Harry Carson kicks off 2025-26 Heart of a Hall of Famer series
Heart of a Hall of Famer
Published on : 10/7/2025
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Heart of a Hall of Famer series for 2025-26 started in unforgettable fashion last month.
Students at Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia, home of the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, heard from Hall of Famer No. 231, HARRY CARSON, the stalwart linebacker of the New York Football Giants. He kicked off the school year’s Heart of a Hall of Famer program, connected by Extreme Networks, by sharing a message that has guided him on and off the football field: Respect.
“When you take the field, you respect your opponent, but you respect your teammates as well … you have to be a team player,” Carson told the assembled students. “For all of you that are in this room today, I want you to know that I sat in the same chairs you are sitting in … the same thing occurred when I was where you all are.
“There are folks that want to be here and others that don’t. Be respectful of those who want to be here,” he said. “Nobody told me I can play pro football or be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame….I got that opportunity because of respect.”
Carson’s message echoed throughout the auditorium, reminding students why he was named a captain for so many years with the Giants. Respect defined his career and helped make him a leader of men.
Carson also opened up about how his journey in football didn’t start with passion, but rather with perseverance.
“Football was never a game I loved. I fell into football,” he recalled. “The first practice I had in high school, I wasn’t prepared. When it was my time to practice on defense, I got hit so hard, I saw stars. At the end of the line, I walked off the field and quit.
“I underestimated what it would take to play the game. I didn’t like the taste of quitting in my gut; it ate at me that I gave up,” he said. “I knew I had to go back and try the best that I could. If it had not been the guys I played with – they encouraged me and were my inspirations.”
To hear more from Carson, watch the full Heart of a Hall of Famer below or by clicking here:
Students at Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia, home of the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, heard from Hall of Famer No. 231, HARRY CARSON, the stalwart linebacker of the New York Football Giants. He kicked off the school year’s Heart of a Hall of Famer program, connected by Extreme Networks, by sharing a message that has guided him on and off the football field: Respect.
“When you take the field, you respect your opponent, but you respect your teammates as well … you have to be a team player,” Carson told the assembled students. “For all of you that are in this room today, I want you to know that I sat in the same chairs you are sitting in … the same thing occurred when I was where you all are.
“There are folks that want to be here and others that don’t. Be respectful of those who want to be here,” he said. “Nobody told me I can play pro football or be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame….I got that opportunity because of respect.”
Carson’s message echoed throughout the auditorium, reminding students why he was named a captain for so many years with the Giants. Respect defined his career and helped make him a leader of men.
Carson also opened up about how his journey in football didn’t start with passion, but rather with perseverance.
“Football was never a game I loved. I fell into football,” he recalled. “The first practice I had in high school, I wasn’t prepared. When it was my time to practice on defense, I got hit so hard, I saw stars. At the end of the line, I walked off the field and quit.
“I underestimated what it would take to play the game. I didn’t like the taste of quitting in my gut; it ate at me that I gave up,” he said. “I knew I had to go back and try the best that I could. If it had not been the guys I played with – they encouraged me and were my inspirations.”
To hear more from Carson, watch the full Heart of a Hall of Famer below or by clicking here:
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