Hall of Fame announcement open thread
Posted by Mike Florio on February 6, 2010 5:11 PM ET
We're live from the Hall of Fame announcement ceremony, at the Broward County Convention Center.
In minutes, Rich Eisen of NFL Network will unveil the 2010 class of new inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Stay tuned. And have your F5 finger ready.
The first five out are Roger Craig, Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Don Coryell, and Charles Haley.
Spoiler alert: Rosenthal says that, per Nola.com, the
five winners will be Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, and John Randle.
It looks like the decision to put Andre Reed in the top ten and not Cris Carter or Tim Brown means that the voters think Reed needs to get in before the next two wideouts. None of the three has a Super Bowl ring.
NFLN using this American Idol format is good -- it builds suspense. (But for Nola.com screwing it all up.)
The next five out are Andre Reed, Shannon Sharpe, Dermontti Dawson, Richard Dent, and Cortez Kennedy.
The fact that the final list of inductees was leaked means that the NFL needs to abandon this new approach of delaying the press conference until 5:00 p.m. ET and hold the press conference as soon as the vote is finalized.
We still don't know whether the Seniors' Committee finalists -- Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little -- will get in.
And the final list are the five who were previously reported, and Little and LeBeau.
The guy who announced the list actually said "Randy Jackson." Paula Abdul is crying and clapping like a seal.
Randle's qualification for the Hall of Fame is amazing. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent at a time when the draft had 12 rounds. We hope his bronze bust will reflect the black face paint he used to wear.
Great discussion between Jerry Rice and Steve Young regarding Rice's habit of taking every catch to the end zone eventually became contagious. Rice becomes very emotional when talking about the work ethic his parents gave him. (And anyone else who busts their *** every day for that same reason should be shedding a tear, too.)
Rice says that former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo will introduce him at the Hall of Fame in August.
Floyd Little draws laughs when he says his dad use to take him to watch Jerry Rice play.
Dick LeBeau joins the discussion by phone.
Emmitt Smith is up next.
Michael Irvin says that Emmitt wore M.C. Hammer pants as a rookie -- Emmitt says he would have worn them today if he could have found them.
Emmitt gets emotional talking about his father's inability to go to college and play football. "You're living my dream," his father told him.
Great point by Emmitt -- so many things have to fall into place to allow a player to become truly great.
Emmitt says entering the Hall of Fame is like going into Heaven. (Except for the fact that O.J. Simpson is there.)
