Though Manning played with Harrison for eleven seasons and rewrote the National Football League record books with him for a quarterback/receiver duo, and though Manning played for Dungy for seven seasons and won 92 games (including a Super Bowl) with him, the quarterback is just now understanding how special that era was. He still owns the single-season record for receptions, which he set in 2002 with 143 catches.
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It’s a format owner Jim Irsay wanted, giving the league notice his team would be happy to take part in the annual preseason celebration.
There might be more trips to football nirvana in his foreseeable future.
Joining Favre in the class of 2016 were Tony Dungy, a trail-blazing coach and Super Bowl victor; one of his stars, Marvin Harrison; Kevin Greene; Orlando Pace; Ken Stabler; Dick Stanfel; and Ed DeBartolo Jr.
He wouldn’t mind if this became a semi-regular routine.
In 1996, he was chosen by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round (19th overall) of the NFL Draft. Polian was the skillful architect, Dungy the calm controller and Harrison the quiet disrupter.
He led the Colts to five division titles and became the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl when Indianapolis beat the Chicago Bears, 29-17, in Super Bowl XLI in 2007. Manning was his quarterback, Wayne his sidekick, James the thunder to Harrison’s lightning.
“It was a blessing”. He was just so special. “Not only did we have an incredibly successful team, we had a fun team to watch”. You knew where he was going to be if you wanted to take him a way you could design your coverage to do that. “They want to play but if they’re nicked-up, I listen to our docs and listen to our trainers and if there’s any risk there, we’re not going to put them out there”. We all sit there and think: Who else? “To be able to be a part of that is a great feeling”. We didn’t panic. We just kept doing it.
The rest will require some discussion. One of the first great left-handed pro QBs, Stabler, who died past year, was elected by the seniors committee.
Harrison, the record-setting wide receiver for the Colts, and Pace, a powerful offensive force at left tackle for the Rams, were the first members of the eight-man class of 2016 inducted into the hall.
It’s anybody’s guess when Vinatieri will make himself eligible.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better partner than you”, said Harrison. “It’s so far down the road”. It’s a huge honor to even have people mention you in that respect.
“There are no guarantees”.
“Hey, Tim McGraw one night, Brett going into the Hall of Fame the next”, Lou said. “Jan Stenerud is the only kicker”. Check out the bronze bust that will immortalize him in Canton.
Harrison’s speech centered around gratitude toward all of the people who helped him reach this point, starting with a high school teacher who promised Harrison he’d make it to one game a year if Harrison went pro.
But as impressive as his career record, his status as a pioneer also stands out, as he was the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl, and grew a tree of coaches who add to his legacy with every passing season.
Dungy treated his players as men, on the field and off the field.
“Believe me, I am an extremely blessed man”, Favre said Saturday night during an emotional speech spiced with humor and playfulness. “If you stick to the process, then Tony is the flawless example”, Pagano said. John Lynch has been among the Final 15 in each of the last three years.
“I’m just one of the workers, we call it one of the bricklayers for the foundation”, he said.
Manning wasn’t referring to how Harrison played on game day.
Dungy expects Harrison soon to have company. “I threw it and said, ‘I missed him”.
“I’ll tell you this”, said Irsay in a taped message, “I mean this when I say about Marvin, I don’t think I know a fiercer competitor”. Harrison was the second most dominant player of all time.
“But Edgerrin is a fantastic player”. I’m going to practice that hard. Reggie. Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis are 100-plus sack guys.
When the next Colt gets the call, Irsay will be there. “We had the best fans – no offense Green Bay – but we had the best fans in the game”.
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Of course, they came along at the wrong time when blacks were regulated to playing among themselves in black colleges.
