Hall of Fame press conference transcripts

Below are a few excepts from today's media availability with a group of Hall of Famers including the Class of 2009.

Anthony Muñoz:
“I’ve been here 11 years and I still pinch myself(thinking about this experience). It’s only a short drive from Cincinnati and every time up I’m like: Is this real? I’m going to be a part of this select group! Wow what a privilege!

“It’s said over and over every year, this group is a team you can’t be traded, cut, or waived. Even when you are no longer here physically, you are still a part of this team. It lasts forever.”

Billy Shaw:
“Absolutely there is a joy from the Bills family for Ralph Wilson Jr. to finally be inducted. Personally, it’s a shame he has had to wait this long with all he has done for professional football.”

“It wasn’t long after the merger of the AFL/NFL that I knew this occurrence was something special.”

Willie Davis:
“Winning was the only thing for Vince Lombardi. You went into the game preparing only for one outcome: to win. Losing had to be an unexpected event.”

“I will say that it was interesting to me being the first black player that was a captain for Green Bay on the defense. I found myself always walking into new situations, and yet that was a great pressure of leadership added. I honestly felt any time I took the football field I was playing for so many reasons.”

Mel Renfro:
“Bob [Hayes] and I talked about the HOF a lot. It took me a while to get here, 14 years in fact. I wonder why does this happen to a lot of the Dallas Cowboys?”

“Bob would catch the ball six, seven yards down the field and it’d be a foot race and there’d be no doubt who was gonna win it.”

“One thing Bob Lilly told me when I didn’t go in a long time ago was: Mel, you’re going to go in, it’s not a matter of if, but when.”

Jim Kelly:
“The ability to really think back on what we accomplished and to do it with the players on our teams means a great deal today.”

“Today is a very special day, tomorrow will be even more so. It’s the 50th anniversary of the AFL and Ralph [Wilson Jr.] is being inducted. It’s awesome to be able to share this moment with him.”

Rod Woodson:
“Just being in this atmosphere, outside of work, it’s an amazing atmosphere. The whole city of Canton embraces the members of the Hall, even the returning members, and treats them like family.”

“The NFL does an outstanding job of putting on a spectacle, almost a last hurrah for the Hall of Famers.”

Ralph Wilson, Jr.:
“I was offered 5 different cities to start a franchise, one of them being Buffalo and I settled on that.”

When asked about the next few days, Wilson jokingly responded: “I’m not nervous about the festivities the next few days; they are going to be very boring.”
 

Bruce Smith:
“The lunch was special, the reception was amazing. This is a fraternity like no other.”

“I do not doubt getting emotional tomorrow. The Buffalo fans will give me a reception/reason to be so.”

Randall McDaniel:
“Teaching is the toughest job you’ll love; football was easy [compared to teaching].”

“My true fear for teaching is singing in class. I’ll do everything else to help them out, but not singing.”