By: Saenea Williams
Canton, Ohio... What a city! The amount of support and volunteers on hand assisting with this phenomenal event stunned my whole family. Not only was the warmth of all the people that made the event so great, but also the planning and time it took to prepare all of the things we were able to enjoy. The first night the Hall of Fame family, past and present, welcomed us. The fact that all of them were friendly and down to earth kind of surprised me. Mostly because people expect that since they are the crème de la crème of football, that they would be very prideful and snooty, so to speak. However, this was not the case.
Friday night was the big night. This is when the gold jacket would be put on for the first time. I was wrong about my dad shedding so many tears on Saturday, when he would do his speech. It was on that Friday night that the tears would flow. My dad cried the whole way down the line of his new brothers of Hall of Famers. I think my favorite part about the enshrinement was when my dad got to the end of the line and hugged his good friend and biggest on-field competitor, Michael Irving of the Dallas Cowboys. When these two get together…boy do some emotions get flowing! So when my dad got to see him at the end of the line, it made his world. Watching my dad cry is probably one of the hardest things to see, especially considering my dad is such a tough man. I have only seen him cry 3 times in my whole life, so when I see him cry it makes me cry.
On Saturday morning there was a parade through the heart of downtown Canton, where the streets were lined with more than 100,000 people to see the new enshrinees. It was such a great experience to be able to be in the parade along with my family and receive a warm welcome into the home of my dad’s new bust. However, Saturday night was the focal point, where people from all over the country came to support their friends, former teammates, favorite players, and the like. You could tell that the majority of the fans filing into the stadium seating belonged to the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants. To my recollection, there was no contest, but between you and me, there were way more Bills fans. As the night filled with inspirational and emotional speeches started, the wind blew a cool breeze to make the temperature around 70 degrees. As I was shivering in my seat, the first 2014 NFL Hall of Fame enshrinee walked to the stage to receive the first glance of his now complete bronze bust. The excitement that filled each of the men’s eyes as they unveiled their busts was unexplainable. It was as if they were saying in their mind, to anyone they found significant “ we made it, we finally made it.”
All the speeches were great, but of course I thought my dad’s was by far the best, not to be biased or anything. A bunch of people after the speech kept on telling my family that my dad definitely had one of the best speeches, so see I wasn’t being partial! My favorite part of his speech was when he asked the crowd, “Do you know where I can find the most money… In the cemetery!” Most people were taken aback by this, however I wasn’t. This was a point my dad had been teaching us most of our lives. The point was to go to the grave, having given everything you did, your best shot. In other words, “fulfill all of your potential.“ This is hard to do because it takes some guts, some uncomfortable things have to be done to complete this goal. However, the reward is great!
Overall this experience meant the world to my dad and I know my family and I will always remember this tremendous weekend.