The Class of Football

by Adam Schefter

  But I understand, and I know that I’m here not by in and of my own strength but it’s by the grace and the power of God upon my life, who I know gave me favor along the way and who provided opportunity and room for me to use my gifts.

  From the time I first picked up a football I fell in love with this game. It’s all I ever wanted to do. From playing tackle in the streets of White Plains to playing in the stadiums in the NFL, I never, ever imagined it would take me this far. It’s taken a lot of hard work and sacrifice and the belief from people and times when I didn’t believe in myself. I’ve experienced some exciting moments. I’ve met some extraordinary people and I have a lot of great memories that I will never forget.

  This is the icing on the cake for me, and I take it very seriously. And I’m extremely honored to now be included with this group of elite athletes and to do so with my Class of 2008. I will wear the banner with pride. And I will represent it well.

  Gary Zimmerman

  Minnesota Vikings and

  Denver Broncos Offensive Tackle

  Class of 2008

  A member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team in the ’80s and ’90s, Zimmerman blocked for Steve Young in the USFL and John Elway in the NFL.

  Presented by Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen

  When Gary asked me to be his presenter, my first concern, I guess, was that I was going to have a difficult time explaining how good he really was. An offensive lineman doesn’t usually get very much attention. Gary wanted very little of it. But there’s no doubt in my mind that for five years he was the mainstay of our offensive line and the major reason that we were able to go and win our first Super Bowl in 1997.

  One of the things that Gary was very good at was inspiring his teammates. And when he arrived in Colorado, in Denver, he sat his other four offensive linemen down and he said: “This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to work our tails off. We’re never going to talk to the press, and we’re going to have our own corner of the locker room.” And from that moment on our offensive line, in my humble opinion, became one of the better offensive lines in football. And they were really under the tutelage of Zimmerman, better known as “Zim.”

  One of the problems that Gary suffered with was he had a very bad left shoulder, which is something you don’t want if you’re playing left tackle. And I’d watch him every game, and I would watch him go through the motions of a lot of pain, but I don’t think he ever gave up a sack. And it was unbelievable that he could play at that level with an arm that he could only lift this high.

  When it came time for him to retire, in his mind, it was right after the Super Bowl in San Diego, Super Bowl XXXII, and I remember vividly we were all partying and having a great time, and I looked in the back of the room and there were the five offensive linemen standing in the back with a beer in their hands and just watching this party go on.

  So I said, “I’ve got to approach these guys. I’ve got to get them involved in the fun.” And I went back and I said: “Gary, why don’t you guys come on out and sit down at a table and drink your beer there and maybe get into some dancing and stuff. And, oh, by the way, Gary, I can’t wait until next year.” And that’s when he dropped it on me at the Super Bowl party. “Mr. B, I’m done.” That was the end of my evening.

  The last thing I’d like to say is something that really comes from my heart, and I will try not to cry. Zim, the Broncos love you. We love you for the way you conducted yourself, for the kind of guy you were, and for the great player that you were for us and for the entire game. I mean that from my heart. I can’t talk up here anymore. I’m about ready to start crying.

  Gary Zimmerman

  In 1980, I signed my letter of intent with the University of Oregon. I chose Oregon over other schools because it was the only college that would sign me as a middle linebacker. While dressing down for the first practice, I thought how strange it was that I was number 75. After practice the coaches pulled me aside and explained that my future might be on the offensive line. The Dalai Lama once said that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. The point I’m trying to make here is that nobody starts out wanting to play the offensive line position; it’s just where we end up.

  Being an offensive lineman requires its own special qualities. And this is why there’s such a unique bond among us. We are an inconspicuous group who defend our quarterbacks as if they were our mothers. We open holes for our running backs. Our job is to make the team’s stars shine. The O-line position is a cohesive unit, a collection of individuals. If one member of the unit fails, we all fail. We need to be thick-skinned because if things are not going well, the blame is often directed at us. And when things are going well, it’s just another day at the office. There’s often ten ways to block a play. So a lineman needs to be intelligent and able to make split-second decisions to changing defenses. We must be physically tough because we play the entire game making contact on every offensive play.

  And, finally, offensive linemen conform to the herd principle. It’s not good to be singled out for good or bad, and that’s why it’s difficult for me to stand up here alone getting this incredible honor. There should be a stage full of guys up here standing here, receiving this honor with me.

  When I began playing in Denver, I came to know the curse. The curse happens to tackles that have an amazingly talented quarterback, like John Elway, and you are responsible for protecting his blind side. What happens is the night before the game you get little or no sleep knowing that if you screw up you will forever be known as the guy who lost the franchise. Like clockwork I would wake up between 4:00 and 4:30, flop around for a while, and finally get up. Many times I would just go to the stadium with our trainer, Steve Antonopulos, who, by the way, I would like to extend a huge thanks for all your friendship and the hundreds of hours you spent getting me ready to play on Sundays. I would also like to thank John. It was worth every sleepless night.

  CHAPTER 5

  PASSION

  EACH FEBRUARY, EVERY NFL TEAM SENDS ITS COACHES, executives, and trainers to Indianapolis to test the top college football prospects physically, athletically, medically, intellectually, every way possible.

  Yet for all the manpower, money, and time each team invests, the process could be streamlined and simplified with one basic question posed to each potential pro player:

  How important is football to you?

  Whenever football is as important as anything else in a person’s life, the player’s chances of succeeding in the sport rise dramatically. It is the same with any person in any field. The more important their livelihood is to them, the more they care about it, the greater the chance is they will succeed.

  Some men make it to Canton more on their passion than their talent. The passion that was obvious in their play is evident in their words.

  John Madden

  Oakland Raiders Coach

  Class of 2006

  Hired at the age of thirty-two, Madden compiled a 112–39-7 record. He owns the best regular-season winning percentage among coaches with one hundred wins.

  Presented by Raiders Owner Al Davis

  Let’s go back to Oakland for a moment. Let’s go back to the 1970s. Let’s fill that stadium one more time with the staff and the administrative people who poured their heart and soul into the Raiders. Let’s go back to the great Raider warriors who are here today, and to those who are no longer with us, but whose memories we cherish, and those great warriors who are watching up there today who will lead us in the future.

  I say let’s line you up under the goalposts one more time, one more time, and have you introduced all individually once again to the roar of that Oakland crowd. We can never forget those great moments. The roar would be deafening to see you trot out in those black jerseys, silver helmets.

  John Madden, the chill goes through my body as I hear that roar and think of all those special people, but seeing you, John, down on the sidelines prowling those sidelines, yelling at officials, that flaming
red hair, those arms moving left and right, screaming at Raider players, and, most of all, winning football games.

  But that is fantasy. Fantasy isn’t the answer here today. But what is not fantasy is you coming up to this podium to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ladies and gentlemen, the great John Madden.

  John Madden

  The Hall of Famers behind me, that’s what it’s all about. I was reading the NFL stats and history book. That’s what you do when you ride a bus. When you don’t fly, you read big old thick books like that. But they had a chapter on history. The first page in the chapter of history was a list of the Hall of Famers. I said, “That’s right, they got it. That is our history.”

  The players that played before us, the players that played when they didn’t have face masks, when they had leather helmets, when we got this thing started, the players that played in smaller stadiums, didn’t have the medical thing, didn’t have anything. They laid the foundation for this great game, and we should never forget it. I say the NFL teams, you ought to honor your history more. Sometimes we tend to get caught up in the players, the games now. Honor your history. Bring back the Hall of Famers. Bring back their teammates. Let the fans show their appreciation to the history.

  I know going in with these guys is so special. We always talk about immortality. Some of us think maybe we will be immortal, that we’ll live forever. When you really think about it, we’re not going to be. But I say this, and this is overwhelming, mind-blowing, that through this bust, with these guys, in that Hall, we will be forever. You know, when you think of that, it just blows your mind. It’s forever and ever and ever.

  You have to stay with me a moment on this one. This is a little goofy here. You’re going to say, “There is old Madden being goofy again.” But I started thinking about this after I got voted into the Hall of Fame. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s true. Now I know it’s true and I believe it.

  Here is the deal: I think over in the Hall of Fame, that during the day the people go through, they look at everything. At night, there’s a time when they all leave. All the fans and all the visitors leave the Hall of Fame. Then there’s just the workers. Then the workers start to leave. It gets down to there’s just one person. That person turns out the light, locks the door. I believe that the busts talk to each other.

  I can’t wait for that conversation, I really can’t. Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Reggie White, Walter Payton, all my ex-players, we’ll be there forever and ever and ever talking about whatever. That’s what I believe. That’s what I think is going to happen, and no one’s ever going to talk me out of that. And these guys in there are going, “Oh, no, hope I don’t have to put up with his BS for an eternity.”

  This is a celebration. It has to be fun. To have Al Davis here is something special. I mean, if it weren’t for Al, I wouldn’t be here. He was a guy that gave me an opportunity. He was a guy that hired me forty years ago, brought me into pro football. He was a guy that made me a head coach when I was thirty-two years old. I had two years of pro coaching experience. Who the heck names a guy thirty-two years old as a head coach? Al Davis did. But he not only named me head coach, he stood behind me and he helped me and he provided me with players, with great players. As he was saying, nine of the players are in the Hall of Fame. I mean, those are the types of players that he provided me with.

  He stood behind me not only the ten years I was the head coach, but he stood behind me for the last forty years. Al Davis is a friend, always has been a friend. I remember I had the opportunity to induct him into the Hall of Fame. At the time I said, you know, talking about loyalty, what a guy Al Davis was. I said that he’s the guy, you know, if you had anything happen, you had one phone call, who would you make that phone call to? I said it would be Al Davis. All these years later, I got an opportunity, I got voted into the Hall of Fame, I had a phone call to make for a presenter. And I called Al Davis.

  I just talked to my mom. She’s watching. Hi, Mom, I love you. I was talking about how excited I am, how I haven’t slept in three days, my mind is mush. She just said, me, too. She has the same feelings. She’s not right here, but she’s here in spirit. She’s a special person that’s been with me for the seventy years of my life. I know that my dad, who died in 1960, is up there looking down and laughing.

  My mom’s probably laughing right now, too, because when I was like a sophomore in high school, I was playing in summer baseball. I was playing on three or four different teams. I told my dad, “I’m going to drop a couple of these because I want to get a job to make some money.” My dad said, “I’ll give you a couple bucks, go caddie, make a few loops, you’ll be okay.” He said, “Don’t work. Once you start work, you’re going to have to work the rest of your life.”

  My dad worked hard. He was a mechanic. The reason I say that he’s up there laughing right now is because I listened to him and I continued to play, and I have never worked a day in my life. I went from player to coach to a broadcaster, and I am the luckiest guy in the world.

  If there was a Hall of Fame for families, my family would be in the Hall of Fame—my wife, Virginia; my two sons, Joe and Mike. They talk about how hard coaches work. They work eighteen, twenty hours a day. They sleep on a couch. They don’t come home. You know, that’s not the hard job. The hard job is a coach’s wife, believe me. The job of the coach’s wife, she has to be mother, father, driver, doctor, nurse, coach, everything, because the coach is out there working. When anyone is appreciated, they have to appreciate their wife. I have the greatest in Virginia. Thank you. Stand up, you deserve it. After all those years putting up with me, you deserve to stand up and take a bow on this day.

  And my two sons, Mike and Joe, I’m so proud of them. They’re not only my two sons, but they’re my two best friends. When they were kids, I used to take them to practice on Saturdays. I’d take them to the Pro Bowl. I coached the Pro Bowl way too many damn times. I used to take them to the Pro Bowl, Super Bowl, every time I could. Those were special times.

  As I look back now on my coaching career, I think of my family, I think of the days that we spent together. I say this to coaches everywhere: If you ever have a chance to take your kids with you, take them. Don’t miss that opportunity. Because when it’s all over and done with, when you look back, those are going to be your fondest memories.

  I just want to say in closing that it’s been a great ride. I want to thank everyone who has been along for any part of it. Speaking of great rides, I was lucky enough to be carried off the field after we won Super Bowl XI. I was told it took like five or six guys to lift me up, then they dropped me. But that’s okay, because that was me and that was them. They aren’t going to carry me off. You carry him off for a while—boom!—you dump him on the ground. But it was the happiest moment of my life.

  Today feels like the second time in my life that I’m being carried off on the shoulders of others. Yet instead of off the field, it’s into the Hall of Fame. Instead of five or six guys today, I ride on the shoulders of hundreds of friends, coaches, players, colleagues, family. I just say this: I thank you all very much. This has been the sweetest ride of ’em all.

  Weeb Ewbank

  Baltimore Colts and New York Jets Coach

  Class of 1978

  Ewbank is the only coach to win championships in both the NFL and the AFL. He led the Colts to championships in 1958 and 1959, and the Jets in 1968.

  My selection into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was the most thrilling honor I have ever received. Having played and coached football since high school, which is practically all my life, and now to be enshrined, has to be the epitome of all football. The only thing that could be better than this enshrinement would be for me to attain what all of you and all of our goals would be, and that would be reaching heaven and eternal life.

  Football is a great game. It is more than a way of living. It has been a labor of love to me. Lucy, my number one assistant who has been with me for more than fifty ye
ars, once said after several attempts to get my attention at the breakfast table on a Monday morning after a ball game, she said, “You know I just realized, your eyeballs are not round; they’re oval.” All coaches’ wives know well what kind of fanatic it takes to be a football coach. I hope they all will be rewarded in heaven….

  Little do you people realize that it is much more fun socializing with this group than it is trying to make out game plans to negate their extraordinary abilities as football players. I have been walking by Lance Alworth all day, and it’s the same thing—I haven’t caught him yet.

  Dick Butkus

  Chicago Bears Linebacker

  Class of 1979

  Butkus was All-NFL six times and a Pro Bowl selection eight times, and he recovered twenty-seven fumbles.

  Presented by Illinois Coach Pete Elliott

  Anyone who ever saw Dick Butkus play knows he was a superior player immediately. His tackling was devastating, his instincts were absolutely unbelievable. But the thing that sets him apart from every other athlete I have known is his great, great intensity.

  Dick played the game like it ought to be played, all out, all the time, every game, every practice. Dick Butkus is a yardstick, a yardstick for linebackers of all types. He is also a yardstick by which any athlete can measure the intensity of his own personal effort to try to reach the goals that Dick has established.

  Dick Butkus

  To be truthful, I dreamed of being a great football player as far back as I can remember. I decided to take one step at a time and wouldn’t settle for less. I knew God had given me the physical aspects needed, now it was up to me.

  I felt my goal and my dream was in sight when I entered professional football. Finally, after eight years of preparation, my opportunity was before me. Yes, I was secretly afraid I would stumble and did many times. There were times I needed more energy and more strength and more vitality to do all that I felt I must do. Anxiety and apprehension would fill my mind. I knew my family, coaches, fans, and also, first of all, my God was counting on me. I also felt that there was something so great in me that nothing in this world could defeat me or hold me back if I kept myself humbly in contact with these people….