Darrell Green and Art Monk walked across the stage waving and urged thousands of Washington Redskins fans to give them one more salute. Emmitt Thomas, the former Kansas City Chiefs cornerback and Redskins coach, simply waved back.
And they applauded the three other inductees without Washington ties - Fred Dean, Andre Tippett and Gary Zimmerman - knowing they would have fit the Redskins’ blue-collar reputation.
“Standing up here on this platform is much different than I imagined,” Monk said. “The reality of getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame didn’t really hit me till a few days ago. And then to see the magnitude of all of this, and all of you, it’s been something amazing.”
From the burgundy-and-yellow-clad crowd to the pig’s snouts to the responses whenever the Dallas Cowboys were mentioned, the ceremony looked more like a team induction than a league-wide enshrinement.
Fans cheered louder each time Thomas mentioned a Redskins player or coach. They chanted “Dar-rell, Dar-rell” when Green stepped to the microphone, and the continual cheers forced prolific receiver Monk to speak while they were still applauding.
The inductions were also marked by poignancy.
Dean, Tippett and Zimmerman all chose team owners as their introductory speakers. Green, Monk and Thomas all gave the honor to their sons, and Derek Thomas delivered the most moving of those speeches after watching his father endure a decades-long wait before finally receiving his spot in the Hall.
The younger Thomas suggested it was time for his father to finally let everyone know how good a player he was, then broke down as he wrapped up.
“My dad provided my sister and me with a lot of great advice,” he said. “Like most kids, we don’t always follow that advice. A piece of advice he gave me once was never make athletes your heroes, because they are humans and they make mistakes, too. I guess I didn’t listen to that advice very well. I’d like to introduce you to my hero, my mentor, my father, Emmitt Thomas.”
Green, the oldest cornerback in league history (42) when he retired in 2002, spoke of the deaths of two close friends from his childhood days and the deaths last year of two former teammates - Kevin Mitchell and Sean Taylor.
As usual, Green, did his own thing, though. The only player in the 2008 class selected in his first year of eligibility was also the only one to cry, and he was proud of it.
“Deacon Jones said I was gonna cry. You bet I’m gonna cry,” he said after his son, Jared, introduced him. “You bet you’re life I’m gonna cry. That’s my boy right there.”
Thomas, who still holds the Chiefs record with 58 interceptions, spoke of the difficulties he had growing up after the death of his mother when he was 8 years old. As a tribute to his grandfather, Thomas asked the Hall of Fame to let him go in as Emmitt Earl Fyles Thomas. His grandfather’s name was Lewis Fyles Jr.
“My late grandfather is still my hero,” he said. “He taught me about honor, commitment, love, religion, hard work and respect.”
Dean, the first pass-rush specialist in league history, spoke so deliberately and emphatically, it sounded like a sermon. In the middle of the speech, however, Dean told the crowd he forgot his glasses and couldn’t reach the speech. Another Hall of Famer responded by quickly handing them to Dean.
Zimmerman, who protected John Elway’s blindside for five years in with the Denver Broncos and was one of the era’s best tackles, spoke about his own learning curve after he left the Minnesota Vikings. It was with Denver that Zimmerman won his only Super Bowl ring - and learned about The Curse.
“It happens when you’re protecting someone like John and what happens is the night before the game you get little or no sleep,” he said. “Because if you didn’t do your job, you’ll forever be known as the guy who lost our franchise. I would also like to thank John - it was worth every sleepless night.”
Tippett, a fearsome pass rusher with the New England Patriots, reflected on the things he did that helped him embark on a Hall of Fame career.
“In my youth, I watched every game I could. I studied all the great players - (Jack) Lambert, (Jack) Ham, Bobby Bell and many others,” he said. “Some kids play cops and robbers. I emulated you.”
The largest ovation was for Monk, who retired in 1995 as the NFL’s career receptions leader with 940 catches - but not enough to make the Hall on his first seven chances.
“It’s been hard to sit back and think about the significance of what all this really means,” Monk said. “By now, I realize that it’s more than a bust and wearing a gold jacket. It’s about history and the game and those who made the game what it is today, and it’s a privilege to be included in that group.”
