Saturday night the Pro Football Hall of Fame expanded by eight when they added *deep breath* wide receiver Marvin Harrison, coach Tony Dungy, owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., linebacker Kevin Greene, offensive tackle Orlando Pace, quarterback Ken Stabler, offensive guard Dick Stanfel and, of course, quarterback Brett Favre to their ranks.
Favre, obviously, was the headliner with a speech that went more than 37 minutesâor, as he said about the length, "I'm going for a world record, and I don't give a damn." You can watch it in full here.
The 'ol gunslinger started with a one-liner about playing again that was probably half-serious:
"I'm going to ask (Packers coach)Â Mike McCarthy and (general manager) Ted Thompson if I can play the first series tomorrow night (in the Hall of Fame Game). All of this excitement has me wanting to call Ed Werder and spread the word again."
A main subject throughout Favre's oration was his father, Irving, who you may've heard brought up once or twice in relation to that Monday Night Football game that came right after his death back in 2003:
"I overheard my father talking to three other coaches. ... He said, 'I can assure you one thing about my son: He will play better. He will redeem himself. I know my son. He has it in him.' I never let him know I heard that, I never said that to anyone else. But I thought to myself, that's a pretty good compliment. My chest kind of swoll up. I never forgot that statement, that comment he made to all those other coaches. I want you to know, dad, I spent the rest of my career trying to redeem myself, and make you proud, and I hope I succeeded."
He also made it clear that he wouldn't be enshrined as a Viking, Jet, or Falcon:
"Make no mistake about it: I will be remembered as a Packer."
Other lesser known and (let's be honest) lesser cared about speeches came from the other seven players/coach/owner, including Marvin Harrison, an 8-time Pro Bowler who currently sits third on the list of all-time NFL receptions with 1,102:
His coach, Tony Dungy, who became the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl after doing so to cap the 2006-07 season:
Eddie DeBartolo Jr., who won five Super Bowls during his 24 season reign (1977-2000) as the owner of the San Francisco 49ers:
Kevin Greene, a 5-time Pro Bowl linebacker who currently sits third on the NFL's All-Time sacks list with 160:
Orlando Pace, a 7-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle who was chosen by the St. Louis Rams with the first overall pick in 1997:
Also inducted were the late Ken Stabler, a 4-time Pro Bowl quarterback who most notably won Super Bowl 11 (I refuse to use freakin' Roman numerals) with the Oakland Raiders, and also snagged the MVP Award in 1974 with the same organization. And the late Dick Stanfel, a 5-time Pro Bowl offensive guard who won two NFL Championships with the Lions and played from 1952-1958.
All in all we'd say it was a good class, which is usually true of the Hall of Fame.
