NFL Hall of Fame ceremony from Canton, Ohio,
CANTON, Ohio — With a passionate 33-minute speech in which he strolled around the stage, ad-libbed, praised and joked, spoke of sacrifice, love, glory and overcoming the odds, Ray Lewis entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
One of the best linebackers and leaders the game has seen, Lewis was the final man inducted of the seven class of 2018 members on hand Saturday night. He was preceeded by Randy Moss, Brian Dawkins, Brian Urlacher, Jerry Kramer, Robert Brazile and Bobby Beathard.
Terrell Owens was not in Canton, Ohio, choosing instead to hold his own ceremony in Chattanooga.
“Tell me something can’t be done is like pouring lighter fluid on an open flame,” said Lewis, a two-time defensive player of the year who won a second Super Bowl title with the Baltimore Ravens to cap the 2012 season — coming back from a torn triceps — then retired. He was the MVP of the 2001 title game.
“I came back, and boy did I come back,” Lewis said. “When you walk off the last time with that thing, that Lombardi, it’s a confirmation I am living proof of the impossible.”
A first-year nominee, Lewis was selected 26th overall in the 1996 draft, and he wasn’t even Baltimore’s first choice — Jonathan Ogden was, and the big offensive tackle made the Hall of Fame in 2013.
The impact made by Lewis was immediate on the field, in the locker room and even in pregame introductions, when his “squirrel dance” fired up fans and teammates alike. He and Ogden even did a short version on the stage Saturday night.
Lewis was the first player with 40 sacks and 30 interceptions in a career. An eight-time All-Pro and an inside linebacker on the 2000s NFL All-Decade Team, he had a franchise-record 2,643 career tackles.
Moss was also a first-ballot pick who defied the odds.
NFL receivers usually are tall or fast. Moss was both, making him the most dangerous target in the game.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder brought the perfect combination of height, speed, soft hands and agility to the Minnesota Vikings as the 21st overall draft pick in 1998 after a rocky college career. His 69 receptions — 17 for touchdowns — and 1,313 yards helped the Vikings go 15-1 and earned him offensive rookie of the year honors.
That was just the start for the eccentric but always dynamic Moss. When he finally hooked up with an elite quarterback, he caught a record 23 touchdown passes from Tom Brady in New England’s perfect 2007 regular season.
Moss rubbed the face and top of his Hall of Fame bust, then delivered a sermon worthy of any church or synagogue.
“When I came into the NFL, I had no sense of direction,” Moss said. “All I wanted to do was play football. Not for one day did I not think God was with me.”
Moss was a four-time AllPro and a member of the NFL All-Decade Team of the 2000s who played for five franchises in all. He said he didn’t regret one day with any of those clubs.
He paid tribute to his family, to the fans of his teams, and to his roots in West Virginia — he promised he would return to his hometown of Rand today to show off his gold jacket.
Dawkins, one of the hardest-hitting and most versatile safeties in NFL history, was an extremely popular player for 13 seasons in Philadelphia and another three in Denver.
He had guaranteed he would cry during his inductions speech and was true to his word during a passionate oration that echoed his playing style.
“The majority of success I have had has come on the back end of pain,” he said noting he had suicidal thoughts when he battled depression. “On the other side of it, all of a sudden I became better. There’s a purpose for my pain.
“I have grown leaps and bounds because of the things I went through. For those going through this now, there is hope on the other side. Keep moving, keep pushing through.”
Urlacher became the record 28th Chicago Bear inducted, with the first-year pick one who filled the tradition of great middle linebackers in the Windy City in brilliant fashion for 13 spectacular seasons.
He was the 2000 defensive rookie of the year and the 2005 defensive player of the year, a season in which he had 171 tackles. The Bears won four division titles and one conference championship with Urlacher, their career tackles leader who also had 41.5 sacks and 22 interceptions.
A senior committee selection, former Green Bay guard Kramer became eligible in 1974 after 11 seasons with the Packers in which he won five NFL championships and two Super Bowls. Now 82, he admitted to being bitter when often passed over for the hall but said that any such feelings “disappeared” when he got in this year.
Beathard, selected by the contributor’s committee, won four Super Bowls as a team executive and drafted four Pro Football Hall of Famers.
Brazile, who earned the nickname “Dr. Doom” while playing in all 147 games for the Houston Oilers in his 10-year NFL career was another senior committee pick. He was the 1975 defensive rookie of the year and went on to five All-Pro seasons as one of the game’s most versatile linebackers. He was in on a stunning 185 tackles in 1978.