Jerome Bettis was the last to give his induction speech Saturday night, capping an emotional night. While remembering his own father, Bettis had a special message for the children of the late Junior Seau , who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday night.
MORE: Hall of Fame class in images | Sydney Seau’s moving speech | Raucous crowd welcomes Bettis
Tim Brown was a household name before he ever played in an NFL game. Thanks to his incredible speed and dynamic play-making ability while catching the ball and as a return specialist, Brown became the first receiver to win the Heisman Trophy in 1987.
While at Notre Dame, Brown set 19 school records and earned the nickname, “Touchdown Timmy” after scoring 22 touchdowns during his career. Brown was selected sixth overall in the 1988 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders and set and NFL rookie record with 2,317 combined yards gained. A member of the NFL 1990’s All-Decade team, he was named to nine Pro Bowls and is the only player in NFL history with at least 75 receptions in 10 straight seasons. Brown spent 16 of his 17 NFL seasons with the Raiders. Brown retired following the 2004 season after one year with the Buccaneers. His 14,934 receiving yards rank sixth all-time, although at the time of his retirement, he was second all-time behind only Jerry Rice. Brown’s 1,094 receptions are fifth all-time and his 100 touchdown are tied for seventh. Factoring in his prowess as a kick and punt returner, Brown’s 19,682 all-purpose yards rank fifth all-time.
Brown named each of the 19 quarterbacks from whom he caught at least one pass during his career. While he thanked friends, family, former teammates and coaches, he was especially thankful for former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz.
“Without the great Lou Holtz, I would not have won the Heisman Trophy. I would not have been a first-round pick in the NFL,” said Brown, the ninth Heisman Trophy winner to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “I probably would have been drafted, but I just would’ve been a guy. The things that he instilled in me made me a better man. Coach Holtz, I love you and wanted to thank you.”
Brown said James Lofton taught him how to be a receiver, but Marcus Allen taught him how to play the game. He gave a nod to his “angel,” Chester McGlockton who introduced Brown to his wife. Brown then told an anecdote about his mother keeping him humble and grounded. Brown wrapped up his speech by admitting he cried earlier in the evening when thinking about his father, who died in 2011.
Charles Haley is the only player in NFL history to be part of five Super Bowl-winning teams. He spent eight of his NFL seasons with the 49ers, helping San Francisco win a pair of titles. He was a three-time champion during a five-year stint with the Cowboys. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Haley recorded double-digit sacks six times and finished his career with 100.5 sacks. The 6-5, 255-pound defensive end was a fourth-round pick out of James Madison in 1986. He was enshrined into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2011.
After telling a funny, and not exactly safe for work, story about a golf outing with former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, Haley called DeBartolo the greatest owner he ever had and said DeBartolo deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He had a sometimes abrasive personality, but was later diagnosed as bipolar. He implored anyone else with mental illness to seek assistance.
“My life spiraled out of control for years,” Haley said, “but today, I get to go back and in the locker room and tell those guys the mistakes I made. The only way you can grow is to ask for help.
“I was a 22-year-old man with a 16-year-old screaming inside me that needed help and I wouldn’t ask for it. But today I take my medication every day and I try to inspire others to do the same.”
Bill Polian began his NFL career as a scout with the Chiefs from 1978-1982. Following stints in the CFL and the USFL, Polian returned to the NFL in 1994 as the pro personnel director of the Bills. Two years later, he was Buffalo’s general manager and helped construct a Bills team that went to four straight Super Bowls. Polian was also the inaugural GM of the expansion Carolina Panthers, who reached the NFC Championship game in just their second season of existence. After three seasons in Carolina, Polian was hired as the president and general manager of the Colts. His first order of business – drafting Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning with the No. 1 overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft. Polian helped build five Super Bowl rosters and was the architect of Indianapolis’ Super Bowl championship team in 2006.
With Manning in attendance, Polian thanked his family, including his grandchildren, who “make the sun shine for us every day.” Polian called his 32-year NFL career a “labor of love.” Polian drafted 25 players who played in at least one Pro Bowl. The six-time Sporting News Executive of the Year added, “I’m being inducted as a contributor, but in truth, this game and the NFL has given me far more than I’ve given it.”
“To all the players and coaches from our teams, it has been such a joy to watch you grow and achieve so many great things,” Polian said. “It has been a privilege to play a small role in your careers. We share a lifelong bond that will never be broken. We shared experiences which few ever do and which we will never forget. My honor is your honor. I stand here on your shoulders. I am here because of you and I am forever grateful.”
Junior Seau was one of the NFL’s most dominant linebackers during the 1990s and helped the Chargers reach their only Super Bowl in 1994. He was presented by his daughter Sydney on Saturday.
Offensive lineman Will Shields spent his entire 14-year career with the Chiefs and never missed a game. The 6-3, 315-pound guard was selected to 12 Pro Bowls after the Chiefs selected him in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft. The former Nebraska standout played in 224 straight games to become one of the NFL’s most dependable players. One of the league’s model citizens off the field during his career, Shields received the Ed Block Courage Award in 2005 and was the recipient of the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2003.
While using the adage, “It takes a village,” Shields thanked his friends and family for “pushing me out of the box” and getting him into football. Shields was presented by lifelong friend Adrian Lunsford. Shields did not speak about his own accomplishments, instead deflecting all of attention toward friends, former teammates and coaches, and highlighting his family, discussing the accomplishments of his three children individually.
“I’m standing here today being honored because of each of you,” Shields said. “So when the opportunity presents itself in your life, choose to be the difference maker in this village.”
One of the great rags-to-riches stories in the NFL, Mick Tingelhoff went from being undrafted out of Nebraska in 1962 to starting as a rookie for the Vikings. Tingelhoff never missed a game, starting 240 games at center over the next 17 seasons with the Vikings. The mainstay on the Minnesota offensive line, he helped protect quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who called Tingelhoff his “personal bodyguard,” and is regarded as perhaps the best center of his era. Tingelhoff was a six-time Pro Bowl selection and started in each of Minnesota’s four Super Bowl appearances from 1969-1976. His No. 53 was retired by the team in 2001, when he was also added to the Vikings Ring of Honor.
Tarkenton accompanied Tingelhoff to the microphone and then broke down when he started by saying Tingelhoff “waited 37 years to get to the Hall of Fame.” Tarkenton said Tingelhoff is a “man of few words,” but on Tingelhoff’s behalf, the former Minnesota quarterback thanked Vikings fans, their teammates, “and even you Steelers fans who beat us in that Super Bowl.”
After starting his NFL career as a scout with the Raiders in 1963, Ron Wolf became one of the NFL’s most respected talent evaluators. He helped the Raiders draft some of their most notable players, including Tim Brown and other Hall of Famers Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Ray Guy, Art Shell and Gene Upshaw, as well as quarterback Ken Stabler, and safety Jack Tatum. Wolf helped to build a pair of Super Bowl championship teams with the Raiders, who won Super Bowl XI and Super Bowl XVIII. After stints with the Buccaneers and Jets, Wolf wound up in Green Bay in 1991. His first decision was to hire Mike Holmgren as the team’s new head coach. He then orchestrated a trade with Atlanta to acquire quarterback Brett Favre. In 1993, Holmgren and Wolf lured free agent defensive end Reggie White to Green Bay. Wolf helped turn the Packers into a championship team for the first time in 29 years when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI and returned to the championship game a season later.
“The goddess of victory only comes about once or twice during a contest. These gentlemen seized that moment,” Wolf said before thanking late Raiders owner Al Davis, saying he is “forever in his debt,” and the Packers organization. When he headed to Green Bay, Wolf said he didn’t realize “what a wonderful place he was headed to.” Wolf added that the Packers’ tradition and history are “unparalleled in the annals” of the NFL and “epitomize excellence” before referring to Lambeau Field as the league’s “storied cathedral.”
