By Tom Reed
Akron Beacon Journal
CANTON, Ohio - Immortality seldom appeared more fragile than it did Saturday afternoon in the form of Al Davis.
The 77-year-old Oakland Raiders patriarch needed a walker to negotiate the stage while serving as presenter for John Madden during the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement.
It was a poignant image, one in sharp contrast to how many envision Davis: A feisty bull terrier of an owner who wakes up every morning thinking of new ways to stick it to the NFL.
A night after Oakland Al, a 1992 enshrinee, recalled past Raiders glories, his current team returned to Fawcett Stadium on Sunday to begin a new season against the Philadelphia Eagles.
That's what makes Hall of Fame weekend so special - the intersection of past and present. Nostalgia and promise, great memories and ones itching to be made. No sport times it better.
Baseball honors it heroes in the middle of a season. Same for hockey. Training camp is still a month away as basketball legends are being enshrined.
Not pro football.
Eight members of the Eagles sat in attendance Saturday and listened to heroic tales of the late Reggie White. Current members of the Green Bay Packers flew in just to pay tribute.
Is there a better way to go forward than by thanking those who came before you?
Former linebacker and Class of 2006 inductee Harry Carson used his Saturday acceptance speech as a platform to lobby the league and its union to upgrade treatment of retired players. The two parties recently reached an agreement to improve its once-laughable pensions and benefits by $120 million a year.
"If we made the league what it is, you have to do a better job of taking care of your own," Carson said.
NBA star Latrell Sprewell can't feed his family on $7 million a season while some old-time football hall of famers lack the means to attend the annual Canton reunion.
Carson again exhibited his reverence for past inductees Sunday at the GameDay Roundtable. He told the audience about growing up in Florence, S.C., and wanting to be the next Willie Davis or Buck Buchanan. Carson said he used black shoe polish to trace the No. 87 on his T-shirts in tribute to Davis, the former Packers and Browns defensive lineman.
What kid in the Memorial Civic Center crowd couldn't relate? Legends discussing their heroes just weeks before the prep football seasons tees it up anew.
You hope area sports fans never take this unique opportunity for granted.
Someone asked Sara White, the widow of Reggie White, for her impressions of Canton. She said it reminded her a lot of Green Bay because of the intimacy and passion of the people.
It's a nice analogy in the sense that every August you can feel that tug of war between then and now just like at Lambeau Field. You're anxious to see how Charlie Frye will respond as the Browns starting quarterback even as you listen to Bill Willis tell how Paul Brown helped break down the color barrier.
"This is a celebration of football," Madden said. "When you celebrate pro football it has to be in Canton, Ohio because this is where the NFL started."
Madden will be remembered this weekend for his "goofy" bit on the talking busts and how he imagines they come to life late at night and hold conversations in the hall gallery the way baseball legends materialized from an Iowa cornfield to play in "Field of Dreams."
He pictured his first bust-to-bust conversation with Reggie White and then turned to his widow on Sunday afternoon. "Sara, I'm going to tell (Reggie) what a great job you did (with Saturday's acceptance speech)."
Both fought back tears.
Six hours later Madden was in the broadcast booth calling the Eagles-Raiders exhibition game at Fawcett Stadium, a forum where on a magical weekend each year the past and present come together like no place in the sports universe.
Akron Beacon Journal
CANTON, Ohio - Immortality seldom appeared more fragile than it did Saturday afternoon in the form of Al Davis.
The 77-year-old Oakland Raiders patriarch needed a walker to negotiate the stage while serving as presenter for John Madden during the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement.
It was a poignant image, one in sharp contrast to how many envision Davis: A feisty bull terrier of an owner who wakes up every morning thinking of new ways to stick it to the NFL.
A night after Oakland Al, a 1992 enshrinee, recalled past Raiders glories, his current team returned to Fawcett Stadium on Sunday to begin a new season against the Philadelphia Eagles.
That's what makes Hall of Fame weekend so special - the intersection of past and present. Nostalgia and promise, great memories and ones itching to be made. No sport times it better.
Baseball honors it heroes in the middle of a season. Same for hockey. Training camp is still a month away as basketball legends are being enshrined.
Not pro football.
Eight members of the Eagles sat in attendance Saturday and listened to heroic tales of the late Reggie White. Current members of the Green Bay Packers flew in just to pay tribute.
Is there a better way to go forward than by thanking those who came before you?
Former linebacker and Class of 2006 inductee Harry Carson used his Saturday acceptance speech as a platform to lobby the league and its union to upgrade treatment of retired players. The two parties recently reached an agreement to improve its once-laughable pensions and benefits by $120 million a year.
"If we made the league what it is, you have to do a better job of taking care of your own," Carson said.
NBA star Latrell Sprewell can't feed his family on $7 million a season while some old-time football hall of famers lack the means to attend the annual Canton reunion.
Carson again exhibited his reverence for past inductees Sunday at the GameDay Roundtable. He told the audience about growing up in Florence, S.C., and wanting to be the next Willie Davis or Buck Buchanan. Carson said he used black shoe polish to trace the No. 87 on his T-shirts in tribute to Davis, the former Packers and Browns defensive lineman.
What kid in the Memorial Civic Center crowd couldn't relate? Legends discussing their heroes just weeks before the prep football seasons tees it up anew.
You hope area sports fans never take this unique opportunity for granted.
Someone asked Sara White, the widow of Reggie White, for her impressions of Canton. She said it reminded her a lot of Green Bay because of the intimacy and passion of the people.
It's a nice analogy in the sense that every August you can feel that tug of war between then and now just like at Lambeau Field. You're anxious to see how Charlie Frye will respond as the Browns starting quarterback even as you listen to Bill Willis tell how Paul Brown helped break down the color barrier.
"This is a celebration of football," Madden said. "When you celebrate pro football it has to be in Canton, Ohio because this is where the NFL started."
Madden will be remembered this weekend for his "goofy" bit on the talking busts and how he imagines they come to life late at night and hold conversations in the hall gallery the way baseball legends materialized from an Iowa cornfield to play in "Field of Dreams."
He pictured his first bust-to-bust conversation with Reggie White and then turned to his widow on Sunday afternoon. "Sara, I'm going to tell (Reggie) what a great job you did (with Saturday's acceptance speech)."
Both fought back tears.
Six hours later Madden was in the broadcast booth calling the Eagles-Raiders exhibition game at Fawcett Stadium, a forum where on a magical weekend each year the past and present come together like no place in the sports universe.
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