Driving to Cleveland for a high schoo reunion this weekend, I had time to stop in Canton and visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even though I grew up about an hour away and had been in Canton a number of times, I’d never walked through the doors of this shrine to football in the city of the professional game’s origin.
Approaching the museum, I was surprised to find not just the museum itself and its funky football-shaped roof topper but a surrounding sports and entertainment “village.”
I skipped the sideshows and went straight to the hall, easily finding close-in parking on what must have been a lightly attended day at the museum. I could not help but compare the experience to the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where I visited with my wife and another couple last summer.
The football galleries are spread across two floors, much smaller relative to the baseball hall. The football hall has a more contemporary feel, which is natural as pro football didn’t get established until the 1920s, much later than pro baseball.
I hunted down artifacts and stories of the NFL players and teams I’ve followed while moving about the country during my career. Curiously, although I’ve followed the Eagles the last dozen years, I didn’t take any photos related to the team.
The gallery of inductees (shown at top of this post) was nicely laid out and lit. Other than noting the inductees’ teams and years of service, each bust on display didn’t have any descriptive information the way the plaques at the baseball hall summarize inductees’ careers.
In a small theater dressed up to look like a locker room, I watched a video about players overcoming challenges to get to the hall. Presented by a special effects Joe Namath, the video at times bordered on cheesy but was entertaining nonetheless.
As I toured the galleries in a visit that lasted about 90 minutes, I realized that as much as I like football, visiting the hall was not the semi-religious experience I felt at Cooperstown.
As I exited the museum, I thought about taking a selfie at the helmet statue in front of the building. I did not.
I was wearing a Cleveland Indians T-shirt. 🧢
The Ball Caps Blog 
Great write up Dan. You saved the treat of visiting the HOF until later in life! I love the Largent jersey. He was one of my favorites in part because Seahawks home games came on later in the day for us in the Midwest and they were seldom on TV so when we had the chance to see them, it was special seeing him catching passes from Zorn and Krieg which I think was sort of a platoon situation or maybe not. Anyway, the ending cracked me up about the Indians jersey.
Largent was great, and Jim Zorn was a good one, too. Thanks!
Another year without Daryle Lamonica not even being nominated to the Hall of Fame. Please check his winning percentage. Thank you.