of them.
And Lance, because you come here today with credentials that have been passed by few if any, you will enrich this Hall of Fame, you will be their standard there, the first American Football League player enshrined in the Hall.
And so, as the roar of the crowd and my dream stadium become thunderous, I can hear the field announcer saying, “From Brookhaven, Mississippi, where he was a high school All-American, from the University of Arkansas, where he was a collegiate All-American, from the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, where he was All-Pro, number 19 in his finest hour, Hall of Famer, Lance Alworth.”
Lance Alworth
I guess after hearing that introduction, no one is wondering now why I picked the AFL. Al Davis recruited me and I did go to the AFL. He was a big reason why I did, and Al, I want to thank you for those kind words today, they were really touching. At this point in time, it is hard to get words out….
Al Davis brought me to the AFL and he has been a close confidant of mine in the last four or five years that I have retired. That meant an awful lot to me because when you retire, you are left alone and it is all over, and I want to thank Al for being close to me in that period of time.
Ron Mix
San Diego Chargers Tackle
Class of 1979
An All-AFL selection nine times, Mix was called for holding penalties only two times in ten seasons.
Presented by Chargers Assistant Coach Joe Madro
Ron Mix represents all that a professional football offensive lineman should be. Ron was totally committed, with speed, strength, flexibility.
With a great capacity for work and self-critique, Ron would always devote time after practice to further improve his skills. He had no peer as an offensive-line technician. Each snap of the ball was a challenge to this combatant. Ron would select and implement his skills like a surgeon wielding his scalpel.
The combination of his mental and physical attributes prompted my labeling him the intellectual assassin.
Ron Mix
We walk through the Hall of Fame, a great tribute to hard work and the history of professional football, and it just seems to come alive.
I know I looked at those old photographs and I tell you, I saw a great similarity of those players many, many years ago with the old Canton Bulldogs and those that exist today. You see those same thick necks, those same thick shoulders. Their necks and shoulders were made that way from the hard work in the steel mills, digging coal, while they played the game for nothing. And to look at those pictures closely, you can truly see in their eyes the fire and enthusiasm that made men take pleasure in something they risked greatly….
To be a part of remembered history of professional football is truly beyond anything I ever dreamed, beyond anything I sought. My only desire really was to simply be a part of this great game of professional football. I never consciously thought of the honor that is with me today. I tried only to play as hard as I could on every down and to conduct my life off the field and on the field in a way that would make me a better football player. If I were to try to begin to express where I started, I must honestly say, it begins in this great country of America.
You know President Carter says, “Love your country.” There is a great much to love about it. It’s a
country that protects our freedom and allows us to rise as far as our capacity to work and our desires will carry us.
And then I think about my mother, a woman who worked with that quiet dignity and great courage that millions of other divorced women of America do when they are left to raise children on their own and somehow do it by themselves. They see that their children stay in school and see that they are educated and they are imparted with a system of values….
We’re judged whether we’re a success or not in this world by what we have given to others. Has there been somewhere along the way we have stopped to help others? Have we stopped to help a young boy?…
I spent my career in the American Football League and sometimes, in fact just about all the time, when sportswriters asked me if I ever regretted not signing with the Baltimore Colts, my first thought is always, would I have met my wife, Pat, if I would have gone to Baltimore? I promise you that is my first thought.
And through all of this, there is still one thing I must tell you about and that is the players. I can’t exclude them, most of whom will not be up here today. They are simply a part of the game, and I have the grandest respect for them.
From the first day you report to training camp, from that first contact drill you play with an injury of some type for the rest of the season, the pressure is tremendous to try to keep playing and you play in front of millions of people, thousands of people in person. You make your mistakes in person and you can’t erase them. These players do that.
To them I must recognize their great talent and finally you think about training and you train as hard as you can in the off-season. Yet you know with all that training, once that game starts, and that great explosion of energy takes place, you try to do your best. You are exhausted, and you thank goodness for the time between the plays to rest up again and come back again.
Morris “Red” Badgro
New York Yankees, New York Giants,
and Brooklyn Dodgers End
Class of 1981
A first- or second-team All-NFL selection four times, Badgro scored the first touchdown in the NFL championship game series in 1933.
Presented by Giants Center Mel Hein
In 1930, Red thought he would concentrate on football only, so he signed a contract with the New York Giants. He played from 1930–35, six years. Four of those years he was All-Pro. That’s when they only picked eleven men going both ways. The other two great ends at the time were fellows like Bill Hewitt from the Chicago Bears, who was enshrined many years ago, and Ray Flaherty, who was enshrined five years ago. Now we will have Red Badgro, if he doesn’t faint before he gets up here.
Morris Badgro
I would like to give you a little rundown on what I have been doing and how football was played way back about fifty long years ago. First of all, the squads at that time were only twenty-two men. Out of those twenty-two men, the eleven fellows who started the game usually had to play sixty minutes; the second eleven seemed to be the substitutes, so you were due for a good sixty minutes. And the passing was very little at that time, and I’ll try to explain why.
During that time the football that you see today was nothing like we used. It was a smaller ball and they could pass the ball much easier. We didn’t have the dome stadiums and the nice turf they have today, and with that wet old ball playing out in the mud, the game wasn’t too interesting.
Now as we know it, it is a game of specialists. Every one of the forty-four men on a team, which is twice as much as we had, everyone is a specialist. They get out and with the remarkable job they can do, they made the game so much more interesting and really the crowd gets a thrill out of this aerial circus.
Now we will get around to what everyone wants to ask me—the salaries. Well, I received $150 a game. Now I thought that was great. I see a lot of people smiling here, but that was a lot of money. I was glad to get it and I’m telling you it was a really great feeling because at that time—I don’t know if any of you remember the big Depression, we could buy a hot dog for five cents, a hamburger for ten cents. I paid $3 for a hamburger yesterday and you could buy one for ten cents then and that was the difference. You could also buy a tailored-made suit for $25. Every year from New York we would go back home with a brand-new car costing $400–$500. So in regards to the salary, there was quite a difference….
Now a lot of people say, “Well, you are way out there in a little town in Washington, how did you ever think you would get into the pros? How did they pick you up?” Well, we all know you have to have a lucky break somewhere along in your life, and I think this was one of mine.
Just as I was going back to school my senior year in 1927, I was just entering my fraternity house and out rushed Roy Baker, who had played with Red Grange the year before. He stopped me and said by chance, “Red, do you want to play pro football?” Well, I kind of hesitated and said, “Well, sure, I’ll take a shot at it,” and two days later I got word from New York to come join the New York Yankees.
Now just think: If I would have been one minute later and had not met Baker coming out of the fraternity house, I would have never played pro football and I’d be missing here today.
Sonny Jurgensen
Philadelphia Eagles and
Washington Redskins Quarterback
Class of 1983
Jurgensen threw for 32,224 yards and 255 touchdowns with an 82.63 passer rating.
Presented by Redskins President/ Attorney Edward Bennett Williams
It was 1959, behind a journeyman line, Sonny Jurgensen had been sacked, pounded, weakened, and flattened. And once again he had passed the Redskins to victory.
Coach Lombardi walked to the dressing room and he said this to the press: “Sonny Jurgensen is a great quarterback. He may be the greatest this league has ever seen; he certainly is the best I have ever seen. He hangs in there in the worst of adversity. He’s no longer a young man; he’s all man.”
Sonny Jurgensen
When I look back on my career, I consider myself very fortunate just to have the opportunity to play professional football. You remember I went to Duke University. I think we threw the ball something like fifty-three times my senior year there. I really wasn’t schooled for coming into professional football. If it hadn’t been for an assistant coach there by the name of Clarence A. Parker, who is enshrined right here in this Hall, telling professional scouts that I had the God-given talent to throw the football, I doubt very seriously that I would ever have had the chance to play.
Sid Gillman
Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and Houston
Oilers Coach
Class of 1983
The first coach to win division titles in the NFL and AFL, Gillman compiled a 123–104-7 record.
Presented by Rams and Chargers Assistant Coach Joe Madro
Football is a piece of business, as we all know, and I’m not just talking about athletic talent. You have human insight to select a highly talented staff and many of Gillman’s assistants from his original Chargers staff went out to become successful coaches and administrators.
An example, Al Davis—who was an excellent coach—is the managing general partner of the Raiders, who hold the winningest record, not just in all of professional football over the last twenty years but in all of sports. Chuck Noll is a native of Cleveland and a highly successful coach of the Steelers, the only four-time Super Bowl champion.
In June of 1970, Gillman underwent surgery for multiheart artery bypass and by the start of the season, he was back on the firing line, coaching the quarterbacks of the Eagles. Last March he accepted a new challenge, becoming the general manager of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Outlaws, an expansion team of the USFL. This is extraordinary, considering most of the teams have a much younger coaching staff.
Gillman is keen of mind and young at heart. He continues to explore new football horizons, seeking, searching, finding. He lives in a reality that is always pursuing a dream.
Sid Gillman
I would
have been very happy with a college experience, but we came to the pros. And you can imagine starting with the Los Angeles Rams and having a guy like Norm Van Brocklin, golden passer, to Elroy Hirsch, and then to Tom Fears, all three of them are in that building in the Hall of Fame.
And I also had two great general managers, the first of which is Tex Schramm, the tremendous rigger of the Dallas Cowboys, and my second general manager, who is none other than Pete Rozelle, the commissioner of the NFL.
I still think they are probably a little mad at us yet in Los Angeles because at one time, Pete and I combined for a trade that was ten players for one. The one that we traded for was Ollie Matson, who happens to be in the Hall of Fame. The other Joes, I don’t know where they are, but God bless them and I hope they are happy.
Mike McCormack
New York Yanks and Cleveland Browns Tackle
Class of 1984
A six-time Pro Bowl selection, McCormack excelled as an offensive right tackle for eight seasons.
Presented by Browns Coach Paul Brown
Mike was a very intelligent and intense player. He was our captain. I appoint the captains and I don’t appoint them without good reasons. He was our leader and he earned every bit of the honors that are coming to him today. This man exemplifies more of the things that I value in football than anybody I know or I have had.
Mike McCormack
To prepare for this moment, you think about the things in your past, the nostalgic things. You get a lot of strange feelings, a lot of different feelings. My feelings can best be exemplified from a poem that was found in Andersonville prison after the Civil War. It said:
I ask God for strength that I might achieve,
I was made weak so I may learn to humbly obey.
I ask for riches that I might be happy,
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life,
The Class of Football Page 11
