Three Hall inductees deliver pointed messages
The speeches at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony were largely apolitical, but new inductee Randy Moss found a subtle way to deliver an important message.
Moss, the first-ballot receiver who played for Minnesota, Oakland, New England and San Francisco, had the names of a dozen black men and women who had been killed by police printed in gold letters on his black tie. The names were partially obscured beneath his gold jacket during his 17-minute speech Saturday in Canton, Ohio, but he opened his jacket to reveal the names in subsequent interviews.
“What I wanted to express with my tie was to let these families know they’re not alone,” Moss said in an interview on NFL Network. “I’m not here voicing, but by (having) these names on my tie, in a big platform like the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there’s a lot of stuff going on in our country and I just wanted these family members to know they’re not alone.”
Dawkins discusses depression
Newly enshrined Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins delivered a powerful message to individuals suffering from depression during his 22-minute speech that felt more like a sermon.
“There’s hope. There is something on the other side of this. Don’t stay where you are. Keep moving. Keep pushing through,” Dawkins said in one of the most moving moments of the ceremony.
Dawkins revealed in interviews last week that he suffered from depression early in his career with Philadelphia and battled suicidal thoughts to the point that he considered how he could end his life so that his family would still collect his life insurance.
He elaborated in his Hall of Fame speech, thanking former Eagles assistant coach Emmitt Thomas — “Uncle Emmitt,” Dawkins called him — and his wife, Connie, his high school sweetheart, for saving his life.
He thanked Connie for urging him to see a psychologist and to be more open about his mental health issues and urging him “not to settle.” As a thank you, Dawkins surprised his wife with a gold lace veil during his speech, her own version of a gold jacket.
Owens: No regrets
There were tears, tributes and, of course, an airing of grievances. But in the end, one of the NFL’s most well-known iconoclasts staged his own Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that ultimately felt rather conventional. Even the traditional gold jacket worn by Hall of Famers eventually made it from Canton and onto the back of Terrell Owens by the time all was said and done.
“A lot of people say I may regret not being in Canton 10, 15, 20 years from now,” Owens said during a speech that lasted 40 minutes. “But just like my choice to be here today, I choose not to live in regret. I will leave a legacy that will leave an imprint on this world forever.”
As Owens made clear toward the beginning of his remarks, his controversial decision to snub the traditional Hall of Fame ceremony was not rooted in bitterness over having to wait until the third year of his eligibility before being voted in. Rather, he said, coming to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus, where he played college football, was a larger statement about a process controlled by a committee of mostly media members that Owens said was “not in alignment with the mission and core values of the Hall of Fame.”
It’s clear that Owens, who retired No. 2 in NFL history with 15,934 receiving yards and No. 3 with 153 touchdowns, believes he was unfairly targeted by voters who kept him out of the Hall on his first two tries for his inventive touchdown celebrations, polarizing persona as a self-promoter and reputation as a disruptive locker room presence. Although the committee is not supposed to consider character in its selection, the impact of a player as a teammate is more of a gray area.
“I wanted to take a stand so the next guy coming after me will not have to go through what I and others have gone through,” Owens said. “Whether it’s three years or 45 years, you should get what you rightfully earned.”