50 Fun Facts About Pro Football Hall of Fame

In which Ohio city, where the NFL was founded in 1920, does the Pro Football Hall of Fame stand?

Canton beat bids from Detroit, Green Bay, Latrobe and Los Angeles, helped by its Bulldogs, the league's first repeat champions.

What color is the jacket each new Pro Football Hall of Fame member receives and wears at later enshrinement ceremonies?

Gold jackets mark membership for life: earlier inductees nearly always wear theirs on stage when a new class is welcomed.

Which cornerback, who also played in baseball's World Series, tied a bandana onto his own Hall of Fame bust in 2011?

Deion Sanders closed his speech by dressing the bust in his trademark do-rag, and he is the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.

Which 49ers receiver, enshrined in 2010, scored a record 208 career touchdowns, 197 of them on catches?

Jerry Rice finished 41 touchdown catches clear of second place, having joined San Francisco as the 16th pick of the 1985 draft from Mississippi Valley State.

Which Jets quarterback, enshrined in 1985, publicly guaranteed an upset win over the Colts before Super Bowl III?

Joe Namath made the boast three days before the game, then led the heavy underdog Jets to a 16–7 win, one of the great upsets in sport.

Which Steelers defensive tackle, centerpiece of the Steel Curtain defense, starred in a 1979 Coca-Cola commercial?

Joe Greene, long known as Mean Joe, showed a gentler side in the ad, which aired again during Super Bowl XIV and won a Clio Award.

Which Olympic decathlon champion, in the Hall of Fame's first class of 1963, was first president of what became the NFL?

Jim Thorpe won both the pentathlon and the decathlon at the 1912 Olympics before starring for the Bulldogs in the city that later landed the Hall.

Which Raiders coach, enshrined in 2006, never had a losing season before a long second career as a television analyst?

John Madden holds the best winning percentage of any coach with 100 games, and the Madden NFL video games carrying his name became football's best sellers.

What is named for Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, winner of five NFL titles in seven years?

The Super Bowl trophy took his name in 1970, the year Lombardi died at 57; his Green Bay teams had won the first two Super Bowls.

Which Bears running back, nicknamed Sweetness, has the NFL's Man of the Year award named in his honor?

Walter Payton retired as the NFL's career rushing leader, and his death in 1999, after a rare liver disease, raised awareness of the need for organ donors.

Which three-time MVP quarterback, enshrined in 2016, started a record 297 consecutive regular-season games?

Brett Favre's streak ran from 1992 to 2010 and ended only when a sprained shoulder kept him out of a game against the Giants.

The bust of each Pro Football Hall of Fame member, kept on permanent display, is cast in which metal?

Bronze is used for every likeness, and the Hall allows no hats or other headwear on its official busts; one sculptor alone has made more than 130 of them.

Which Steelers running back caught a deflected pass and scored in the 1972 play called the Immaculate Reception?

Franco Harris was a rookie when he ran in the ricochet with 22 seconds left, beating the Raiders and giving Pittsburgh its first playoff win.

Which Giants pass rusher was voted the NFL's Most Valuable Player for 1986 after leading the league with 20.5 sacks?

Lawrence Taylor, known as L.T., was so disruptive at outside linebacker that he is credited with changing the blocking schemes and formations offenses used.

Which quarterback, a five-time MVP with the Colts and Broncos, was elected in 2021 after only 13 seconds of debate?

Peyton Manning won four of those awards in Indianapolis and one in Denver, and the voters needed less than a quarter of a minute to wave him in at the first attempt.

Which defensive end, an ordained minister nicknamed the Minister of Defense, starred for the Eagles and Packers?

Reggie White, an ordained Baptist minister, began his pro career in the short-lived USFL and was elected to the Hall posthumously, on the first ballot.

Which Cowboys running back retired with a record 18,355 rushing yards and later won Dancing with the Stars?

Emmitt Smith took the career rushing record in October 2002 against Seattle, entered the Hall in 2010 and won the dance show's third season in between.

Which Bears star, once billed as football's most feared man, has the top linebacker award named after him?

Dick Butkus appeared on a 1970 Sports Illustrated cover under that billing, and NFL Network later named him the most feared tackler of all time.

Which football term caught on after Roger Staubach of the Cowboys used it following a 1975 playoff win?

Hail Mary was the prayer Staubach, a devout Catholic, said he offered as he threw the winning touchdown to Drew Pearson against the Vikings.

The stadium beside the Pro Football Hall of Fame is named for Tom Benson, longtime owner of which NFL team?

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson gave the Hall $11 million in 2014, most of it to rebuild the old Fawcett Stadium, which was renamed in his honor.

The 1920 meetings that created the NFL were held in an Ohio showroom that sold which make of automobile?

Hupmobile dealer Ralph Hay, who owned the Bulldogs, hosted the founders, and some of them sat on the cars' running boards for want of chairs.

Which Packers tackle turned umpire is the only person enshrined in both the Pro Football and Baseball Halls of Fame?

Cal Hubbard entered the football hall with its first class in 1963 and the baseball hall in 1976, as only the fifth umpire so honored.

Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, winner of three Super Bowls with Washington, is also in which other sport's hall?

NASCAR inducted Gibbs as a championship-winning team owner, making him the only person in both halls; he won his Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks.

Which quarterback, undrafted by the NFL, won five straight Grey Cups in Canada and sits in both countries' halls?

Warren Moon spent six seasons in the CFL before the Oilers signed him in 1984, and he became the first Black quarterback elected to the Hall.

After football, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Alan Page of the Vikings spent more than two decades in which job?

Supreme court justice Alan Page sat on Minnesota's highest bench from 1993 until mandatory retirement at 70, having earned his law degree in 1978 during his playing days.

Which Norwegian-born Chiefs kicker, in America on a ski-jumping scholarship, was the first pure placekicker enshrined?

Jan Stenerud was spotted kicking a ball while preparing for the ski season at Montana State, and he went on to help Kansas City win Super Bowl IV.

Which Raiders punter, the first at his position enshrined, was also the first pure punter drafted in the first round?

Ray Guy went 23rd overall in 1973 and waited until 2014 for the Hall, whose own historian called him the first punter who won games.

Which Cowboys receiver, an Olympic 100-meter champion, is the only man with both an Olympic title and a Super Bowl ring?

Bob Hayes, nicknamed Bullet, equalled the world record of 10.0 seconds at the 1964 Tokyo Games and earned his ring when Dallas won its first Super Bowl.

Which running back known as the Kansas Comet, enshrined at just 34, scored six touchdowns in one game as a rookie?

Gale Sayers scored a then-record 22 touchdowns in that rookie season for Chicago, the six-score game coming on a muddy field against the 49ers.

Which Bears return man, enshrined in 2024, ran back the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI for a touchdown?

Devin Hester holds the record for combined punt and kickoff return touchdowns and was the first player enshrined mainly for returning kicks.

Which Rams defensive end of the Fearsome Foursome popularized the term sack for tackling a quarterback behind the line?

Deacon Jones said a sacked quarterback left an offense as devastated as a sacked city, yet his own totals are unofficial because the NFL only began counting in 1982.

Hall of Fame cornerback Dick Lane, whose 14 interceptions as a 1952 rookie remain a record, went by which nickname?

Night Train was a record a Rams teammate kept playing at Lane's first training camp, and Lane was often found dancing to it in the hallway.

Which quarterback stocked grocery shelves and played Arena football before winning a Super Bowl with the Rams?

Kurt Warner earned $5.50 an hour on the night shift in Iowa, and he is the only player in both the Pro Football and Arena Football halls.

Which receiver skipped his own 2018 enshrinement and held a separate ceremony at his college in Tennessee?

Terrell Owens turned down the official ceremony and held his own in an arena on the Chattanooga campus where he had played football and basketball and run track.

Which coach won 347 games and led the 1972 Dolphins through the NFL's only perfect season?

Don Shula's Dolphins went 17–0, sealing it with a 14–7 win in Super Bowl VII, and the street address of Miami's stadium is 347 Don Shula Drive.

Which Chicago owner and coach known as Papa Bear co-founded the NFL in 1920 and joined the Hall of Fame's first class?

George Halas founded the Bears and coached them in four separate stints, and his 324 wins stood as the NFL record for nearly three decades.

Which Chiefs founder, enshrined in 1972, suggested the name Super Bowl after his children's bouncing Super Ball toy?

Lamar Hunt, principal founder of the American Football League, wrote that he had been using the name jokingly and that it could obviously be improved upon.

Which Cardinals fullback scored all 40 of his team's points, including six touchdowns, in a 1929 win over the Bears?

Ernie Nevers ran for six touchdowns that day, a feat nobody matched until Alvin Kamara did it on Christmas Day 2020, 91 years later.

For which team did Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson score a single-season record 31 touchdowns in 2006?

San Diego Chargers star Tomlinson was voted league MVP for that season, taking 44 of the 50 votes, and the team retired his No. 21 in 2015.

Which Washington quarterback led the NFL in passing, punting and interceptions made, all in 1943?

Sammy Baugh practiced punting more than throwing, picked off 11 passes that year as a defender and entered the Hall with its first class in 1963.

Which Bears star, the first tight end enshrined in the Hall of Fame, later coached Chicago to victory in Super Bowl XX?

Mike Ditka said his nickname, Iron Mike, came from growing up in a Pennsylvania steel town, and his 1985 Bears went 15–1 before routing New England 46–10.

Which Rams defensive tackle of the Fearsome Foursome later played farmer Jonathan Garvey on Little House on the Prairie?

Merlin Olsen reached the Pro Bowl in 14 of his 15 seasons, then moved from the prairie drama to the lead in his own NBC series, Father Murphy.

Jim Brown, the NFL rushing leader in eight of his nine seasons, announced his retirement on the set of which war film?

The Dirty Dozen was filming in England, with Brown cast as one of twelve convicts on a wartime mission, when he quit holding most major rushing records.

Which 49ers quarterback, enshrined in 2005, was the first left-handed passer in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Steve Young is a great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, the church leader for whom his college, BYU, is named.

Which 49ers defensive back had the tip of a crushed pinky finger amputated rather than miss the start of a season?

Ronnie Lott chose the operation after the 1985 season because a bone graft would have kept him out, though he later said he regretted it.

Which Eagles center and linebacker, one of the NFL's last two-way players, was nicknamed Concrete Charlie?

Chuck Bednarik got the name from his off-season job selling concrete, not from his reputation as one of the hardest tacklers the league has seen.

Which Illinois halfback known as the Galloping Ghost joined the Bears in 1925 for a famous barnstorming tour?

Red Grange played 19 games in 67 days on that tour, raising the profile of the professional game, and became a charter member of the Hall.

Which Packers end, a charter Hall of Famer, caught 99 touchdown passes, a career record that stood until 1989?

Don Hutson invented pass routes still in use today, and his mark stood until Steve Largent passed it with the last touchdown of his career.

Which Giants and Packers safety, a Coast Guard veteran, was the first African American enshrined in the Hall of Fame?

Emlen Tunnell retired with a then-record 79 interceptions and was also the first man enshrined purely as a defensive back.

Which quarterback and kicker played 26 professional seasons before retiring from the Raiders at age 48?

George Blanda had scored more points than anyone in history when he retired in 1976, and his final appearance came in an AFC Championship Game.