George McAfee's Enshrinement Speech

GEORGE McAFEE
Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech
September 17, 1966
Canton, Ohio

George McAfee (right) with his presenter Dick Gallagher at the 1966 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement.

GEORGE McAFEE: Thank you Dick (presenter Dick Gallagher), ladies and gentlemen. It's a real honor for me to be here today and to be inducted into this National Pro Football Hall of Fame and it's a real pleasure also to have Dick Gallagher, my former high school coach down at Ironton, Ohio, here today doing the honors for me.  Dick gave me my initial start in football, back in 1933 in Ironton.  It was also here that I had my first taste of pro football, watching the old Ironton Tanks play whom I'm sure many of you people here from Canton well remember. 

Football has been very good to me and I could not accept this award without saying just a simple thank you to just a few of the people that has helped me so much.  Following Dick Gallagher, of course, he said I went to Duke University where I played under Coach Wallace Wade and then on to the Chicago Bears where I had the good fortune of playing with Mr. George Halas, “Papa Bear” himself.

And there's also another group here that I want to say thank you to, and I really mean it when I say it is that wonderful family sitting out here. They gave me a lot of encouragement and help along the way and there was a few of them who made a few lasting impressions on me and if you don't believe it, I've got a scar here and a few back here.  But if brother Jack and John are out there, I left a few on them too. 

It's a real pleasure to be here and I want to thank everybody for being so wonderful to me and my family and I'll cherish this honor as long as I live.  Thank you.