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ALSO SEE
These seven deserve a Hall call
Meet the Hall of Fame Class of 2001
AUDIO/VIDEO
Class of 2001
 An emotional Nick Buoniconti says he would trade it all to see his son Mark walk again.
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Cable Modem
Class of 2001
Lynn Swann says his Steeler teammates helped get him the gold jacket.
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Cable Modem
Class of 2001
Offensive tackle Jackie Slater is grateful the selection committee recognized his efforts.
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Cable Modem
Class of 2001
Jack Youngblood admits his 17-year love affair with the game of football.
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Cable Modem
Class of 2001
Marv Levy recalls his first coaching job and the almost-mythical players of that time.
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Incomplete
 Lynn Swann say his celebration will not be complete until teammate John Stallworth is inducted.
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Change of plans
Marv Levy talks about the day he told his father he decided to quit Harvard to coach football.
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Unbelievable
A modest Mike Munchak is still waiting for security to escort him out.
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Looking back
Jack Youngblood recalls the day he was drafted by the Rams.
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Words of wisdom
Jackie Slater shares with us the words he has lived by for the past twenty years.
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No future?
Nick Buoniconti says today he proved his college coach was wrong in his assessment.
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Monday, August 6, 2001
Class of 2001, your time has come
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
CANTON, Ohio -- Patience was never a more virtuous commodity on display than
it was here Saturday afternoon. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted
seven members who totaled 101 seasons of contributions to the NFL, but who
waited an aggregate 93 years for acceptance into a fraternity that honors
only the most elite performers.
|  | | Lynn Swann waves as he begins his induction speech Saturday in Canton, Ohio. |
Patience and, of course, an industrial-sized dose of humility as well.
"Every year, when the call came telling me that I hadn't made it into the
Hall, it was a humbling experience," said former Pittsburgh Steelers wide
receiver Lynn Swann, who had been eligible for consideration since 1987 and
been a 14-time finalist. "But getting into the Hall of Fame, now being a
part of this and seeing the caliber of person that you have to be for
induction, that's even more humbling. Let me tell you, and I might not have
always felt this way before, but the wait to get here was worth it."
Indeed, if there was a common thread woven into the rich football tapestries
brought here by all seven new members -- beyond their collective brilliance
on the field and the sideline, and their grace away from the arena -- it was
patience each man exhibited when it appeared that he might never fulfill the
game's greatest dream. By unofficial count, it was the longest collective
waiting period for any Hall of Fame class in the last 30 years.
When that patience finally received the ultimate reward here this weekend,
it manifested itself in passion, emotion, relief and a sense of
accomplishment.
"People would always say to me, 'Don't worry, Jack, they'll put you in next
year,' " said former Rams defensive end Jack Youngblood. "But then next year
came, and it was the same thing. And it gets to a point where you kind of
give up hope. You wonder if you belong. Well, next year did finally come and
I guess I belonged, huh?"
There is always a degree of politicking involved in the Hall of Fame
selection process, with the members of the selection committee occasionally
and subconsciously swayed by factors beyond the obvious. The debate over
Swann's worthiness for induction, given that his career spanned just nine
seasons and that his statistics outside of four Super Bowl victories are
fairly pedestrian, was particularly fierce at times.
But in the year of the presidential recount vote, Swann and the others who
joined him Saturday all comported themselves as if they had been
first-ballot inductees. That the group included a guy with four championship
rings and one of history's only four-time Super Bowl losers, was not lost on
coach Marv Levy, whose brilliant tenure with the Buffalo Bills was
overshadowed at times by the absence of a title game victory.
"Since I never got to hold that Vince Lombardi Trophy, except in the Friday
press conferences when you had to pose with it, I can't say how that might
have compared to this moment," Levy allowed. "But it would take something
like that to top what is happening here today."
Youngblood and former Miami Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti waited 17
and 20 years, respectively, to reach what each man considers a hallowed
spot. There was, though, no pent-up bitterness from either great defender
over the years of snubs. While all of the new enshrinees included poignant
and pointed moments in their speeches, the induction oratory of Buoniconti's
quadriplegic son, Marc, arguably elicited the most vocal response from a
crowd that twirled Terrible Towels and banners from all the other teams for
whom the new Hall of Fame members played.
Paralyzed during a game while playing at The Citadel, the younger
Buoniconti spoke warmly of his father's efforts through The Miami Project to
raise funds for research that might permit him to walk again someday.
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“ |
As
you walk around and shake hands with some of the greatest players in
history, it finally hits you, that you belong. You're a part of the greatest
roster ever assembled. ” |
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— Jackie Slater |
"He's walked a lot of miles for me," said Marc Buoniconti. "And he walked
enough miles finally to get here, where he belongs."
Hours before the televised induction speeches, the inductees address the
media in private sessions and, characteristically, all seven new Hall
members were in their own way eloquent on Saturday morning. At a Friday
night party feting several hundred of his close friends, former Minnesota
Vikings offensive left tackle Ron Yary, a man who redefined the position in
the 1970s, nearly broke down several times as he accepted congratulations.
Jackie Slater, the former Los Angeles Rams stalwart tackle, wept as he
hugged former teammates and club officials who had championed his cause.
"I've been here before," said Slater, who presented tailback Eric Dickerson
for induction just two years ago. "But this time is so different. You don't
really appreciate the meaning of it all, being a part of a team that can
never release you or trade you, until you're here for yourself. And then, as
you walk around and shake hands with some of the greatest players in
history, it finally hits you, that you belong. You're a part of the greatest
roster ever assembled."
The so-called "Class of 2001," with the emphasis on class, please, included
the maximum amount of honorees permitted by the Hall of Fame voting
guidelines. Not since 1990 has the NFL shrine welcomed a seven-man class and
this marked just the third time in 30 years that the Hall of Fame inducted a
full house. But on Saturday, as they had in January following the secret
balloting, there was a palpable sense among electors that they had cleaned
up some unfinished business.
The unofficial consensus six months ago had been that the '01 slate of
candidates was among the weakest in years. But what the candidates might
have lacked in name recognition or in terms of recent celebrity was
compensated for by an undeniable strength in numbers. That was reflected in
the acceptance of three offensive linemen -- former Houston Oilers guard Mike
Munchak joining Slater and Yary-- into the Hall.
Not since the early '60s has a Hall of Fame class included three blockers.
Then again, not for a long time have so many new Hall members each endured
such a maddening wait for the ultimate validation of stellar careers. On
Saturday, though, none of them were complaining.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer at ESPN.com
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