The Class of Football

by Adam Schefter

Mack never missed a game in his 184-game career and he was elected to eleven Pro Bowls.

  I walked away from football twenty years ago, went and did something totally different. But I guess I always believed that someday I would get the opportunity to come here. And what I kind of wanted to talk about today was believing how important it is. Because when it’s all said and done, belief is really the theme that made me come here and made most of the fellows that came here in the past.

  First, a belief in God. Second, a belief in yourself. And third, because it is a team game, you really do believe in each other as teammates. You work hard together, you live together, and you die together. But being together is really what it’s all about.

  Football, to me, is a team game, and I’d like to believe, and I think it is America’s game. The secret is that you have got to believe. You know the nice part is, we believed in each other.

  I’d just like to give you a little quote about vision. Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is work. Vision with action moves mountains. So if I can leave you with anything, it’s this—you should continue to believe in God, continue to believe in yourselves, and, maybe most important, in almost everything you do, continue to believe in each other.

  Howie Long

  Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Defensive End

  Class of 2000

  An eight-time Pro Bowl selection, Long was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the ’80s.

  Presented by Raiders Assistant Coach Earl Leggett

  In 1981, as we were preparing for the upcoming draft, trying to put players in our draft order, I was sent out to scout a college senior at Villanova by Mr. [Al] Davis. I had seen some tapes of his regular-season and postseason games. So I scheduled a workout and made the trip to Villanova and his workout was very impressive. I returned to the Raiders and in our draft meeting, I recommended him as our number one draft choice. Mr. Davis had seen some of the same qualities that I had and drafted him in the second round. Howie came into minicamp and we went to work.

  I would hope that you coaches who want to be coaches, no matter what sport, could have someone who is as focused and determined as Howie. He knew exactly what he wanted. Not only did he have the qualities that you put in the measurable categories such as strength, quickness, and size, but his greatest assets were the intangibles.

  Posted around our defensive line meeting room were certain slogans. And one that I really tried to drive home, it goes like this—I want to surround myself with players who will pay the price to become great, then become their leader. Howie was the best leader that I have ever been associated with, not only in his professional life but in his personal life. He has a knack of raising everyone a notch higher. He had total focus, he was a student of the game, but, more important, were the intangibles.

  Number one: his ability to tell when he had leverage on opposing players. Two: his outstanding work ethic. And three: the total fear of not being successful.

  Now listen one more time. Thirteen years, eight Pro Bowls, three-time Lineman of the Year, onetime Defensive Player of the Year, onetime Comeback Player of the Year, First Team All-Decade for the ’80s. In those thirteen years, I thought Howie became the most disruptive force in football.

  Howie complained that I never said he did a good job. I always told him, “That’s what you get paid for.” But now is the time to say: “Howie, good job—a job well done.”

  Howie Long

  In the eighty years of the National Football League, over eighteen thousand men have played this game, many great players. Of those eighteen-thousand-plus players, 171 have ended up in this final glorious destination. Of those 171, only seven have been defensive ends. I, for one, believe that being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the most prestigious individual honor in all of sports.

  Baseball has been called America’s pastime, and since my retirement, through my three sons, I have come to appreciate the ability of baseball to bring families closer together and, in particular, father and sons. In my opinion, baseball is America’s pastime. But football is truly America’s passion.

  I think back to something Earl Leggett said to me way back in 1981 when I first arrived at the Raiders and, keep in mind, I was not a very good football player when I did arrive there. He said, “Kid, if you work hard and you do what I tell you to do, I’ll make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, and I’ll make you a household name in every home in America.”

  Well, Earl, we missed free agency by a few years, but I have to admit I’m a hell of a lot more famous than I could have ever dreamed.

  Ron Yary

  Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams Tackle

  Class of 2001

  A seven-time Pro Bowl selection, Yary started in four Super Bowls and five NFL/NFC championship games.

  Presented by Vikings Assistant Coach John Michels

  Ron’s stance was not a thing of beauty. In fact, I had another coach ask me why I didn’t try to change it. My reply was: “Why? He does all we ask and more with the stance that he has.”

  Ron was responsible for teaching me that you can’t force some people into molds. This has helped me tremendously with other “not-by-the-book” players.

  My favorite Yary story is one that occurred during a Rams game when Ron was having some difficulty against Jack Youngblood. He came off the field after a bad series and I was waiting there. We sat down on the bench and I began my tirade. I think in the middle of this one-sided talk, I made reference to my playing ability and how I would have handled this situation with no trouble. I made a few more references to my skills when Ron, who was sitting down at the time, looked me right in the eye and stated very quietly, “John, you must have been a hell of a football player.”

  The bench erupted on either side of him as people burst out laughing. Needless to say, my credibility at that time was shot to hell.

  Ron Yary

  A few weeks after it had been announced that my career had been honored with this great tribute, I received an unexpected congratulatory postcard from a high school teammate of mine that reads: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected [in] common hours.”

  Today I’m here to tell my family, my coaches, my teammates, and my friends that I lived the life that I had imagined. I advanced confidently in the direction of my dreams of today, with many of you present. We’ve come here to Canton, Ohio, to celebrate and to share this great honor on what I consider to be football’s most hallowed ground.

  I would like to leave everyone with my personal insight about the game of football that we honor today and what makes football the great all-American sport. Every play and every block that I ever made was to help our running back gain more yards or a quarterback and a receiver complete the pass; it wasn’t for individual glory, but for the benefit of the greater good—the success of the team.

  This is the creed of the offensive lineman that defines the spirit, the American spirit, which is built into the fabric of football. All men who have played this game at any level identify with this creed, whether it is a kid on a high school football team or the great NFL player.

  For no other sport in the world can offer up to its participants this internal yearning that exists within all men, this creed, this all-American spirit. This yearning inside of all men in which I speak of is called sacrifice. And it is in the soul, in the very essence of American football.

  Therefore, if I can leave anyone with one thought, I hope you will remember this: To those who unselfishly taught me everything you knew, I owe it all. And beyond anything else, you taught me that no one makes it into the Hall of Fame on his own.

  Troy Aikman

  Dallas Cowboys Quarterback

  Class of 2006

  A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Aikman led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins, passing for 32,942 yards and 165 touchdowns.

  Presented by Former
Cowboys Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner

  A couple years ago during an interview, I was asked if I got to coach one game, who would I choose as my starting quarterback. As you saw today, there’s a lot of great ones to choose from. But it was really a very easy question for me to answer. I told them I’d choose Troy. The interviewer politely asked me why. I said, “Because I want to win.”

  I further explained my answer. Troy was consistently the most accurate passer I’ve ever seen. What fans saw on Sundays, his teammates saw every day of the week.

  Another one of Troy’s real strengths was his ability to bring out the best in everyone around him. Troy was driven to be the best, and he expected the same from everyone around him. I really felt that was Troy’s drive, along with Coach Jimmy Johnson’s leadership, that had accounted for the Cowboys going from worst to first.

  Troy’s greater strength as a player was his ability to focus and stay focused in the most unusual circumstances. Troy had the ability to make the play when it mattered the most. You know, after a game, a lot of times you have those “ifs.” You know what I’m talking about. “If we completed that ball on third-and-four, we would have won the game.” You also have those “whys.” “Why did they throw the ball in that situation? We could have given it to Emmitt?”

  With Troy, you didn’t have those “ifs” and “whys.” The best example to me was in the ’92 championship game, with four minutes left in the game. There were no “ifs.” Alvin Harper ran a slant. Troy hit him right between the numbers. Alvin ran down the field inside the ten, and took Troy, himself, and the rest of the Cowboys right to the Super Bowl.

  If you look at Troy’s greatest plays, they came in the most critical situations. If you look at his greatest games, they came against the best teams and they came in the playoffs. Troy is one of the most unselfish players to have played. He knew the things he had to do to give his team the best chance to win. In an era of superegos, he never let his get in the way of winning. Super Bowls were more important than statistics.

  Troy Aikman

  Jimmy Johnson and I arrived in Dallas the same year, 1989, both fresh from college, both eager to prove ourselves. Didn’t take long to see that Jimmy was unique, and it wasn’t just because of his hair. What struck me most about Jimmy was his fearlessness.

  Some coaches play not to lose. Jimmy always played to win. Some guard against overconfidence. Jimmy insisted on it. Jimmy’s boldness set the tone for a young group of players who didn’t know much about winning but were eager to learn. Jimmy was the right coach at the right time for the Dallas Cowboys, and I’m grateful to have been given the opportunity to play for him….

  A high school coach once told me, “In life, you have a lot of acquaintances, but very few friends.” For most, that’s probably true, but not for me. The many friendships in my life are what made me feel every single day like I’m the luckiest guy in the world, and I thank all of you for being here today.

  In closing, I’d like to share something that a close friend used to tell me back when I was playing. He’d say this when times were tough, maybe we’d lost a close game, I’d thrown the deciding interception, or the grind and the rigors of the season were beginning to take their toll on me. What Norv Turner would say was this: “Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that these are the jobs we’ve always dreamed of having.”

  Norv was right. For as long as I can remember, all I ever wanted was to play pro sports. A lot of kids want that, but very few actually get the chance. I was able to live a dream. I played professional football. That I was able to do so with so many great players and coaches and win three world championships and wind up here today with all these great men in gold jackets, well, it’s almost too much to believe.

  CHAPTER 7

  CAUSES

  OVER TIME, FOOTBALL HAS SEEN ITS FIRST AFRICAN American player, its first African American quarterback, its first African American quarterback as a Super Bowl winner, its first African American head coach as a Super Bowl winner—all before the first African American president.

  They have gone on and on, the firsts. There have been so many that there aren’t many left, which might be the surest sign of the progress that society and football have made.

  For this, a debt is owed to the men who made it possible. They endured what today’s players do not have to. They fought for that cause, as well as for other causes.

  Some spoke out for underprivileged children, others for players’ pensions, and still others for the NFL Players Association. But the most popular and significant cause was race, the subject of multiple induction speeches.

  Men spoke eloquently, thoughtfully, and passionately. They helped pave the way for the players of today, and for society to be what it is.

  Alan Page

  Minnesota Vikings and

  Chicago Bears Defensive Tackle

  Class of 1988

  Page played in 236 consecutive games and four Super Bowls. He won the league MVP in 1971.

  Presented by North Community High School (Minnesota) Principal Willarene Beasley

  All of us who know Alan Page know that he has strong philosophical views regarding the education of sports. Alan believes the involvement in sports makes for a healthy body and mind, and he warns that sports is just a short-lived career, that one must be prepared for a second career.

  Alan states that education and sports go together and we, as parents and community leaders, make sure it works. Education and sports benefit all of us.

  Alan says that we must put these in proper perspective. Sports must be used as an incentive for young people to get an education and not as a substitute. Alan warns, “Do not major in football. Play the sport, it is good to play the sport, but learn to read and to write, and develop marketable skills.” If a student can be a winner in sports, a student can be a winner in education.

  Alan has said on numerous occasions that people like Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson have made many sacrifices so we can all share in the American dream. I would submit to you today that Alan Page, too, is helping to fulfill that American dream.

  Just as Alan has played defensive tackle for the Vikings and the Bears, now through the Alan Educational Foundation, his defense is tackling problems.

  Alan sums it up best in a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson and I will just do an excerpt: “I am a part of all that I have met.”

  And so as we pause for the enshrinement on the front steps of the Hall of Fame, Alan Page stands tall not only in his six-foot-four stature, but as he writes his own page into history as a profound, prideful symbol of success.

  Alan Page

  Football was very good to me, and my good fortune has continued in my chosen career as a lawyer. But in that world where I now work, professional accomplishment is measured on a far different scale over a much longer period of time. So I find it a bit strange to again be the object of this much attention for what I accomplished many years ago, in a very narrow field of endeavor called football.

  As my football career ended, many of my contemporaries were already beginning to make their impact felt in society. And they continue to—healing the sick, creating jobs, defending people in trouble, and seeking peace among nations. Very few of them will ever receive the lavish tribute that someone like me has received here today for playing a game called football.

  It’s hard to say what today’s inductees will mean to future generations, but for now we are still looked upon as role models. And role models have an obligation, I think, to relate to the needs of the future, and not just relate to the deeds of the past. It’s certainly okay to enjoy the glory and the truths of bygone days. But I think all the men you see here today reached the Hall of Fame because they couldn’t be satisfied with their past performances. So as I try to give meaning to this occasion for myself, I want to focus on what I can do for the future.

  On this occasion, I ask myself, “What contribution can I still make that would be truly worthy of the outpouring of warmth and good
feelings I have received today?” And the answer, for me, is clear: to help give other children the chance to achieve their dreams.

  I don’t know when children stop dreaming. But I do know when hope starts leaking away, because I’ve seen it happen. Over the past ten years, I’ve spent a lot of time speaking with school kids of all ages. And I’ve seen the cloud of resignation move across their eyes as they travel through school, without making progress. They know they are slipping through the net into the huge underclass that our society seems willing to tolerate. At first, the kids try to conceal their fear with defiance. Then, for far too many, the defiance turns to disregard for our society rules. It’s then that we have lost them and maybe forever. But this loss is not always as apparent as the kid who has dropped out of school for life on the street. I’ve seen lost men in the National Football League.

  When I played for the Vikings, there was an occasion where we had a new defensive line coach and he wanted us to read the playbook to learn it and probably wasn’t a bad idea if you could read. There were nine players in the group, three of us read pretty well, two so-so, the other four had a difficult time and struggled. It was painful for them, but it was painful to watch for all of us. And we shared their pain.

  These same young men were once the heroes of their schools, showered with recognition and praise for their athletic performance and allowed to slide in the classroom. And for their time in the NFL, at least, they were the lucky ones because they had beaten the long, eighteen thousand-to-one odds to make it that far. But without reading skills, what were their chances of finding employment once their playing days were over?

  We are doing no favors to the young men from Miami and Chicago and Philadelphia and L.A., if we let them believe that a game shall set them free. At the very best, athletic achievement might open a door that discrimination once held shut. But the doors slam quickly on the unprepared and the undereducated.