PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

The 'Pro Football Hall of Fame' is the hall of fame of the National Football League (NFL). It opened in Canton, Ohio, United States, on September 7 1963 with 17 charter inductees.^[1] Through 2007, all but one of the inductees played some part of their pro career in the NFL. The lone exception is Buffalo Bills guard Billy Shaw, who played his entire career in the American Football League (AFL) prior to the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger. The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers have the most Hall of Famers in the league at 26.

Contents

History

Selection process

Board of Selectors

Voting procedure

Induction ceremony

Inductees

See also

References

External links

History

Canton was primarily selected as the location for the Hall of Fame for three reasons: First, the NFL, then known as the American Professional Football Association, was founded in Canton in 1920. Second, the now-defunct Canton Bulldogs were a successful NFL team based in Canton during the first few years of the league. And finally, the community of Canton successfully lobbied to the NFL to have the Hall built in their city.
Groundbreaking for the building was held on August 11, 1962. The original building contained just two rooms, and of interior space.
In April 1970, groundbreaking occurred for the first of many expansions. This first expansion cost United States dollars620,000, and was completed in May 1971. The size was increased to by adding another room. The gift shop opened with this expansion. This was also an important milestone for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as yearly attendance passed the 200,000 mark for the first time.
In November 1977, work begun on another expansion project, costing US$1,200,000. It was completed in November 1978, enlarging the gift shop and research library, while doubling the size of the theater. The total size of the hall was now , more than 2.5 times the original size.
The building remained largely unchanged until July 1993. The hall announced yet another expansion, costing US$9,200,000, and adding a fifth room to the hall. This expansion was completed in October 1995. The building's size was increased to . The most notable addition was the ''GameDay Stadium'', which shows an NFL Films production on a 20-foot by 42-foot Cinemascope screen.^[2]

Selection process

Board of Selectors

The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio

Enshrinees are selected by a 39-member committee, largely made up of sportswriters, officially known as the Board of Selectors.^[3]
Usually, the representative is a beat writer for the major newspaper in that city, although this is not always the case; for instance, the Atlanta Falcons are represented by ESPN.com senior writer Len Pasquarelli (who lives in Atlanta and formerly wrote for the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution''), while the Seattle Seahawks' vote belongs to Pasquarelli's ESPN.com colleague, John Clayton (a former Seahawks beat writer for the ''Seattle Times'' who still lives in Seattle).
There are also six at-large delegates (usually cities that lose NFL teams keep representation on the board; Los Angeles is the only current city to have lost an NFL team and not been granted an expansion team), and one representative from the Pro Football Writers of America. Except for the PFWA representative, who is appointed to a two-year term, all other appointments are open-ended and terminated only by death, retirement, or resignation.

Voting procedure

To be eligible for the nominating process, a player must have been retired at least five years, and a coach must be retired. Any other contributor such as a team owner or executive can be elected at any time.^[4]
Fans may nominate any player, coach or contributor by simply writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Selection Committee is then polled three times by mail to eventually narrow the list to 25 semifinalists: once in March, one in September, and one in October. In November, the committee then selects 15 finalists by mail balloting.
Nine members of the Selection Committee also serve as a subcommittee known as the Seniors Committee to screen candidates who finished their careers 25 or more years prior. The Seniors Committee then adds two finalists from prior to the modern era, making a final ballot of 17.
The Selection Committee then meets the day before each Super Bowl game to elect a new class. To be elected, a finalist must receive at least 80 percent support from the Board, with at least three, but no more than six, candidates being elected annually. If no candidate gets 80 percent, then the top three vote-getters will get in that year. If more than six get 80 percent, then only the top six vote-getters will be inducted.

Induction ceremony

The induction ceremony is usually held the first full weekend in August. A community festival is held throughout the week in Canton leading up to the induction ceremonies. Also, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, an annual NFL pre-season exhibition game, is held the day after the induction ceremony.
Enshrinees do not go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of a certain team. Rather, all of an inductee's affiliations are listed equally. While the Baseball Hall of Fame plaques generally depict each of their inductees wearing a particular club's cap (with a few exceptions, such as Catfish Hunter), the bust sculptures of each Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee make no reference to any specific team. In addition to the bust that goes on permanent display at the Hall of Fame, inductees receive a distinctive gold jacket and previous inductees nearly always wear theirs when participating at new inductee ceremonies.
Previous induction ceremonies were held during the day (Sunday from 1999-2005, Saturday in 2006), situated on the steps of the Hall of Fame building. Starting in 2002, the ceremony was moved to Fawcett Stadium, and, beginning in 2007, held Saturday night.^[5]

Inductees

Main articles: List of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees

See also

★ American football

★ National Football League

★ American Football League

★ Canadian Football League

★ Canadian Football Hall of Fame

★ List of American football players

★ Pro Football Hall of Fame Game

References

1. HOF opened on Sept. 7, 1963
2. [1]
3. Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Process
4. Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Process FAQ
5. [2]

External links

★ Pro Football Hall of Fame