Warren Moon, Adam Schefter to take part in weekend book signings
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon and Adam Schefter, an NFL correspondent for ESPN will participate in special signings of their new books during the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival Weekend.
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| Purchase a copy of Moon’s book>>> |
Moon signing schedule
Friday, Aug. 7
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Pro Football Hall of Fame store)
Saturday, Aug. 8
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Pro Football of Fame store)
*He’ll only sign his book and no other items during these times.
THE CLASS OF FOOTBALL: Words of Hard-Earned Wisdom From Legends of the Gridiron edited by Adam Schefter is a stirring collection of inspirational and insightful words from football’s great players of all time taken from their Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement speeches.
The new book that went on sale July 21, 2009 is edited by Schefter, an NFL correspondent for ESPN. He is the former president of the Pro Football Writers of America, former Hall of Fame voter, and is the coauthor of three books, including the New York Times bestseller Romo: My Life on the Edge.
Schefter will be on hand at the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend for special book signings. The author will sign copies of the book that have been purchased at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Schefter signing schedule
Friday, August 7
12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m. (Pro Football Hall of Fame Store)
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (Pro Football Hall of Fame Store)
Saturday, August 8
11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. (Pro Football Hall of Fame Store)
2:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. (Store tent in Hall of Fame Midway)
Sunday, August 9
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Pro Football Hall of Fame Store)
THE CLASS OF FOOTBALL: Words of Hard-Earned Wisdom From Legends of the Gridiron
Excerpted from The Class of Football: Words of Hard-Earned Wisdom from Legends of the Gridiron Edited by Adam Schefter Copyright © 2009 by Adam Shefter All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 5
Passion
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| Purchase a copy of Schefter’s book>>> |
Yet for all the manpower, money, and time each team invests, the process could be streamlined and simplified with one basic question posed to each potential pro player:
How important is football to you?
Whenever football is as important as anything else in a person’s life, the player’s chances of succeeding in the sport rise dramatically. It is the same with any person in any field. The more important their livelihood is to them, the more they care about it, the greater the chance is they will succeed.
Some men make it to Canton more on their passion than their talent. The passion that was obvious in their play is evident in their words.
John Madden
Oakland Raiders Coach
Class of 2006
Hired at the age of thirty-two, Madden compiled a 112-39-7 record.
He owns the best regular-season winning percentage among coaches
with one hundred wins.
Presented by Raiders Owner Al Davis
Let’s go back to Oakland for a moment. Let’s go back to the 1970s. Let’s fill that stadium one more time with the staff and the administrative People who poured their heart and soul into the Raiders. Let’s go back to the great Raider warriors who are here today, and to those who are no longer with us, but whose memories we cherish, and those great warriors who are watching up there today who will lead us in the future.
I say let’s line you up under the goalposts one more time, one more time, and have you introduced all individually once again to the roar of that Oakland crowd. We can never forget those great moments. The roar would be deafening to see you trot out in those black jerseys, silver helmets.
John Madden, the chill goes through my body as I hear that roar and think of all those special people, but seeing you, John, down on the sidelines prowling those sidelines, yelling at officials, that flaming red hair, those arms moving left and right, screaming at Raider players, and, most of all, winning football games.
But that is fantasy. Fantasy isn’t the answer here today. But what is not fantasy is you coming up to this podium to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ladies and gentlemen, the great John Madden.
John Madden
The Hall of Famers behind me, that’s what it’s all about. I was reading the NFL stats and history book. That’s what you do when you ride a bus. When you don’t fly, you read big old thick books like that.
But they had a chapter on history. The first page in the chapter of history was a list of the Hall of Famers. I said, “That’s right, they got it. That is our history.”
The players that played before us, the players that played when they didn’t have face masks, when they had leather helmets, when we got this thing started, the players that played in smaller stadiums, didn’t have the medical thing, didn’t have anything. They laid the foundation for this great game, and we should never forget it. I say the NFL teams, you ought to honor your history more. Sometimes we tend to get caught up in the players, the games now. Honor your history.
Bring back the Hall of Famers. Bring back their teammates. Let the fans show their appreciation to the history. I know going in with these guys is so special. We always talk about immortality. Some of us think maybe we will be immortal, that we’ll live forever. When you really think about it, we’re not going to be.
But I say this, and this is overwhelming, mind-blowing, that through this bust, with these guys, in that Hall, we will be forever. You know, when you think of that, it just blows your mind. It’s forever and ever and ever.
You have to stay with me a moment on this one. This is a little goofy here. You’re going to say, “There is old Madden being goofy again.” But I started thinking about this after I got voted into the Hall of Fame. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s true. Now I know it’s true and I believe it.
Here is the deal: I think over in the Hall of Fame, that during the day the people go through, they look at everything. At night, there’s a time when they all leave. All the fans and all the visitors leave the Hall of Fame. Then there’s just the workers. Then the workers start to leave. It gets down to there’s just one person. That person turns out the light, locks the door. I believe that the busts talk to each other.
I can’t wait for that conversation, I really can’t. Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Reggie White, Walter Payton, all my ex-players, we’ll be there forever and ever and ever talking about whatever. That’s what I believe. That’s what I think is going to happen, and no one’s ever going to talk me out of that. And these guys in there are going,
“Oh, no, hope I don’t have to put up with his BS for an eternity.”
This is a celebration. It has to be fun. To have Al Davis here is something special. I mean, if it weren’t for Al, I wouldn’t be here. He was a guy that gave me an opportunity. He was a guy that hired me forty years ago, brought me into pro football. He was a guy that made me a head coach when I was thirty-two years old. I had two years of pro coaching experience. Who the heck names a guy thirty-two years old as a head coach? Al Davis did. But he not only named me head coach, he stood behind me and he helped me and he provided me with players, with great players. As he was saying, nine of the players are in the Hall of Fame. I mean, those are the types of players that he provided me with.
He stood behind me not only the ten years I was the head coach, but he stood behind me for the last forty years. Al Davis is a friend, always has been a friend. I remember I had the opportunity to induct him into the Hall of Fame. At the time I said, you know, talking about loyalty, what a guy Al Davis was. I said that he’s the guy, you know, if you had anything happen, you had one phone call, who would you make that phone call to? I said it would be Al Davis.
All these years later, I got an opportunity, I got voted into the Hall of Fame, I had a phone call to make for a presenter. And I called Al Davis.
I just talked to my mom. She’s watching. Hi, Mom, I love you. I was talking about how excited I am, how I haven’t slept in three days, my mind is mush. She just said, me, too. She has the same feelings. She’s not right here, but she’s here in spirit. She’s a special person that’s been with me for the seventy years of my life. I know that my dad, who died in 1960, is up there looking down and laughing.
My mom’s probably laughing right now, too, because when I was like a sophomore in high school, I was playing in summer baseball. I was playing on three or four different teams. I told my dad, “I’m going to drop a couple of these because I want to get a job to make some money.” My dad said, “I’ll give you a couple bucks, go caddie, make a few loops, you’ll be okay.” He said, “Don’t work. Once you start work, you’re going to have to work the rest of your life.”
My dad worked hard. He was a mechanic. The reason I say that he’s up there laughing right now is because I listened to him and I continued to play, and I have never worked a day in my life. I went from player to coach to a broadcaster, and I am the luckiest guy in the world.
If there was a Hall of Fame for families, my family would be in the Hall of Fame—my wife, Virginia; my two sons, Joe and Mike.
They talk about how hard coaches work. They work eighteen, twenty hours a day. They sleep on a couch. They don’t come home. You know, that’s not the hard job. The hard job is a coach’s wife, believe me. The job of the coach’s wife, she has to be mother, father, driver, doctor, nurse, coach, everything, because the coach is out there working.
When anyone is appreciated, they have to appreciate their wife. I have the greatest in Virginia. Thank you. Stand up, you deserve it. After all those years putting up with me, you deserve to stand up and take a bow on this day.
And my two sons, Mike and Joe, I’m so proud of them. They’re not only my two sons, but they’re my two best friends. When they were kids, I used to take them to practice on Saturdays. I’d take them to the Pro Bowl. I coached the Pro Bowl way too many damn times. I used to take them to the Pro Bowl, Super Bowl, every time I could. Those were special times.
As I look back now on my coaching career, I think of my family, I think of the days that we spent together. I say this to coaches everywhere: If you ever have a chance to take your kids with you, take them.
Don’t miss that opportunity. Because when it’s all over and done with, when you look back, those are going to be your fondest memories.
I just want to say in closing that it’s been a great ride. I want to thank everyone who has been along for any part of it. Speaking of great rides, I was lucky enough to be carried off the field after we won Super Bowl XI. I was told it took like five or six guys to lift me up, then they dropped me. But that’s okay, because that was me and that was them. They aren’t going to carry me off. You carry him off for a while—boom!—you dump him on the ground. But it was the happiest moment of my life.
Today feels like the second time in my life that I’m being carried off on the shoulders of others. Yet instead of off the field, it’s into the Hall of Fame. Instead of five or six guys today, I ride on the shoulders of hundreds of friends, coaches, players, colleagues, family. I just say this:
I thank you all very much. This has been the sweetest ride of ’em all.
Former Bills TE visits Hall
Kevin Everett, a former tight end for the Buffalo Bills, was the guest speaker at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday August 5.