Some Hall of Fame Thoughts

Congratulations to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

Marvin Harrison
Orlando Pace
Dick Stanfel
Kevin Greene
Ken Stabler
Eddie DeBartolo Jr.
Tony Dungy
Brett Favre

That pushes that Hall of Fame total to 303 football greats honored in Canton.

When the Class of 2016 was announced on the eve of Super Bowl L, I was a little unsure of Eddie BeBartolo being a part of it. All of the team owners that have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are either team founders or owners that helped guide their league through the rough early days. DeBartolo was neither. He just owned a team that won a lot. There's nothing wrong with that. 49ers fans tell me that often. He's the owner that hired Bill Walsh. I just didn't think that simply owning a successful team was Hall of Fame worthy. I've softened a bit in recent days. Reading Michael Silver's NFL.com column on DeBartolo helped. Actually thinking about how DeBartolo cared about his team helped even more. His humble Hall of Fame speech was illuminating and it sealed my change of opinion. I now feel that Eddie DeBartolo Jr. deserves the Hall of Fame honor that he just received. I'm sure that he's relieved. Throughout his speech he spoke of family. His players as family. His coaches and staff as family. Every single person involved in the 49ers organization as family. In the late 1980s I purchased some San Francisco Giants tickets at Candlestick Park. I was more than a little surprised that the person on the other side of that window was sporting a 49ers Super Bowl ring. Everyone in the 49ers organization really was family. From riding in the ambulance with injured players to rewarding longtime team employees with Super Bowl rings, DeBartolo did things a little differently. He might not have been a team founder or helped guide his league through the rough early days but he did Hall of Fame-worthy stuff with the 49ers. I hope that his call for the NFL and NFLPA to treat each other like family was heard.

There were some terrific Hall of Fame speeches this year. Kevin Greene's was one of the most entertaining I've heard. That was hardly a surprise as he played all of his 15 years a bit crazed. His salute of those in service in and outside this country was excellent and timely. Orlando Pace was his solid, well-spoken self. I loved that he recognized Korey Stringer. Marvin Harrison spoke more than I've ever heard him speak. It was really good to finally hear from him. Tony Dungy was outstanding. His mention of each of the ten African-American assistant coaches that populated the NFL in 1977 was chilling. DeBartolo was humbling and illuminating. He changed my mind. And Brett Favre was his great, improvising self. Funny and emotional. Often at the same time.

I'd sure like to have heard the speeches that Dick Stanfel and Ken Stabler would  have given. Both should have been inducted while they were still alive. The Senior Committee has to do a much better job of getting these players in the Hall of Fame in a timely manner. While they are still alive. Benny Friedman and Fritz Pollard were inducted in 2005. Both should have been inducted before the 1960s closed. Les Richter passed away the summer before he was inducted in 2011. These players are more oversights than marginal players.

Ken Stabler was one of the best quarterbacks in the league during my early days as a football fan. Being a northern California kid I saw a lot of him. He and his Oakland Raiders team were a lot of fun. Except for a particular January Sunday in 1977 for this Vikings fan. In a decade of terrific quarterback play, I always thought that Stabler and Roger Staubach were the best. Outside of Fran Tarkenton, of course. It's so great that Ken Stabler has finally reached his rightful place. I just wish that it had reached it at least two years earlier. As he should have.

My father attended the University of San Francisco in the early 1950s. The Dons fielded a wildly talented football team in those years. As a kid I leafed through his yearbook damn near daily. So much football talent. Basketball too. Four football players from those teams have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ollie Matson, Gino Marchetti, Bob St. Clair, and now Dick Stanfel. Pete Rozelle makes five total Hall of Famers from USF. Working in the sports information department, he brought national attention to the Dons. The sort of work that would take him to the Los Angeles Rams and the NFL commissioner's office. Stanfel should have joined his Dons classmates in Canton at least two years earlier.

One thing I'd like to see changed are some of the lingering camera shots on the families of the Hall of Famers. The lengths of some of these shots approached creepy. It's great to see their reactions and some of their emotions but things change when they become visibly uncomfortable.

The videos to present the inductees are great. I didn't like them at first as I'm something of a traditionalist but I love them now.

This weekend is for the new Hall of Famers but it's so great to see the football immortals that return to welcome the newbies.

This weekend is also the kickoff of the new season. Football's back. The 2016 NFL season is here. Sort of.