The NFL’s Greatest Huddle Assembled for Hall Ceremonies

Deacon Jones burst through the door and headed down an office corridor inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame like he was chasing an opposing quarterback.

Jones, one of the NFL’s fiercest defensive players, refers to the Hall as his “home,” and as one of its members, he’s always welcome and tries to make a yearly trip back.

The weekend’s events centered around Saturday’s induction ceremonies for the Class of 2000 featuring Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Howie Long, Dave Wilcox and Dan Rooney.

Jones was joined at a star-studded football homecoming as the Hall of Fame welcomed back 111 of its 136 living members. Never before has there been such a huddle of NFL greats.

Jim Brown was there. So was Dick Butkus, Joe Greene, Sonny Jurgensen, Joe Namath, Gale Sayers, Lawrence Taylor and Bill Walsh. O.J. Simpson was not.

Joe Horrigan, the Hall’s vice president and spokesman, called the gathering remarkable.

“It’s like having a family reunion with 136 members in your extended family and you get 111,” he said. “I think it’s astounding.”

The idea for the reunion came to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue while he was flying back to New York following last year’s Hall of Fame weekend when a then-record 51 members took part in festivities.

Tagliabue was moved by the emotion and nostalgia of the events. He was touched after seeing how important it was for these great players and their families to get together to share old memories and make new ones.

“It’s contagious,” Tagliabue said. “It occurred to me as we concluded the century and kicked off the 21st century, we should really have all of the Hall of Famers back. Some of them are getting quite elderly now. I suggested we invite every Hall of Famer back as a guest of the league to recognize in a special way the tremendous impact these men made on our game over the decades.”

This year’s reunion coincides with the NFL’s 80th anniversary, the 40th for the AFL and 30 years since the NFL-AFL merger.

Tagliabue said that in one of his last conversations with the late Walter Payton, the NFL’s career rushing leader expressed his joy over the idea for the reunion.

“I remember him saying he thought it would be a tremendous thing, and that he would be there,” Tagliabue said. “But his memory will be there.”

The buzz generated by this year’s reunion has led to preliminary discussions about making it a yearly event, although it’s more likely that it would be held every five or 10 years.

“This could be something that stands on its own,” Horrigan said. “I think they felt the sense of importance of the event.

“They consider themselves an elite fraternity and I think they heard the call. Deacon Jones says this is a team that you can’t be traded from, you can’t quit and you can’t be cut from.”

However, in the past, some Hall of Famers haven’t made the journey back to Canton because of expense. This year, though, the NFL and five corporate sponsors teamed up to pay for players’ accommodations.

“You would have to be a damn fool not to want to come back every year,” said Jones, one of the first to arrive Thursday to pick up his credentials and tickets. “It’s not that the guys don’t want to come back, it’s that some of the guys can’t afford it.”

Horrigan said that Simpson never formally turned down his invitation, and that a few of the Hall of Famers adjusted their schedules to make it.

“Bud Grant is the one I get the biggest kick out of,” Horrigan said referring to the former Vikings coach. “He cut a trip to Africa short to be here.”

Gino Marchetti didn’t want to miss it either. On Thursday, Marchetti, a defensive end in the 1950s and 60s, toured the Hall’s exhibits for the first time since being enshrined in 1972.

One of Marchetti’s first stops was to see the bronze bust immortalizing his pro career.

“I’m happy about one thing,” Marchetti said. “Somebody told me it said Indianapolis Colts. I was happy as hell it still said Baltimore Colts.”