Class of 2019

Champ Bailey,

Pat Bowlen, Gil Brandt,

Tony Gonzalez, tight end, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Falcons

Ty Law, cornerback, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos

Kevin Mawae, center, Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans

Ed Reed,

Johnny Robinson, 2006-07.

“Ed was the only safety (of the three), and he was a top guy,” Gonzalez said. “I loved going against him and seeing how I stacked up. I won some and lost some.

“I went the most against Champ, twice a year, because the Broncos would match him against me a lot. Man, that was tough.

“Ty was my teammate for a while, and I learned a lot, how hard he workedatthegame.”

The four were joined in an interview session by fellow enshrinees Kevin Mawae, a dominant center for 16 seasons — and, yes, a player on the 2000s All-decade team — Johnny Robinson, Gil Brandt and the family of late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.

All of them conveyed the same message: Never back off from your goals.

“I never took my eye off the process,” said Bailey. “What was it going to take to succeed? But I dreamed big from the beginning.”

Bailey as mentored by a Hall of Famer, Darrell Green, during his first five pro seasons in Washington. He alsospentsometimewithdeion Sanders, also a Canton enshrine, as a Redskin.

“How did I get all this greatness around me?” he wondered. “It set my foundation.”

Law spoke of his roots in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, mentioning how his grandparents set him on the correct path .

“Everything I have faced in my life, I can go back to Aliquippa and the lessons I learned,” he said.

Brandt, who from 1960-89 was the personnel director of the Cowboys and recently has been a league consultant for the draft, will lead off the induction ceremony Saturday night. One of football’s great storytellers, he promises to leave plenty of time for the others on the docket to speak.

“It’s kind of surreal,” the 86-yearold Brandt said.