New Season, New Product

It is only June 4th and my hometown Philadelphia Flyers are in the Stanley Cup Finals versus the Chicago Blackhawks, but it is also the beginning of a new football "season" here at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nine weeks from tomorrow is the enshrinement ceremony for the Class of 2010! Time will fly over the next two months and it will be here before we know it.

When I worked for the Philadelphia Eagles, June and most of July were very slow months until the very end of July when training camp opened. Most of the new product did not start rolling in until August and September in time for the regular season to begin. Here at the Hall of Fame, June, July and August are our busiest months of the year. We had a very busy Memorial Day weekend here as it unofficially kicks off our summer season. We already have in stock most of the new Hall of Fame products along with a large portion of Class of 2010 and Hall of Fame Game merchandise.

Since the Class of 2010 was announced in February, and the Hall of Fame game was announced in April, I have seen a noticeable increase in Cowboys (for Emmitt Smith), 49ers (Jerry Rice), Broncos (Floyd Little), Saints (Rickey Jackson), Lions (Dick LeBeau), Vikings (John Randle), and Redskins (Russ Grimm) fans. This is typical as fans of teams from the new Class being inducted each year come early to visit and pay tribute to these new Hall of Famers. Many fans visit over the spring and early summer to scope out things for a return visit during Hall of Fame Weekend. We have lots of new products for these new Hall of Famers that you can only get here at the Hall of Fame store or on our website http://store.profootballhof.com/ClassOf2010.aspx.

We really have a great Class this year and a lot to celebrate. We have not had seven Hall of Famers in one Class since 2001. There are so many great things planned for the weekend. Besides the game and enshrinement ceremony there are autograph sessions, fan parties, interactive games and new and great exhibits throughout the museum here at the Hall of Fame. There will be Cowboys fans everywhere celebrating Emmitt Smith and the Cowboys in the game. Bengals fans will make the easy four-hour drive up for the weekend to watch the Bengals in the game. Redskins fans will come out in force to support one of their favorite "Hogs" the way they supported Darrell Green and Art Monk two years ago. Saints fans will come out to support the first New Orleans Saints player to ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. 49ers fans will be here to honor the NFL's all-time leading receiver Jerry Rice. Vikings fans will be back again for a second year in a row to support Randle. We expect Lions fans will come to honor Dick LeBeau as a player, and there will be plenty of Steelers fans making the two-hour drive to support Dick, who is a coach with the team. Broncos fans will also be back after a one-year break from cheering Gary Zimmeran to support Floyd Little.

So needless to say, this will be a great year and we are expecting record crowds to flood Canton, Ohio in early August.