Enrollment in the Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio is the highest honor in professional football, the cornerstone of the careers of the sport’s greatest players, coaches and contributors. But even among the largest, some stars shine a little brighter. Here are 10 outstanding Professional Football Hall of Fame classes that stand out from the crowd.
Class of 1963
The first class of the Professional Football Hall of Fame included icons from the early days of the league including George Halas, Sammy Baugh and Bronko Nagurski.
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Inductees: Sammy Baugh, Bert Bell, Joe Carr, Earl “Dutch” Clark, Harold “Red” Grange, George Halas, Mel Hein, Wilbur “Pete” Henry, Robert “Cal” Hubbard, Don Hutson, Earl “Curly” Lambeau, Tim Mara , George Preston Marshall, John “Blood” McNally, Bronko Nagurski, Ernie Nevers, Jim Thorpe
Projector: The Hall of Fame building itself has become iconic, and the annual dedication ceremony is a major event, but it was all new in 1963, and the induction ceremonies were low-key compared to the televised event of ‘today. Seeing the structure completed in Canton, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle said, “There is no longer a proper memorial. The building represents the dreams and faith of the men who made it possible.
The inductees included men who helped build the game in its early years: Halas of the Chicago Bears; Lambeau, co-founder and former coach of the Green Bay Packers; and Grange, a running back star with a fabulous nickname, “The Galloping Ghost”.
Class of 1964
Inductees: Jimmy Conzelman, Ed Healey, Clarke Hinkle, William Roy “Link” Lyman, Mike Michalske, Art Rooney, George Trafton
Projector: The Rooney Steelers were still ten years from the start of their 1970s dynasty when the team owner got Hall’s call. Perhaps this is why the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s coverage of the event took on a puzzled tone. The newspaper writes: “The reasons for Rooney’s induction into the Hall of Fame may seem obscure. He’s never run for a touchdown in a National League game. He also never threw a pass or a punt. He just sat quietly in the gallery or the press box and chewed on a damp, frayed cigar. Rooney’s induction might have been curious at the time, but given the Steelers’ incredible success in the 1970s when they won four Super Bowls, it was prescient.
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Class of 1971
Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers coach during Super Bowl II, died in 1970. He was posthumously inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
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Inductees: Jim Brown, Bill Hewitt, Frank “Bruiser” Kinard, Vince Lombardi, Andy Robustelli, YA Tittle, Norm Van Brocklin
Projector: Brown, who played the running back for the Cleveland Browns, was the game’s greatest player at this point – and still could be – and would normally have been the headliner. But Lombardi’s posthumous induction took center stage. Lombardi, who won three NFL Championships and two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers, was known for his fiery intensity. He was also a champion of equality. Lombardi, who died in 1970, once said he viewed his players as “neither black nor white, but Packer green”, and also favored a locker room atmosphere in which prejudice was not tolerated. Wellington Mara, who gave Lombardi his first coaching job in the NFL. as an assistant to the New York Giants, congratulated him at the induction ceremony, saying, “Vince Lombardi didn’t invent professional football and he didn’t invent the National Football League. But he embellished both to a degree never surpassed and rarely equaled. “
Class of 1972
Inductees: Lamar Hunt, Gino Marchetti, Ollie Matson, Clarence (Ace) Parker
Projector: It’s no exaggeration to say that Hunt changed professional football forever. Unable to secure his own National Football League franchise, he formed his own rival league, the American Football League was born in 1959. The Hunt Texans would eventually become the Kansas City Chiefs. The eventual success of the AFL top flight against NFL teams led to a merger between the two, agreed to in 1966. Hunt was instrumental in negotiating the deal. Without Hunt’s ambition and steady hand, the AFL may never have existed, or could have folded quickly after its inception.
Class of 1985
Former New York Jets star Joe Namath was touched by his induction into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
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Inductees: Frank Gatski, Joe Namath, Pete Rozelle, OJ Simpson, Roger Staubach
Projector: His career stats were mediocre at best – 173 touchdowns and 220 interceptions – but Namath made an inedible impact on professional football when he shocked the world by leading the Jets to topple the much-favored Colts in Super Bowl III on the 12th. January 1969. He guaranteed the result in advance. The victory made Namath a superstar, legitimized the AFL before merging with the NFL for the 1970 season, and marked the beginning of professional football’s takeover of the American sporting landscape. Despite his larger-than-life reputation, Namath seemed in awe of the gravity of the moment over induction weekend, saying, “I feel good… being around guys I’ve seen grow up and be a part of. them. It’s a bit humiliating, really.
Class of 1993
Inductees: Dan Fouts, Larry Little, Chuck Noll, Walter Payton, Bill Walsh
Projector: Noll retired after a successful career in which he won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But while his greatness with the Steelers was unmatched, Walsh’s influence was on another level. There was a certain elegance to Walsh’s “west coast offense”, which emphasized short passes, and the defenses were often unable to slow it down. His San Francisco 49ers won three Super Bowls in the 1980s. Describing his approach, Walsh said, “It’s not so much motivation; this is the performance standard. We were playing our own football game, whatever the situation, so we had the balance at the end of the game and sometimes our opponents would self-destruct.
Class of 1999
Lawrence Taylor, one of the greatest defensemen of all time, played linebacker for the New York Giants from 1981 to 1993.
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Inductees: Eric Dickerson, Tom Mack, Ozzie Newsome, Billy Shaw, Lawrence Taylor
Projector: If Walsh was the man who revolutionized the offense in the NFL, Taylor, a New York Giants star, was the man who forced innovation. The best and most feared passer of all time, Taylor was extremely difficult for opponents to deal with. He destroyed offenses and was a first-team All-Pro in each of his first six seasons and eight times in total. Taylor is also one of two defensive players – the other being Alan Page of Minnesota – to be named the NFL’s MVP. Famous former NFL coach and TV commentator John Madden said, “Lawrence Taylor, defensively, has had as big an impact as any player I have ever seen. He’s changed the way defense is played, the way rush passes are played, the way linebackers play, and the way offenses block linebackers.
Class of 2004
Inductees: Bob “Boomer” Brown, Carl Eller, John Elway, Barry Sanders
Projector: Elway and Sanders are two of the greatest players of all time, and it’s impossible to separate them when it comes to their primacy in this class. Of Elway, former Denver Broncos quarterback Sanders said, “If I had had John Elway we would have won the Super Bowl every year I played.” Of Sanders, former Detroit Lions running back Elway said, “I’m going to call him the best ever to play football. You never knew if he was going to knock your jaw off with a 2 yard loss or an 80 yard gain. Elway came out on top, ending his career with back-to-back Super Bowl wins. Sanders, just a year away from a 2,000-yard running season, seemed almost certain to set the all-time running record. But he retired at age 31 in 1999 and became the third youngest inductee to the Hall of Fame, after Gale Sayers and Jim Brown.
Class of 2010
Jerry Rice, who played for the San Francisco 49ers, holds numerous NFL records, including most receiving yards with 22,895.
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Inductees: Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Dick LeBeau, Floyd Little, John Randle, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith
Projector: Who could eclipse Smith, the league’s all-time best rusher? Rice, his best receiver of all time, and perhaps the greatest player of all time, regardless of position. He’s still the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns, scrimmage yards and all-round yards. Rice’s successes in the field were unprecedented, but in his induction speech he suggested that his motivation came from the opposite direction, saying, “I’m here to tell you that fear of failure is the key. engine that guided me throughout my career. Not wanting to disappoint my parents, and later my coaches, teammates and fans, that’s what made me succeed.
Class of 2011
Inductees: Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Chris Hanburger, Les Richter, Ed Sabol, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe
Projector: Dent, Faulk, Hanburger, Richter, Sanders and Sharpe played along, but Sabol, the founder of NFL Films, forever changed the perception. The inner look of the game that he gave to the fans helped increase the popularity of football. At 94, Sabol entered the Hall as a contributor; it was a fitting designation, as few people have contributed more to the league than he has. Sabol, who once said he believed the Hall should be a players-only club, was typically humble upon his induction, saying, “This honor really goes to NFL Films. You are a wonderful, dedicated, loyal and hardworking group of people, and you are the reason I sit here.
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