WHO WANTS TO PLAY SOME FOOTBALL?

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

 Today we took a short 30 mile trip to Canton, Ohio to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  The Hall was relatively easy to find and was surprisingly smaller than I expected it to be.  

While it is a big facility, I just expected it to be much larger.

As you enter you are greeted by a docent who gives you a general briefing of what you will find in the Hall of Fame.  The first section was a collection of about 50 photograghs taken by sports photographers during the 2012 season. Most, though not all, were action photos from all teams in the NFL. From that group the "best of the best" was chosen. The intense emotion, physical action and stress displayed in the photos showed why they were chosen for display.

Next we walked down a tunnel lined by full-sized depictions of players walking toward the field into a large circular room depicting the NFL's first century.

The outer wall was divided into displays regarding each decade of the 20th century.

Early years showed the large number of teams who played in the infancy of the NFL - even though it wasn't called that yet. Who knew there were teams in Canton, Youngstown and many other small towns and cities. One auditor's report showed expenses for one game - $50 for park rental; $25 for each of three players; $210 travel expenses, etc. Chickenfeed compared to today! The center of the room contained a life sized statue of Jim Thorpe.

Up stairs was a second circular room that depicted how the NFL has evolved over the years and the effect it has had on the public and the nation. Individual recordholders had their jerseys displayed along with both a written and sometimes video description of their records. A section dealt with the integration of the NFL. It's hard to believe that it wasn't until after WW II that African-Americans were allowed to play in the NFL - and then it started with only 4 players. The advent of the American Football League opened the door to integration. Today, African-Americans account for 70% of the players in the NFL.

Officiating was also on display. I had the opportunity to "step into the booth" to review a play that had been challenged. I was able to see the play as it originally was shown on TV and then from 4 different angles. I had 60 seconds to review the play and "make the call." After my review I determined that the players knee was down before the ball broke the plane and therefore the call of the field was confirmed. By the way, I was right according to the official who reviewed my call.

Next we entered a large football shaped room that contained the busts of each of the players who have been enshrined in the Hall of Fall.

Hundreds of busts lined the walls - divided into sections by the year of induction. We were able to find Tom Landrey, Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith, and the other Cowboys -including this year's inductee

Larry Allen. Also on display is the ring that is given to each inductee to the Hall of Fame. It is one massive load of gold and diamonds - much too large to wear.

A large room depicting Pro Football Today showed jerseys and descriptions of recordholding players who are active in todays NFL. Aaron Rogers, Adrian Peterson, and Jason Whitten are but three of many I the recognized and read about.

Our next stop was in the Super Bowl Gallery. Here we read about how the Super Bowl got started and saw highlights of the various Super Bowl teams and games. This led to the Super Bowl Theater where we watched a 10 minute highlight film of the 2012 season which culminated in the selection of the two teams - Ravens and 49ers - to play in the big game. As that film was ending, the theater started to turn 180 and we ended up watching a highlight film of last year's Super Bowl. It's funny how you forget about things like two brothers being the head coaches, the lights going out at the start of the 2nd half, and the excitement of the final few seconds of the Ravens win. It was like watching the game all over again!

As we exited the theater we came to a display of Super Bowl rings. One of each of the rings given was displayed. A docent told us that the League gives the team owner $5,000 per ring for up to 150 rings. The design and selction of the company to produce the rings is left to the owner to decide. As with all tours, we ended up in the Gift Shop - are you surprised? I did buy a T-shirt to commemorate out visit.

We spent a little over 3 hours at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I learned a lot and remembered a lot that I'd forgotten. I think Jenna tolerated my wish to this visit. Overall it was a good day!