Friday night I was up
close and personal with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2013 along with
over 100 other Hall of Famers at the Enshrinees Dinner in Canton, Ohio. The class of 2013 included Larry Allen, Chris Carter, Curly Culp,
Jonathan Ogden, Bill Parcells, Dave Robinson, and Warren Sapp. It was the 50th anniversary of
the Hall of Fame and to commemorate the occasion all but 7 of the living Hall
of Famers were in Canton last night. It was the largest
amount of Hall of Famers from any sport in one place at the same time.
I have worked as a personal security escort for five years for this event and this was the first year that every inductee was friendly and great to be around. It made for a great evening. Dave Robinson who was a linebacker for Lombardi’s Packers in the 1960s wandered off before the evening could even get started. Chris Carter got the night off to a great start when he quipped, “The Hall made him wait 30 years so he is going to make everybody wait another 30 minutes.”
We escorted the enshrinees through various rooms of diners in the
Canton Fine Arts Center and Canton Civic Center. I was assigned to Larry Allen who could not have been more
friendly and personable. The players and
coach were introduced to each room of fans, family members, and former teamates
to a round of applause and multiple handshakes and back slaps. The biggest ovation of the night in each room went to Jonathan
Ogden which was surprising considering Canton is Browns country along with a
sickening pocket of Steelers fans. Little known fact, at least by me, Ogden was
an honorary captain for the Ravens in the most recent Super Bowl so he was
sporting two giant rings. The former Ohio State Buckeye Chris Carter was
serenaded with constant chants of O-H, which after a few rooms he stopped
responding with I-O which was understandable because if he answered each chant,
Carter wouldn’t have done anything else all night.
In a tale of two extremes, Chris Carter used hand sanitizer after
each room because of all of the handshakes, while Larry Allen didn’t wash his
hands the entire evening. Even after
using the restroom twice for number #2. In personal security
there are things you don’t want to see, but that will be burned into my brain
forever. Also despite all of his bravado and famous sound bites as a coach,
Bill Parcells was quiet and reserved.
After a few rooms, an extremely intoxicated lady grabbed Chris
Carter in the hallway and had to be pulled off of the Viking great. This was
hilarious to Larry Allen. This would not be our last run in with this drunken
fool. After the commotion, Carter
asked Allen who was the toughest player he went up against, Allen answered that
they were all tough, but Warren Sapp was his hardest match-up. Sapp was not within earshot so this was not said just to blow
smoke for Sapp’s benefit. One of the
rooms was filled with fans with disabilities and Chris Carter went to each of
them for a handshake and a quick moment. It must have
been very moving because Carter was brought to tears from the emotion.
We entered a room in the Fine Arts center where this March I
exchanged vows with my beautiful wife. I mentioned
this to Larry Allen and he congratulated me and asked how the marriage was
going. I assured him that everything
was great. Then the drunk lady reappeared
attempting to get Larry Allen to sign a Warren Sapp shirt because she was his
biggest fan. I told her to go sit down and
sober up.
Once all of the members of the current class arrived at the main
area and were served dinner, each member of the HOF that was in town was
individually introduced to the crowd. It was disappointing to see Chris
Carter’s son Duron Carter, who will give the introductory speech for his father
the next day, texting on his phone during the majority of the ceremony. Duron failed out of both Ohio State and Alabama, which takes some
doing since you can take classes such as AIDS Awareness and Beginning Golf to
stay eligible. I felt Duron, who has NFL dreams, should have witnessed the
Hall of Famers all come to welcome his father to their elite club. He wouldn’t
have hurt for Duron to see what hard work and perseverance can lead to. The
largest ovation went to Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame running back, Jim Brown
who coincidently was the only Hall of Famer to not wear his gold jacket that
every member receives upon induction. Another loud
ovation went to Don Shula, who needed the assistance of two police officers to
walk on the stage. The winningest
coach in NFL history was not in good shape so his appearance was both saddening
and inspiring. Speaking of
poor health, former Bills quarterback, Jim Kelly, who was recently diagnosed
with jaw cancer, looked to be in great spirits. No ill effects of the disease
or his fight were visible.
Lawrence Taylor decided to accentuate his gold Hall of Fame jacket
with jeans and flip flops so he sure classed up the evening. After’s LT’s introduction, our drunk friend from earlier latched
on to the controversial linebacker and WrestleMania 11 main eventer, and had to
be peeled off again.
At the end of the evening I was supposed to take Larry Allen to
his private car to be taken back to his hotel but instead Allen decided to
board the Dallas Cowboys party bus with Jerry Jones and both their
families. It looked like it would be a
great time but alas my night as Larry Allen’s shadow had come to an end. The
whole experience was amazing as other NFL and sports media dignitaries such as
Ray Lewis, Roger Goodell, Chris Collingsworth, Chris Berman, Rich Eisen, and Al
Michaels took in the ceremony. The strangest
celebrity in attendance was former NBA shooting guard Ron Harper who was seated
with Chris Carter’s family. Who knew? It was a night that Canton, Ohio, the Pro Football Hall of Fame,
the NFL, and past and current enshrinees all shined brightly and I was grateful
to get a behind the scenes peek at the extravaganza.
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