Anyone who doubts football is the most emotional of sports hasn’t watched a Hall of Fame induction, where passion spills onto the steps of the Canton, Ohio, shrine every July and provides the perfect prelude to another season.
The tradition of each inductee choosing a presenter adds drama, intrigue, and controversy reminiscent of a two-minute drill. If only the speakers would remember how much can be accomplished in two minutes, they would be appreciated even more. But that’s beside the point.
When Don Shula selected sons David and Mike last week to present their dad as the winningest coach in history, it created a stir that apparently caused hard feelings, exactly the kind of hard feelings that make football compelling.
A year ago, Joe Gibbs wanted his two sons to present him. The Hall of Fame board of directors said no, citing the precedent of one and only one presenter. The Hall said Walter Payton also considered two in 1993 before happily picking son Jarrett. Good thing Payton has only one son.
The board struggled over Shula’s request, finally ruling yes because both David and Mike had been NFL coaches and both had worked under their dad at one time. Gibbs’ sons are active in the race car business, but not in the NFL. It is not entirely clear whether Shula’s request became a demand, but NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue became involved as a member of the Hall’s board, as if he didn’t have enough on his mind. Shula got his way, but it didn’t put a smile on the bronze bust of Gibbs. Maybe Gibbs’ presenter, former coaching buddy Don Coryell, won’t find out on that remote island where he now resides.
What would football be without controversy? Baseball, probably. In that sport, Hall of Famers are presented without fanfare by the commissioner, whoever that is, in keeping with the game’s dullness.
The only memorable thing about cornerback Mike Haynes’ induction was that he was the first Raider to bypass Al Davis and the first to select an agent, Howard Slusher, as presenter. Slusher momentarily forgot which one of them was being inducted, and fans promptly booed him off the podium, but it was Slusher who had been the first speaker to lose his composure, soon after he began. It was the most surprising revelation of the day: agents have hearts too.
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Terry Bradshaw, presenter for former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, completely stole the show as quarterbacks always do behind centers, which may have been why Webster requested Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Carl Peterson first. Peterson smartly declined, reminding Webster that he was a Steeler for 15 of his 17 years.
Adding to the controversy was the disappointment Webster expressed at the lack of Steelers management in the crowd. The Steelers were in Ireland, of course, playing the Bears. But former coach Chuck Noll wasn’t there, either, the man Webster praised but didn’t ask to present him. Only one Steeler, Joe Greene, has done that. Bradshaw and others are just as happy to keep the icy Noll at a distance.
Giants owner Wellington Mara returned the compliment by switching places with former player Frank Gifford, whom Mara had presented 20 years ago. Gifford described Mara as the most decent man he knew but fans greeted Gifford with catcalls in the wake of recent domestic problems.
Inductees anguish over selecting their presenters. For many, it is not the most pleasant decision they have to make. Once it’s over, the experience is remembered fondly by most. Not always. The strangest case is Chicago’s own Mike Ditka, presented by Chicago’s own Ed O’Bradovich in 1988. The two symbols of Bear toughness embraced and cried on the podium. Later they had a falling out and still do not speak. Sad, but part of football’s broad spectrum of emotion.