L.T. preaches inclusion in HOF speech
CANTON, Ohio — As he so often did on the field, LaDainian Tomlinson stole the show.
With a powerful speech calling for “Team America” to be a place for inclusion and opportunity, the great running back of the San Diego Chargers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night.
The 2017 class into the shrine was deeply impressive: fellow running back Terrell Davis; quarterback Kurt Warner; defensive end Jason Taylor; safety Kenny Easley ; placekicker Morten Andersen; and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
All spoke eloquently, with bursts of humor and heartwarming stories. But Tomlinson’s words resonated so strongly that he drew several standing ovations not only from the crowd of 13,400, but from his now-fellow Gold Jackets.
“Football is a microcosm of America,” Tomlinson said. “All races, religions and creeds, living, playing, competing side by side. When you’re part of a team, you understand your teammates — their strengths and weaknesses — and work together toward the same goal, to win a championship.
“Let’s not choose to be against one another. Let’s choose to be for one another. ... I pray we dedicate ourselves to being the best team we can be, working and living together, representing the highest ideals of mankind. Leading the way for all nations to follow.”
Tomlinson and Taylor were elected in their first year of eligibility. Taylor’s emotional speech during which he had to pause several times to compose himself was another highlight.
A third-round draft pick from Akron — just down the road from the Hall of Fame — Taylor’s 139 1/2 career sacks helped him make the All-Decade Team of the 2000s. He also was the NFL’s Man of the Year in 2007.
“I honestly can’t believe I am here,” said Taylor, who kissed the shaved head atop his bust when it was unveiled. “In 1992 AP I was at the University of Akron, just 20 miles away. It took 20 years to travel 20 miles to put on this jacket. It was worth every step.”
It took Warner years to get discovered by the NFL. By way of the Arena Football League, NFL Europe — and stocking shelves at a grocery store in between football jobs — Warner stepped in when Trent Green tore up his knee in a 1999 preseason game.
He went on to win two NFL MVP awards and one league title, reinvigorating moribund Rams and then Cardinals franchises along the way.
“People say Hollywood couldn’t have written it any better,” Warner noted. “After this, they don’t have a chance.”
Davis had a similar story. A sixth-round draft pick after a nondescript career at Long Beach State and Georgia, his mercurial NFL stay (seven years, five of them spectacular) had been something of a hindrance for entry into the hall. But he was the catalyst for the NFL titles Denver won in 1997 and ’98 with another Hall of Famer, John Elway, at quarterback.
The 1996 and ’98 Offensive Player of the Year, 1997 Super Bowl Most Valuable Player and ’98 NFL MVP, Davis’ meteoric stint came to an ugly end with a devastating knee injury in 1999. That in great part kept him out of the Hall for more than a decade.
Now, he is in, having overcome migraines that plagued him since he was a teenager. Davis admitted it’s difficult to ignore the prospect of living with CTE, which has been prevalent in recent weeks after a Boston University study found evidence of the disease in the brains of 110 out of 111 former players who were tested.
“I can’t lie, we’re all scared,” Davis said ahead of his induction Saturday.
Still, Davis was mostly overcome by the emotion of being inducted into the hall.
“The overwhelming feeling running through my body is gratitude,” he said in his speech. —AP