The 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame was announced at the Super Bowl LII Vikings website on Feb. 5. The Class includes: Mike Brown (Denver), Tim Brown (Oakland), Kevin Mawae (Seahawks), Will Shields (Kansas City), Julius Peppers (Chicago), Ray Lewis (Baltimore), Brian Urlacher (Chicago), Brian Dawkins (Philadelphia), John Lynch (San Francisco), Randy Moss (Minnesota), Steve Atwater (Denver), Akili Smith (Cleveland), Brian Dawkins (Philadelphia), Terrell Owens (San Francisco), and Cris Carter (Cincinnati).
The Class of 2020, the 100th anniversary of the National Football League, was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon in Canton, Ohio. The Class of 2020, which has the most modern Pro Football Hall of Fame members (out of all the classes), includes players such as Brian Dawkins, the NFL’s second all-time leading tackler; Edgerrin James, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher; and Terrell Owens, who is the only wide receiver in history to be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame twice.
The Class of 2020, the Centennial Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was enshrined in Canton, Ohio on Aug. 6. The Class of 2020 includes 2018 Pro Football Hall of Famers Jerry Kramer, Orlando Pace, Morten Andersen, Deion Sanders, John Lynch, Terrell Owens, Kenny Easley, Champ Bailey, Junior Seau, Jason Taylor, and Ed Reed. The Class of 2020 will join the Class of 2017 in Canton, Ohio.. Read more about 2021 pro football hall of fame and let us know what you think.
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — After waiting decades for a call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, some had to wait an extra year for the ceremony because of the COVID-19 epidemic. The 2020 Hall class and the Centennial class, on the other hand, each had their time on Saturday night.
Twenty former players, coaches, and contributors were recognized at a four-hour event, with five from the class of 2020 and 15 from the Centennial class chosen as part of the league’s 100th anniversary last year.
In February 2020, the Hall’s board of selectors picked the class of 2020, while the Centennial class was chosen by a blue-ribbon panel assembled by the Hall, which comprised numerous members of the board of selectors as well as Hall of Famers and veteran league personnel officials.
The enshrinees were given shorter remarks than usual, but they delivered big on quality, with one emotional litany of thank-yous for their individual journeys following another. Edgerrin James, a former Indianapolis Colts running back, concluded his address with a plea to not judge individuals by their looks but by their character, saying, “My career began with gold teeth and ended with this gold jacket.”
The event began with Harold Carmichael being inducted into the Centennial class, and concluded with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. Between tears, former teammates were recognized, families were praised, and past coaches were thanked, and the common message was “I love you.”
Twelve of the enshrinees were present in person, while the remaining eight were honored posthumously. Troy Polamalu, a former Steelers defender, has been at home since late last month, and his attendance at the enshrinement event was in jeopardy when he tested positive for COVID-19. But he was medically allowed to go to Canton, and he marched in the Hall of Fame procession the next morning.
Because Polamalu was unable to attend the gold jacket event on Friday night, Hall of Fame president David Baker and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell presented him with his gold jacket on Saturday.
play
2:32
During his speech, Troy Polamalu gets to wear his gold Hall of Fame jacket for the first time and praises the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bobby Dillon, Winston Hill, Alex Karras, Steve Sabol, Duke Slater, Mac Speedie, Ed Sprinkle, and George Young were among the eight members of the Centennial class who were inducted posthumously at the event.
Because of the magnitude of the class and the previous tendency of some enshrinees’ speeches exceeding 20 or 30 minutes, the Hall of Fame informed each of them that their comments must not exceed six minutes and that at eight minutes, an Academy Awards-style musical cue would be utilized.
The enshrinees, however, were compelled to give their best to the audience because to the time constraints. “Football was my love, but my back-up plan was to become a doctor,” Cliff Harris stated, while James added, “I always knew who I was, a great player, a wonderful parent, a lion, and this is my mane [pointing to his hair]… “Represent the genuine you,” I say as a parting message.”
a tear-filled Steve Hutchinson paid tribute to his ancestors. Isaac Bruce maintained receipts for two receivers, Bert Emanuel and Ryan Yarborough, who some claimed were better than he was before the 1994 draft. “To all the defensive backs, the ones that baptized me and the ones I baptized, I thank you,” he said, thanking the defenders.
play
3:05
During his Hall of Fame address, Steve Hutchinson expresses gratitude to his children and wife, among others.
There was a large presence of towel-waving Steelers supporters in the stadium as Polamalu urged them to scream even louder as he went to the stage to celebrate Cowher, Polamalu, and Donnie Shell.
Jimmy Johnson, a former Cowboys and Dolphins coach, went so far as to declare he had given up attempting to create a list of everyone he wanted to thank.
“To heck with it, I can’t create a list because there are too many,” Johnson remarked before adding, “I coached, recruited, or selected 13 Pro Football Hall of Fame players… I’ve never been much of a dreamer; dreaming is just wishing. I was convinced.”
Johnson, who had a tumultuous relationship with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after the team’s second of back-to-back Super Bowl victories in the early 1990s, thanked Jones on Saturday.
Johnson replied, “You want to know what I’m going to say about Jerry Jones.” “Well, Jerry, you said we’d go down in sports history….” We made sports history,” said the team.
The class of 2021, which includes Peyton Manning and Calvin Johnson, will be inducted on Sunday night.
When the Pro Football Hall of Fame Committee unveiled its longlist of candidates, one name on the list was conspicuously absent. That name was John W. Smith. Smith was one of only two finalists for the Class of 2020, the second class of inductees. As it stands, Powell will not be joining the other nine men and one woman named as finalist, including John Lynch as well as Mike Singletary, Lee Roy Selmon and Bruce Smith, who were in the first class of inductees.. Read more about hall of fame enshrinement ceremony and let us know what you think.
Related Tags
This article broadly covered the following related topics:
- football hall of fame induction 2019
- nfl hall of fame 2018 game
- nfl hall of fame 2018 date
- nfl hall of fame induction ceremony 2018
- nfl hall of fame game 2018 date
