Hall of Fame spot completes Covert
Lost faith ‘many, many, many times’
Jimbo Covert was a first-time Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee in 1996. Or maybe it was 1997. At this point, 20-odd years later, Covert can’t quite recall when his annual disappointment started.
Covert — a legendary Pitt offensive tackle, a vital cog in the Chicago Bears rushing dominance of the 1980s and a key figure on Mike Ditka’s Super Bowl-winning squad — was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Wednesday. The Conway native and Freedom High School graduate is part of a special 20-member Centennial Class marking 100 years of the NFL.
But up until he heard of the Centennial Class and its unique selection process, Covert was resigned to the fact he wouldn’t get into the Hall of Fame. He was always on the preliminary ballot but never made the semifinalist cut, let alone named a finalist.
“Many, many, many times,” Covert told the Post-Gazette when asked if he ever lost faith in his candidacy. “I got no traction at all.”
The knock on Covert was his relatively short career.
The 6-foot-4 stalwart was drafted sixth overall by the Bears in 1983 after allowing zero sacks and earning unanimous firstteam All-American honors as a senior at Pitt. His NFL career was entirely spent with the Bears, retiring as a two-time firstteam All-Pro after the 1991 season. Covert was a starter immediately and guided the NFL’s leading rushing attack from 1983-86.
Still, playing only nine seasons was a hangup the Hall of Fame’s 48-person selection committee, made up entirely of media members, could not get past.
Fortunately for Covert, the structure of the Centennial Class selection was different. The Centennial Slate Blue-Ribbon Panel comprised 25 members — 13 media members already on the normal Hall of Fame selection committee, in addition to 12 non-media members. That group featured New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, Hall of Fame coach John Madden and more players, executives and contributors.
Covert said one of the writers involved — Dan Pompei, senior writer for The Athletic and Chicago’s representative on the traditional selection committee — championed his cause for years. Within that panel, he did the same. Pompei also told Covert about the process’ thoroughness.
“People were being scrutinized in ways they weren’t before,” Covert said. “But that was good for me. It wasn’t just how many years you played.”
The likes of Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome and former Cowboys executive Gil Brandt saw Covert for who he was — one of the best left tackles of all time.
Covert said he appreciates the panel’s process and Pompei’s continued support. He also thanked EJ Borghetti, Pitt athletics’ chief spokesperson and one of the longest-tenured members of the Panthers athletic department. Borghetti and his media relations team pushed Covert’s candidacy on Twitter and compiled a 10-point case for the former Pitt star’s enshrinement.
The first point? Every first-team member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade team, except for Covert, already has been enshrined. “The time is now to correct this oversight,” Pitt’s statement read.
Covert, who doesn’t have an active Twitter account, called Pitt’s social media charge and Borghetti’s involvement “instrumental” in furthering his cause as a candidate. Borghetti, who downplayed his sway, said the department’s goal was simply to “reacquaint younger audiences with how dominant of a player Jimbo was for one of the greatest, if not the greatest team ever,” the 1985 Chicago Bears.
“By any definition or criteria, Jimbo Covert is a Hall of Famer,” Borghetti said. “Regardless of era, position, you name it, this is a well-deserved honor. And it’s a long overdue honor. For everyone who loves Pitt and everyone who loves Jimbo, it was a very special day Wednesday morning to see his induction . ... It was a goosebumps moment for me.”
In addition to Borghetti, Covert offered thanks to the late Joe Moore, Pitt’s former offensive line coach. Known as one of the
greatest assistant coaches in college football history, Moore groomed and converted Covert, a former defensive tackle, into a 2003 College Football Hall of Fame inductee.
Covert credited former Pitt head coach Jackie Sherrill for recruiting him and persuading him to join the Panthers, a choice Covert called “the best decision in the world.” But the “only reason” why Covert made it in the league was, in his mind, Moore’s guidance.
“He’s such a phenomenal coach and mentor, but he was even a better person. He had such an influence on my life for a very long time,” Covert added. “That’s really kind of what got me drafted in the first round . ... I was elected captain in my second year with the Bears. All those things go back to Joe Moore. I’m eternally grateful to the guy.”
Unfortunately, Covert couldn’t call and thank Moore. The Pittsburgh native and former Upper St. Clair head coach passed away in 2003. But Covert did chat with Dan Marino, one of his closest friends. He touched base with former Pitt defensive end Hugh Green and messaged back and forth with fellow lineman Russ Grimm, who texted Covert saying, “With that big head you’ve got they’re going to need 50% more clay for the bust than they usually have for everybody else.”
Wednesday was a fun, memorable and long day for Covert. Before he got those messages of congratulations, he was on pins and needles, sleep-deprived staring at a TV.
Covert was in San Francisco on business, and the NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” show was staging the Centennial Class of 2020 reveal at 7 a.m. So, Covert woke up a little before 4 a.m. and, perhaps a bit naively, thought the show would announce all the honorees at the top of the hour.
“But they were taking their time,” Covert said with a laugh. “I was panicking because I had a feeling the night before that it wasn’t going to happen . ... Then David Baker called me, thank god.”
Baker — the 6-foot-9, nearly 400-pound president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame known for his surprise knocks on the door — buzzed Covert’s phone and informed him he was a member of the Centennial Class at 4:40 a.m., a few minutes before it was announced on the NFL Network.
It was a relief to Covert. He didn’t know if he would make it through another hour of the show without knowing one way or the other. But it was also a head-spinning moment, one he previously thought he could contain.
“You see guys over the years getting the call or David knocking on their door and telling them they were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You see the emotion that’s there, but when it happens to you and they give you a call, you think you can control that,” Covert said. “But once that call happened, it seemed like everything in your life — your parents, your wife and kids, growing up, Pop Warner football and college and your time with the Bears — it all flashes in front of you in like two seconds.
“So it’s very difficult to remain composed in that environment. It was for me. I know that.”
After Baker hung up, Covert called his wife, Penny, then his mother. He spent the rest of the day answering emails, listening to voicemails, shedding tears and reflecting on what got him to this point.
When Covert was first eligible for induction in the late 1990s, he thought he might have a shot to advance from the preliminary list all the way to the bust gallery in Canton, Ohio. “But boom, shot down,” the former Panthers star said. “And it was like that for the next 20 years.”
But on Wednesday, that wasn’t the case. Covert got the call he never thought he would. And he received the honor so many thought he had long earned.