Post by TheShadow on Aug 9, 2009 14:24:07 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com/
Wire services
CANTON, Ohio — All that was missing were the chicken wings, because the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony had a distinct Buffalo flavor.
Also inducted were two players with Bay Area connections, former Raiders and 49ers defensive back Rod Woodson and former 49ers and longtime Dallas Cowboys receiver Bob Hayes.
Bills owner Ralph Wilson, 90, opened by loosening up the crowd with a few humorous anecdotes. And the chants of "BRUUUCE!" resounded through Fawcett Stadium on Saturday night, even before former Bills defensive end Bruce Smith had taken the podium.
And once he took the stage, the cheers didn't stop for the player who had a record 200 sacks.
Smith acknowledged the fans — a large contingent wearing Bills jerseys — by saying, "This certainly feels like a home game."
Woodson was introduced into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2009 by longtime friend Tracy Porter.
"There's really nothing I can tell anyone in this stadium or anywhere else in the world about Rod Woodson as a football player that you already don't know," Porter said.
In Woodson style, the 11-time Pro Bowler walked to the podium and began, "He made me sound better than I am, I'll tell you that." The NFL's defensive player of the year in 1993, Woodson was selected to the NFL's 75th anniversary team while still playing. He still holds the record for career interceptions returned for touchdowns (12).
Woodson also took the time to talk about his experience during each of the stops during his 17-year career — the Steelers, 49ers, Ravens and Raiders. At one point, he told the Steelers fans in attendance he was happy they booed him when he went to the other teams; if they hadn't, he said he would have lost some respect for Steelers Nation.
Kansas City linebacker Derrick Thomas and Hayes were inducted posthumously.
Hayes was introduced by his son, Bob Hayes Jr., who noted his father always wondered why it took so long for this achievement to happen. Hayes died in 2002 at the age of 59.
"It hurts, because he's not here to enjoy this," Hayes said. "But I know wherever he is, he's smiling down." Nicknamed "Bullet Bob," Hayes had an 11-year career — the first 10 in Dallas, and one in San Francisco — that ended in 1975. Hayes was a star track athlete who won two gold medals at the 1964 Olympics.
"For all Derrick Thomas fans, the light has gone back on," former Chiefs president Carl Peterson said of Thomas, who died in February 2000 after a car accident, cutting short what had already been a stellar 11-year career.
Also inducted was Vikings offensive guard Randall McDaniel.
Wire services
CANTON, Ohio — All that was missing were the chicken wings, because the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony had a distinct Buffalo flavor.
Also inducted were two players with Bay Area connections, former Raiders and 49ers defensive back Rod Woodson and former 49ers and longtime Dallas Cowboys receiver Bob Hayes.
Bills owner Ralph Wilson, 90, opened by loosening up the crowd with a few humorous anecdotes. And the chants of "BRUUUCE!" resounded through Fawcett Stadium on Saturday night, even before former Bills defensive end Bruce Smith had taken the podium.
And once he took the stage, the cheers didn't stop for the player who had a record 200 sacks.
Smith acknowledged the fans — a large contingent wearing Bills jerseys — by saying, "This certainly feels like a home game."
Woodson was introduced into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2009 by longtime friend Tracy Porter.
"There's really nothing I can tell anyone in this stadium or anywhere else in the world about Rod Woodson as a football player that you already don't know," Porter said.
In Woodson style, the 11-time Pro Bowler walked to the podium and began, "He made me sound better than I am, I'll tell you that." The NFL's defensive player of the year in 1993, Woodson was selected to the NFL's 75th anniversary team while still playing. He still holds the record for career interceptions returned for touchdowns (12).
Woodson also took the time to talk about his experience during each of the stops during his 17-year career — the Steelers, 49ers, Ravens and Raiders. At one point, he told the Steelers fans in attendance he was happy they booed him when he went to the other teams; if they hadn't, he said he would have lost some respect for Steelers Nation.
Kansas City linebacker Derrick Thomas and Hayes were inducted posthumously.
Hayes was introduced by his son, Bob Hayes Jr., who noted his father always wondered why it took so long for this achievement to happen. Hayes died in 2002 at the age of 59.
"It hurts, because he's not here to enjoy this," Hayes said. "But I know wherever he is, he's smiling down." Nicknamed "Bullet Bob," Hayes had an 11-year career — the first 10 in Dallas, and one in San Francisco — that ended in 1975. Hayes was a star track athlete who won two gold medals at the 1964 Olympics.
"For all Derrick Thomas fans, the light has gone back on," former Chiefs president Carl Peterson said of Thomas, who died in February 2000 after a car accident, cutting short what had already been a stellar 11-year career.
Also inducted was Vikings offensive guard Randall McDaniel.