Pro Football Hall of Famers march to Centennial Plaza in Canton
CANTON – They were born to run, but on Friday morning, more than 100 Pro Football Hall of Fame temples took a six-block walk to take pictures at Centennial Plaza.
It was the first year a group photo was taken in the plaza dedicated to football and Canton as the cradle of the NFL.
Before the march, the saints gathered in the lobby of the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in downtown Canton, where old friends and rivals shared their stories. For many, this is the only time they see their former rivals and teammates.
Outside the hotel, autograph seekers who began to enter the camp on Wednesday were fenced off at just an arm’s length from some of the sports heroes they had come to see.
At 10:32 a.m., a fleet of golf carts and minibuses ferrying the holy sanctuary, unwilling to walk six blocks in 80-degree weather, left the hotel. The rest followed on foot.
The procession was greeted by cheering fans on both sides of Market Street.
What happened in the group photo?
Former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis nearly missed out as they prepared to take the group photo. When Bettis tried to make an excuse, she was shouted at by the others. Another late NFL Commissioner was Roger Goodell. When Goodell’s arrival was announced, the band moaned, which made the audience laugh.
Interestingly, the biggest cheer went up for someone who doesn’t play football. Rene Powell, owner of the historic Clearview Golf Course in Nimishillen Township, was welcomed to pose in the Gold Jackets. Powell became a sort of honorary fellow for hosting golf outings with friends like Franco Harris and Lawrence Taylor.
“What brings me back year after year is the wonderful sense of history and heritage and being with the kids,” Harris said. “There are a lot of good stories. I spent many years in the NFL. It’s nice to meet people old and new.”
Harris said he deeply appreciates what it means to be a Gold Jacket.
“I was impressed with everyone who made the salon,” he said. “I’m still baffled and quite baffled. The game’s been nearly 100 years and only 300 men have been deployed? It’s a pretty special group.”
Fans gather to see football heroes
Friends Bradley Parks and Randy Mothershed from Tampa, Florida, said they came to the event hoping to see their favorite players.
“Tony Boselli and Leroy Butler,” Parks said.
Mothershed, who said she attended the festival in 1998, said she wanted to see coaches Tony Dungy and Derrick Brooks.
Parks said he was disappointed that the Jacksonville Jaguars lost in Thursday’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, but remained optimistic about the season.
Boselli, one of the new temples, said he had previously traveled to Canton on business, but “This is very different.”
“I enjoyed my time here. I love the people here,” he said. “The community is great. The people in the Hall of Fame are great at keeping the integrity of the game. Also, I’m a big golfer; they have a lot of great courses here. I told them if they needed it. I’m here during golf season.”
As class member of 2022 Bryant Young was taken back to the DoubleTree hotel, Greg Horak said his greeting, causing Young to stop. The two were high school teammates in Chicago Heights.
Young jumped out of the golf cart, gave Horak a bear hug, and posed for a photo with his former teammate and Horak’s girlfriend, Patty Martinez.
“We’re all ecstatic. It couldn’t have happened to a better man,” Horak said of Young’s inauguration. “We brought as many people as we could. Last night we all got together and ate some Chicago pizza; we brought some frozen pies.”
Horak said he fought alongside Young, who played for the San Francisco 49ers for 14 seasons. In 1999, Young was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year after a serious leg injury.
“He had a great career,” Horak said.
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