Diverse class will wear the gold jackets today

Forget about the statistics, the wholly appropriate nickname, or even the Super Bowl ring that defined his singular career. 7Sports Kyle Weatherly is in Canton, Ohio for the big event and he picks up our coverage from there as Shields receives his Gold Jacket.

Tonight, two former Fighting Irish players will be inducted into the most exclusive club for football players, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I’ve often had the feeling that the football cards I collected as a kid, with players whose performances drew me to the NFL many years ago, come to life.

“In the stage we’re in, it’s so important for us to take care of each other”. You’ve got to remember, I’m coming from Notre Dame [where] every game is sold out, everywhere we go we’re treated like rock stars, every city we show up in there are thousands of fans there.

The eight-man group Bettis headlines represents the value of patience.

One of only 10 receivers to record 1,000 receptions or more, Brown ranks fifth all-time with 1,094 catches, sixth with 14,934 yards, seventh with 100 touchdowns. 10 pick of the Rams five years later, Brown was a standout at Notre Dame. I wanted an opportunity to play in a Super Bowl, and win a Super Bowl, but at that point I had to make the best decision for me and my body, and at that point it was time to move on. Haley said he was a “22-year-old man with a 16-year-old inside of me screaming for help and I would not ask for it” when he arrived in the NFL in 1986.

Shields entered training camp with the Chiefs and it became quite obvious that he was not your normal rookie and was looking at a fine NFL career. “You wonder, ‘How are you supposed feel if you get in the first year, the second?’ Then by the fourth year, you’re pretty docile by then”.

Jerome Bettis officially got inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday night, the culmination of a long journey and career that had its roots in his hometown of Detroit.

Center Mick Tingelhoff snapped the ball in four Super Bowls for Minnesota, most of the time to Fran Tarkenton.

Both Bill Polian and Ron Wolf were two of the best team-builders of their generations.

“There was always a threat to players of other teams that if they didn’t shape up, they would be traded to Green Bay”, Wolf said.

Joining them is Seau, whose spot in Canton was never in doubt, but whose legacy is complex. Coryell developed his passing game principles over 12 years at San Diego State out of necessity because his school couldn’t recruit with bigger schools for the best running backs and offensive linemen. Needs time in the weight room, has excellent balance, ability to pull, light on his feet, has good P.P. (pass protection) skills, can drive block, roll hips, good leg drive, has feet, plays smart, aware, can use his hands, can uncoil, can adjust and hit on the run…. the ability to contribute early.

Press Shields on what kind of headaches Seau presented and Shields just laughs.

“Will Shields was as fine of a total complete package as a person and a player that I ever coached”, Vermeil said. Within the sideline celebration that adopted, that very same veteran discovered Brown on the sideline, telling him, “You possibly can convey that Porsche round right here now”. The only way you can keep that intact is continuing to get Hall of Famers. However, the Hall of Fame decided to disregard its policy and will allow Seau’s daughter to speak. Yet his induction is also a reminder of a sport wrestling with its inherent violence.

Having retired from the NFL for the last time in 1999 following a second, albeit brief, stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Haley should not have waited as long as he did.

His daughter Sydney Seau will make remarks but not give a full-blown speech.

“I didn’t necessarily see it as hard work”.