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10:12 a.m. ET

This morning, as I pulled into the entrance of the Pro Football Hall of Fame campus – George Halas Drive -- I realized I forgot where I was supposed to park my car. Frustrated, I drove around in circles for a few minutes until I found the designated location, which had I read the memo, would have been a much easier endeavor. See, it’s that time of year when virtually all the staff parking is overtaken by formidable-looking festival tents. The impressive clean white canvas structures not only reminded me that I don’t have a parking place, but also instantly reinforced a feeling that something very exciting is about to happen. The exciting something is the Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival.

In just a couple of days thousands of football fans will fill the tents and every other square foot of the Hall of Fame campus. Individually and collectively they come to celebrate the addition of six new Hall of Famers. Sure, after so many years, I sometimes forget what a privilege it is to be a part of such an exciting event. But in a matter of hours as the throng of appreciative fans and 80-plus returning Hall of Famers begin to slip into town, the fatigue and cautious worries that are a necessary part of the Enshrinement Festival planning, miraculously transform into a sense of pride and anxious anticipation. In the words of Hall of Fame Coach Marv Levy, “Where else you rather be than right here, right now.” Parking spot or not, this is where I want to be.

 VIDEO: The Hall of Fame Prepares for the Weekend (Tue. Aug. 4, 2009)>>>



Levy, Marv

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4:45 p.m.

I recently learned that one of my favorite Hall of Fame members, Bill Dudley, is being honored by his hometown of Bluefield, Virginia.  It is a richly deserved recognition.  Bill is already in the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame, and should be a charter member of the All-Time Good Guys Hall of Fame when someone decides to start one. 
For those not familiar with Bill Dudley’s pro football accomplishments, let me start by stating that he may well be the most versatile player ever to step on an NFL playing field.  That’s saying a lot considering all the greats the game has produced.  Bill played nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1942, 1945-46), Detroit Lions (1949-49), and Washington Redskins (1950-51, 1953).

Now, my intention is not to bore you with a bevy of stats on Bill, but consider this; “Bullet Bill” as he was known, ran for a 55-yard touchdown in his first pro game.  That was, however, just the beginning.  During his nine-year pro football career – which was interrupted for two years while serving his country during World War II as a B-29 pilot in the South Pacific – Bill scored nine different ways (there are only ten ways a player can score).  Add to that, in 1946, his first full season back after the war, he captured pro football’s “Triple Crown,” winning three individual statistical championships (rushing, punt returns, and interceptions) in the same season.  He actually led the league in a fourth category, lateral passes attempted, but that is no longer a statistical category in the record book. 

Alright, you can stop trying to figure out the nine ways he scored.  Here they are: he scored touchdowns passing, rushing, receiving, and on punt returns and kick returns, interceptions, and on a fumble recovery.  He also kicked field goals and PATs.  The tenth way of scoring that eluded him was by way of a safety.  One more thing, in 1947, Bill scored 13 touchdowns on one punt return, one kickoff return, seven receptions, and four rushes.  Imagine the salary a player of his versatility would command today. Dudley, Bill, Detroit Lions Pittsburgh Steelers Washington Redskins

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5:30 p.m.

Boy do I feel old!  When I started at the Hall of Fame 32 years ago, I was using a manual typewriter.  Now I’m “blogging” on our new-look website.  For the record, my manual typewriter wasn’t the one featured in my photo.  That one I picked up at a garage sale.  While it may not look like much, that old Underwood was state-of-the-art in its day. Of course it was eventually replaced with the electric typewriter, then the word processor, then the PC, the laptop, and the…well, you get the picture.

I guess that kind of summarizes how I hope to use this blog.  While I enjoy and have a profound appreciation for today’s game, that appreciation is in large part due to my understanding and appreciation for the “earlier models” of this great sport.  In my blog, I plan to use the tools of this generation to share insight, stories and of course opinions about earlier generations of pro football; the game’s manual typewriters, so to speak.        

So here’s my first shot at sharing a piece of pro football past.  As you are probably aware, 2009 marks the 50th Anniversary of the eight original American Football League teams.  Having grown up in that league – my father covered the AFL for the Buffalo Evening News, before being named the league’s Director of Public Relations in 1963 – I have many fond memories of “The Other League.”  In 1965, when I was 14 years old my father enlisted my brother (he was 15) and me to work as “runners” at the AFL Draft. 

Our job was to hand deliver a sealed envelope containing the draft picks of each team round-by-round, carried from AFL Commissioner Joe Foss’s office to a small meeting room at the Waldorf Astoria several blocks away.  There we would dutifully turn the envelope over to my father and he’d share the contents with the small group of attending writers.  Since there were 20 rounds that year, the Horrigan-brothers shuttle service ran well into the night.  As I recall my pay for the day-long experience was a “thank you” and some really good chocolate éclairs.

The marquee name in that year’s draft in both the AFL and in the rival NFL was Texas linebacker Tommy Nobis.  The AFL’s Houston Oilers selected Nobis in the first round while the NFL’s expansion Atlanta Falcons team, drafting for  the first time, selected Nobis first overall.  With the two leagues competing with each other for players’ rights, the Nobis signing was going to be an important one.  Unfortunately for us AFLers, Nobis eventually signed with the Falcons.  However, the Oilers and the AFL got a p.r. boost when astronaut Frank Borman took time out while hurling around the world in his space capsule to encourage the Texas linebacker to sign with the AFL’s Oilers.  “Tell Nobis to sign with Houston,” was Borman’s message from space. 

By the way, only two original AFL teams, the Buffalo Bills and the Oilers, now playing as the Tennessee Titans, still have the same ownership.  Buffalo is owned by 2009 Hall of Fame enshrinee Ralph Wilson, Jr. and the Titans are owned by Bud Adams.   The two teams kick off the '09 season in our Hall of Fame Game.


Wilson, Jr., Ralph, Atlanta Falcons Buffalo Bills Tennessee Titans

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